Elizeth Cardoso, Zimbo Trio, Jacob do Bandolim - Ao Vivo no Teatro Joao Caetano - Vol. 2

1. Feitiço da Vila
2. Meiga Presença
3. Barracão
4. Texto Elizeth, Jacob do Bandolim, que apresenta seus músicos
5. Chão de Estrelas
6. Lamento
7. Tempo Feliz
8. Vou Partir / Água do Rio / Malvadeza Durão / Rosa de Ouro
9. Chega de Saudade
10. Texto de Jacob
11. Canção de Amor
12. Apelo
13. Carolina
14. Até Amanhã
15. Carinhoso
16. Está Chegando a Hora

Elizeth ao vivo - Vol. 2

In 1956, Cardoso signed with the Copacabana recording company (in spite of the attempts of Odeon and Sinter), through which she would release most of her hits for the following 20 years. Already a famous artist, Cardoso hosted several exclusive shows on different radios, including Audições Elizete Cardoso (Rádio Mundial) and Canta Elizete (Mayrink Veiga).  

Two years later, Cardoso was invited by Vinicius de Moraes to be the singer of an album of songs written by himself and Tom Jobim. Canção do Amor Demais became the first album of bossa nova, launching the new genre. The album was recorded for the label Festa, owned by Irineu Garcia. The label was specialized in recorded poetry, having produced albums in which authors read their poems, immortalizing the voices of such poets as Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Manuel Bandeira, Pablo Neruda, Nicollás Guillén, and others. Therefore, nothing was more natural for the label than to record another album with the poems by Vinicius de Moraes. Only it would be the first time that music would come into the picture. With the permission of Copacabana, Cardoso started to rehearse with Jobim and de Moraes. As the rehearsals were held at Jobim's home in Ipanema, they were later immortalized by de Moraes in "Carta ao Tom" ("Letter to Tom"): "Rua Nascimento e Silva, 107/Você ensinando pra Elizete/As canções de Canção do Amor Demais" ("107 Nascimento e Silva Street/And you were teaching Elizete/The songs of Canção do Amor Demais"). 

Immediately after the release, the most commented-upon track of the album was "Chega de Saudade," the first recording in which appears the revolutionary syncopation of João Gilberto's guitar (who also appeared on "Outra Vez"). In spite of Cardoso's remarkable interpretations, though, she came to record the same songs later, and better. That can be explained in part because earlier in that same day she accepted an invitation to perform for an Army division in the middle of a forest where she had to walk under rain and through the mud.  

In 1959, Cardoso recorded for the film Orfeu do Carnaval (Marcel Camus), also an important piece of the initial period of bossa nova (it derived from de Moraes' play Orfeu da Conceição), the songs "Manhã de Carnaval" (Luís Bonfá/Antônio Maria) and "Samba de Orfeu." The soundtrack, a top seller in several countries including the U.S. and France, unduly credits the actress Marpessa Dawn as the singer. 

After performances in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Portugal, Cardoso launched one of her top-selling albums, Meiga Elizete, in which she was accompanied by the groups of Moacir Silva and Walter Wanderley. Elizete Interpreta Vinícius, dedicated to compositions by de Moraes, was another success. Produced by him and arranged by Moacir Santos, the album also was enthusiastically saluted by the critics.  

On October 12, 1964, invited by the conductor Diogo Pacheco, Cardoso interpreted Villa-Lobos' "Bachianas Número 5" at the Municipal Theater of São Paulo. When she finished the piece, the 1,800 people present at the event stood up and applauded for 15 minutes, asking for an encore. She stared at the audience and simply cried; perhaps thinking about her long career full of obstacles, financial hardships, and prejudices against her dark skin. But in the end she did the awaited encore. 

Praised by the whole press, her performance of a piece of the Brazilian icon of classical music was also heartily appreciated by Mindinha, the composer's widow, who gave her the sheet music and asked her to interpret Villa-Lobos' "Samba Clássico" in a future appointment. Cardoso's touching interpretation was repeated at the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro, and so was the response of the audience; again 15 minutes of standing ovation and the insistent asking of an encore.  

In 1965, thrilled by the show Rosa de Ouro, idealized by Hermínio Bello de Carvalho, which launched Clementina de Jesus and brought again to the stage Araci Cortes, accompanied by Paulinho da Viola, Elton Medeiros, Jair do Cavaquinho, Anescar do Salgueiro, and Nelson Sargento, Cardoso communicated her intention to record all the songs of the show. Rehearsing each song with the instrumentalists, in June 1965 she recorded in just four days one of the masterpieces of the Brazilian popular music, Elizete Sobe o Morro. It represented the debut of Nelson Cavaquinho on record, both as a guitarist and singer. It was also the first time that Paulinho da Viola had one of his songs recorded. 

In that same year, Cardoso performed at the Cassino Estoril, in Portugal, and, upon her return, she was invited to host the TV Record show Bossaudade, which lasted for 18 months. In 1966, she participated in the Festival of Black Arts, in Dakar, Senegal, and in the next year, her album A Enluarada Elizete had the participation of Pixinguinha, Cartola, Clementina de Jesus, and Codó. In February 1968, Cardoso participated in the historic show at the João Caetano theater, produced by Hermínio Bello de Carvalho for the Image and Sound Museum, with the Zimbo Trio, Jacob do Bandolim, and his group Época de Ouro. The show was recorded live and released on two LPs.  

In the same year, Cardoso toured with the Zimbo Trio through Latin America. In 1969, she would be invited to participate, together with the Zimbo Trio, in the Inter-American Festival of Popular Music in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 1970, she toured the U.S. with the trio. Five years later, Cardoso had enormous success in Paris, France, at the MIDEM. In 1977 and 1978, she toured Japan, and in 1979 she performed with the Camerata Carioca directed by Radamés Gnattali. The relationship with the Camerata would endure until her last recordings. In 1983, she performed again with the Camerata and Gnattali in the show Uma Rosa Para Pixinguinha, a tribute to Pixinguinha in the tenth anniversary of his passing, later released as a LP. In the next year, Cardoso opened the show Leva Meu Samba, a tribute to Ataulfo Alves in the 15th anniversary of his demise, which toured northeastern Brazil (Fortaleza, Recife, Maceió, Salvador, Feira de Santana, and Ilhéus) and was released as a LP in 1985. In 1986, she commemorated the 50th anniversary of her career with the show and LP Luz e Esplendor. In August of the next year, she toured Japan again with the Zimbo Trio, the Choro Carioca, and Altamiro Carrilho. In 1988, she was paid tribute at the ceremony of the I Sharp Prize Awards. In the next year, she performed with Raphael Rabello at the Seis e Meia project, in a show which brought the Divine again to the headlines. 

Already consumed by the cancer that would kill her, Cardoso still wanted to realize one of her old dreams, which was to record an album dedicated to the compositions by Ary Barroso. In spite of the interest of Hermínio Bello de Carvalho, there was no budget. Ary Amoroso was only produced through the sponsoring of a furniture factory. One cannot imagine that she was suffering pains during the recording sessions, as her voice was, as always, impeccable. The very Ary Barroso would probably repeat his own words describing her interpretation if he was alive, the reason why Bello de Carvalho remembered them in the liner notes: "Artista de raça. Voz suavíssima e convincente. Interpretação magnífica." ("A race artist. A sweetest and convincing voice. Magnificent interpretation.")  

(By Alvaro Neder from allmusic.com)