Literally, the term ‘estrela acesa’ in Portugese means starlit. But the Sao Paolo, Brazil singer-songwriter Sessa gives the term a wide set of nocturnal nuances on his second album that bears this title.
On the album, Sessa is able to bring forward all the best elements of Brazilian music has been coming up for decades since the term Bossa Nova became popular outside its country of origin and add enough current musical touches to it to give it a completely modern sound and feel.
The idea was, as the artist puts it himself, “to remind people of how music grounds our existence in a meaningful way, with its potential to give roots to the divine in a modern world lacking in symbolic weight.”
Put just in words, it sounds like quite a lofty concept, but Sessa and his core trio of bassist Marcelo Cabral, and percussionist Biel Basiel are able to present it with such musical finesse that it’s able to create exactly the emotions that Sessa is after, no matter whether you understand his lyrics or not.
Sessa is able to create such an atmosphere, groove, and feeling that connects his visions of Bossa to that of any great spiritual jazz master, whether it is John Coltrane or Lonnie ‘Liston’ Smith, to name just two.
And yes, Sessa’s Estrela Acesa is that good.
