GANGA ZUMBA – Chegou Alegria! (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)

September 10, 2008 by Dennis Amith 

“THE BOOM’s lead vocalist Miyazawa Kazufumi known for his passion for world music and from his travels through Europe and South America has gathered talented musicians from various countries and created a band to reflect his world music passion, the band known as GANGA ZUMBA.”

BAND: GANGA ZUMBA

CD SINGLE: シェゴウ・アレグリア! ～歓喜のサンバ～ (Chegou Alegria)

LABEL: Avex Entertainment

CATALOG #:  VFCV-00024

DURATION: 12:08

RELEASE DATE: April 9, 2008

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

1. シェゴウ・アレグリア! ～歓喜のサンバ～
2. Under the Sun
3. 風になりたい (GZ Ver.)

Miyazawa Kazufumi will always be remembered for bringing Okinawan music to the forefront along with his bandmembers from The Boom but during the Boom years, Miyazawa would experiment with world music.

In 1998, he released his first solo album “AFRO-SICK” which was released in Brazil.  Between 2002-2005, Miyazawa known for his solo act as “MIYAZAWA SICK” toured through South America and Europe and encountering musicians around the world.

Eventually in 2006, he and these musicians from various parts of the world would create the band GANGA ZUMBA.  The name is derived from one of the first leaders of Quilombo dos Palmares, now known as Alagoas, Brazil.

The band released their first mini-album “HABATAKE!” and the album featured a song used for the 2006 FIFA WORLD CUP.

Because of the various musicians involved in the band, the group has featured music style that compliments Spanish, Latin and Brazilian music.

The group released their first full length album “UM” in 2007 and in April 2008, released their first CD single “シェゴウ・アレグリア！〜歓喜のサンバ〜” (Chegou Alegria!).

The first track “Chegou Alegria!” showcases the bands Spanish/samba style of music.  Miyazawa sings in Japanese but the song has a worldly flavor courtesy of the 7 string acoustic guitar by Carlinhos 7 cordas, Dordhino playing the surdo and Henrique Cazes playin gthe Vacaquino and assorted brazillian percussions heard through the song.  The overall song is catchy and music quite beautiful to listen to.

The second track “Under the Sun” is a funk rock track featuring Miyazawa singing a cool, jive track.

The third track features The Boom classic “Kaze ni Naritai (GZ Ver.)” which I remember the original featuring a worldly flavor and the same with this song.  Main difference is that it has a samba vibe.  I enjoyed the original song from THE BOOM and this GZ ver. is pretty cool as well and it’s great to hear Miyazawa sing th is song again, albeit in a different version.

The CD insert features a bi-fold with lyrics and productions credits.  Plus a mini-flyer featuring concert information for GANGA ZUMBA LIVE and the bands DVD “GANGA ZUMBA SUMMER SESSION UM LIVE at SHIBUYA-AX”.

I have to admit that I was not entirely familiar with GANGA ZUMBA with the exception of THE BOOM’s Miyazawa as the lead vocalist.

Overall, I really enjoyed hearing Miyazawa’s world music influence reflected in his music and bringing together a variety of talent from various countries.  That’s pretty cool!

The music is pretty good and the three songs offer three different musical styles.  For those wondering if Miyazawa’s Okinawan style is reflected on this CD single and the answer is no.  The music featured is Latin, Spanish or Brazilian in nature or a melding of the three.

Overall, a pretty cool CD single and will be reviewing their live concert DVD soon!

Check out more of our reviews at J!-ENT’s World Groove

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