New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Media Mania) - Forget Lambada,the newest latin music craze brings together a Brazilian force of nature and a Latin stud and former Menudo causing an explosion of music and dance. This is Parayzo, the soundtrack for paradise. She had just recorded her first demo and was planning to get back to the music scene she had left behind.
Valeria had put her career on hold in search of true love. All she found was heartbreak. Now she was determined to pick up where she had left things off.
At last she had found her true musical identity, going back to her roots in the street parties of Bahia, land of colors and rhythms, cradle of Carnival, where the musicians of Olodum, and sensations Daniela Mercury and Ivete Sangalo started their careers.
He had spent most of his life traveling around the world since leaving home at the age of 13. A child star, he had finally matured and was redefining his path, working on his music and writing about his past and his newly-found home. He longed for something he did not know where to find.
She was looking for an artist to sing two Spanish songs for her CD; he was invited and soon boarded the first flight to Salvador, Bahia, where she waited.
The chemistry was strong; they knew it. By the time they left the airport they were singing the same songs that made him famous 20 years before and captured her heart. Back them he was simply Roy, the Menudo, that together with Ricky Martin and Robby Rosa, took the world by storm in the 80s; and she was another teenage fan who rushed to see her idol perform and screamed his name for hours.
After two cold beers, two acaraje's (typical food of Bahia), on the famous Itapua~ Beach, a true friendship was forged and Parayzo was born: a perfect blend of Latin rhythm and passion.
Now this Brazilian-Caribbean duo is ready to hit the road, creating music and spreading love.
A former Menudo and a Brazilian bombshell meet up in Parayzo
The perfect soundtrack for paradise
The new duo blends the best of Brazilian and Caribbean sounds and rhythms
On one hand, the sensuality of a Brazilian woman bearing a Gypsy name and soul: Valeria Flor Cigana (Valeria Gypsy Flower); on the other, the perfect Latin lover, born in Puerto Rico, heart of the Caribbean. She had always dreamed of blending forro', a typical rhythm from the Brazilian Northeast, with Flamenco guitars; he wanted to mix Portuguese and Spanish, Caribbean and Brazilian sounds. Both of them wanted to create music to make people dance. They met by chance and Parayzo was born. Together, Roy and Valeria, Brazil and Puerto Rico, Spanish and Portuguese, Forro' and Salsa.
Produced by Victor Pozas and PH Castanheira, who have worked with many Latin stars, their first album brings a mixture of rhythms and styles. Roy Stephan, better known for his stint as a Menudo, shows his songwriting skills in three of the 14 songs 'Recuerdos', 'Histo'ria de Amor' and 'Pais do Samba e do Futebol' which describe his passions: women, Brazil and, of course, soccer.
[The album also features three songs by Miami-based Brazilian husband and wife Ce'sar Lemos e Karla Aponte, who have worked with Ricky Martin, Thalia, and Robby Rosa: 'Se Me Sube', 'Me Agarra e Vem' and 'De Onde Sou' - the latter became a hit in Spanish performed by Thalia. Parayzo also snatched 'Amor Cigano - Venga Bailar' from gypsy singer and songwriter Alexandre Flores.
To spice up the Latin mixture, the duo was heavily influenced by the culture and the music from the North and Northeast of Brazil, more specifically, forro'. Emerson Mozart da Bahia, Cla'udio Padilha, Betinho Muniz e Dejobson Voxman da Parai'ba are responsible for the other seven tracks of the album.]
Roy and Valeria
Roy Stephan
Roy Stephan Rossello' Di'az was born in Rio Piedras, Porto Rico. At 11, he enrolled in the country's top music school and by age 13, started his career with Menudo, one of the greatest pop phenomena of all times. He participated in several TV series and shows, such as Love Boat, The Morning Show, Solid Gold, Good Morning America, Soul Train, and appeared in all the major networks, such as CBS, NBC and Fox, in addition to several international festivals and award ceremonies, such as Tokyo Music Festival, where he won the Gold Award. In 1985, he was a presenter at the Grammys handing the award to Michael Jackson for the album 'Thriller.'
Menudo holds the Guiness' record for largest audience in a concert, 200 thousand people at Morumbi Stadium, in Sao Paulo, in 1984. Roy's film credits include Cannon Ball Run 2, with Burt Reynolds, with the theme song 'Like a Cannon Ball.' At age 17, he left Menudo to pursue a solo career. He spent an entire year touring the United States, starred a movie called Star of Jungle and was the host of Frente Jovem, a Brazilian TV show.
More recently, through another TV show in Brazil, he met his long-lost daughter and decided to settle in the South American country. Roy fell in love with the people, the culture, the tropical weather and the hospitality he found in Brazil, his new home.
Vale'ria Flor Cigana
Vale'ria Machado Branda~o was born in Itabuna, south of Bahia, and grew up by the sea, in Ilhe'us, a town made famous by one of Brazil's greatest writers, Jorge Amado. Her father was a singer and her mother organized the town's famous dancing parties. Since she was a little girl, Valeria sang with her dad in family get-togethers.
But dance was her true passion and it was dance that catapulted her to the stage. By chance, she was asked to be one of the backing vocals for a local band and before she knew it, she was the lead singer for 'Bandamor', a Brazilian Axe' band. After a brief hiatus, she started researching Flamenco rhythms and decided to blend the sounds with her native forro' and Bahia's swing. She recorded her first demo and was looking for a male vocal to record in Spanish when she met Roy and together they are the hottest Brazilian-Latin duo, Parayzo.
TRACKS:
1) AMOR CIGANO - VENGA BAILAR (AMOR GITANO) (Alexandre Flores - Versa~o Roy Rossello')
2) SE ME SUBE (SOBE SOBE)(Cesar Lemos/ Karla Aponte)
3) MENINO EU ARRIEI (Emerson Mozart)
4) ME AGARRA E VEM (Cesar Lemos/ Karla Aponte)
5) HISTO'RIA DE AMOR (Roy Rossello'/ Sapo)
6) SE VOCE^ QUISER (Emerson Mozart)
7) RECUERDOS (Roy Rossello')
8) ENTRE TOQUES E CARI'CIAS (Claudio Padilha/ Roy Rossello')
9) SO' O AMOR (Betinho Muniz/ Claudio Padilha)
10) TOQUES E DELI'RIOS (Claudio Padilha/ Roy Rossello') Ed. Lumi Art
11) REVANCHE (Dejobson Voxman)
12) AMO DEMAIS (Dejobson Voxman)
13) DE ONDE SOU (Cesar Lemos / Carla Aponte)
14) PAI'S DO SAMBA E DO FUTEBOL (Roy Rossello'/ Sapo/ Gui Musselli)
site:
www.parayzo.com.br
