{THE SPECIALIST}

THOUGH guitarist, singer and songwriter Joyce Moreno is a national treasure back in Brazil, she’s never quite crossed over to broader international audiences like her peers Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa and Gilberto Gil. It’s a puzzle, really, as her music’s every bit as adventurous as that of her better-known colleagues, and the story of her first decade of music-making, in particular, has her landing in all sorts of fascinating, unexpected places – collaborations with songwriter Nelson Angelo; songs interpreted by legends like Elis Regina and Marília Medalha; performances at Brazil’s yearly MPB festivals; then, in 1975, an offer too good to refuse, to tour Europe playing guitar for Vinicius Cantuária.

was recorded around this time, in Italy, for a series of albums released under the Folk Internazionale banner. Convened by journalist Giancarlo Governi, each album in the series represented the folk song of a chosen artist’s home country. Moreno’s approach was both true to the brief, and quietly subversive. Made up of 17 covers, and one original, “Passarinho”, placed at the end of the album, she chose to perform songs