[ Don't forget to join the Virtual Summit in the morning for Jeffrey Sachs and our panel on environmental sustainability in the afternoon. See the posted items on the event page on Facebook to download a guide on how to join. ]

Opening Session - Tuesday 19th August

Sarah-Jo Dawson - IYPF and IYPS organisaing committee

• Delegates from over 25 countries, including Engineers, IT professionals, Journalists, Educationalists etc.
• Idea of conference is to be really interactive - use all the keys skills and experience of delegates, develop peer-to-peer culture
• Having a more specific topic for the conference was considered but was decided to keep it more open to include all the varies skill of professionals in the network
• The teams feels that the geographical and skill breadth of young professionals involved means we can offer much to help

Professor Tony Ridley - Commonwealth Engineers Council, Patron of IYPF

• The Commonwealth Engineers Council has held meetings at the same time as CHOGM since 1997, when 25 young commonwealth engineers met hosted by CEC so that young engineers had an outlet to decision makers of the world - send a declaration to the heads of government
• Important to find potential political outlets in order to achieve what you wish to achieve
• CEC continued the tradtion of hosting young enginners every years in the same city as the CHOGM, and in 2001 young commonwealth professionals met. In 2001 IYPF was created from this Brisbane meeting
• 25 engineers has morphed into a network of young professional from over 100 countries and diverse backgrounds, but retains a focus on poverty, sustainability and advocacy
• 'Never be afraid to demand to be heard'

Cameron Neil - IYPF CEO

• IYPF was launched in 2001 to carry forward the dreams, ambitions and goals of the young professionals involved in the Summits
• Aims to keep people involved in making the world a better place after they leave university and join the real world of employment and families. Realise as you get older you colleagues and peers are doing increasingly amazing things - aims to tap into these skills and resources
• Together have impact to make significant impact on the world
• Theories of change, need Awareness, Action and Association - more powerful when working in a group
• The IYPS Dream. Signed by 120 delegates in 2001 to represent the world we want to live in
• The Summit outcomes - some documents - primarily about delegates getting what they want from the summit
• The Summit is kept intimate to give everyone a chance to interact and connect - get involved

--
Compiled by Susan Long, IYPS 08 Volunteer

Edited and published by Cameron Neil

I headed off in the morning to the Australian Science and Math School, hosted at Flinders University. The school is only a few years old, and is built with an open concept -- no classrooms, but instead a number of large spaces with desks and chairs that reconfigured in many different ways to foster teamwork and collaboration. We had a large group - about 50 teachers and school leaders, and had a really interesting day -- when I showed the "Are you listening?" video, a whole bunch of students gathered upstairs in the area overlooking where I was speaking to watch - I think they were really curious that so many teachers were learning about their way of using technology!

After a fantastic dinner by the water with a group of curriculum developers, I headed to sleep -- because I had to catch a 6:40am flight to Canberra!

I made it to the nation's capital early in the morning, and it was freezing! 0 degrees but it warmed up as the sun rose... I had a few hours to fit the gym and have lunch before heading to Canberra University -- the group in Canberra decided to have an evening workshop (4-9pm) with dinner. Although everyone had a full day of work before showing up, we still had a lot of active participation, and after wrapping up at 9 and getting back to the hotel around 10, it was time for sleep for another 6:45am flight back to Sydney for the last workshop of the trip!

Arriving in Sydney in the morning, with my 32kg on-the-dot bag faithfully appearing on the carousel, I headed off to Parramatta right on time, and arrived 3 minutes before the workshop was to begin! We had the biggest crowd of any session -- around 60 people, and so a lot of the interactive sections took a lot longer than usual, but they had great ideas and a large group of schools approached me after and wants to deeply engage their entire district with TIGed, which is exciting! After wrapping up and chatting with a bunch of the attendees, I was off to one of my favourite hotels in the world -- the Westin Sydney, to relax, enjoy their great gym, and have dinner with Jenny, who had the whole series of workshops organized, to debrief on the experience (yum, Tasmanian lamb!). After that, I met up with Jarra and Nick, and headed to Micky's for dessert (Banana Pancakes and Ice Cream!) to catch up and for me to celebrate the completion of 10 sessions in 11 days in 5 cities!

I'm writing this now on the flight to Vancouver -- I managed to get right to sleep after lunch on the 10am flight, which will hopefully mean I can work through the North American day and head to sleep at a proper time tonight. Saturday, we head to Quebec City for the World Youth Congress to meet TIG members from all over the world. I've also agreed to head to Brisbane on the 19th to speak at the Queenland Government's e-learning summit, and after that, I'll be ready to just settle down at home and enjoy the rest of the summer in Toronto :)

Testimonial

On my knees I have sat
All my plans were worn-out
Fifty swords around me
Hands were tied to move not.
***
Darkness; fear and terror
Dwelled inside mirror
Frightened; I committed my
Unforgiven error.
***
I recalled the murder
It was not time to ponder
I barely breathe but whispered:
“I would not surrender”.
***
Words untolerated
Pain accumulate
Unyielding resistance
Though I suffocated
***
I testified:
That was in a moonlit night
When she loked into the mirror
And sighed
No one could resist the terror
When he rushed out of mirror
Holding evil in his hand.
She cried
***
Swaying like a lizard
Shifting like a wizard
Laying on a sofa
She would never be hard
***
Sins and filthy motion
Sources of a fortune
Every night a new one
Betraying devotion
***
Laughter under red light
Touching her and holding tight
Hypnotised;
I have lost the sight
***
Fast as light; or faster!
That thing was disaster
Rushed out of the mirror
Stabbed her in the centre
***
I testified:
That was in a moonlit night
When she rushed out of the mirror
And sighed
A shining light was on his sword
Running and his face was blurred.
Taking her soul with his hand
She died
***
Blood and frowning face
Oh no! She was dying!
Swaying of her pain this time
Not of pleasure anymore.
Silence filled the space
I have felt like crying
I ran in the rain outside
Trying to forget the whore.
***
I gave my testimonial
Just after her burial
Ash of her cremation
Was kept as memorial
***
Fifty swords were closer
To m neck and shoulder
Of my fear I shuddered
Crying my surrender.
***
How many times shall we regret
The tings we have done?
We only cry and pray to Lord
When his mercy’s gone!
We can’t deny the sins we do
We already know
That we won’t find no where to hide
But yet we go through……………
THE SIN.
***
Whisper:
Cursed id the whore…cursed is adultery…cursed is the world that follows a bitch!

Now that I've been away a full week, I forced myself to carve out some time to reflect on the intensity of the time so far before kicking off the second stretch.

As always, our summers at TakingITGlobal are quite busy -- generally for the education "industry", most conferences are held during the summer when teachers have school holidays. This summer, as a follow-up to my keynote at last October's ACEL (Australian Counsel of Educational Leaders) conference (which was apparently quite good even though I was quite sick at the time), I was invited to be a "Traveling Scholar" for ACEL, presenting 5 full-day workshops on TakingITGlobal to school leaders and teachers across Australia. In addition, I started off the trip by keynoting a leadership conference at Melbourne Grammar School, and today keynoted the International Middle Years conference in Adelaide... so I've made quite good use of two weeks!

Sunday - Wednesday: Melbourne

After the trek from Toronto to Vancouver to Sydney to Melbourne, I knew the first thing I needed to do to keep my sanity was to spend a good amount of time at the fitness center at the Westin. What a great idea - it helped me refresh, have a fantastic swim in the beautiful infinity pool, and after a brief stroll that was quickly canceled when the rain started, I got to sleep at a reasonable hour.

On Monday, I woke up nice and early and arrived at the charming greened campus of Melbourne Grammar, one of Melbourne's oldest and most respected private schools. To their enormous credit, they had invited students from a broad cross-section of Melbourne to attend the conference, in addition to a grade of their students. I was brilliantly introduced by one of their capable students, and my keynote was well-received - with more questions from students than we had time for. Following the keynote, a panel including a futurist, scientist, and Aboriginal leader Patrick Dodson, who cited my presentation several times as they discussed issues of leadership in the 21st century and challenged students to act on the issues they felt challenged by. In the afternoon, I ran several hours of hands-on workshops guiding a small group of students through the TIG site and beginning the Guide to Action as a tool for action planning.

Tuesday morning, I visited Kilsyth, a suburb of Melbourne, and ran a 3 hour workshop with a group of teachers across that region looking at TIG and especially with an interest in Health education... it was a good challenge because we didn't have Internet except for a very slow 2G connection, so I was able to get well prepared and experiment with some activities for the following days' sessions!

That evening, I traveled to Mooney Valley Racecourse (home of Australia's best race - the Cox plate, worth $3 million!) and presented our work at TIG to about 150 principals, who also had some great questions, and I enjoyed meeting a teacher who grew up in Mississauga and had spent his recent years enjoying and exploring Australia's wilderness.

On Wednesday, I spent from 9 AM to 3:30 PM with an enthusiastic group of teachers and principals learning about TIG, exploring global issues, and understanding how to fit our programs and ideas at TIG into the curriculum and everyday use in their classrooms. I also shared our Best Practices on Global Education resource with them... and then I was off to the airport, heading to my next destination: Tasmania!

Thursday - Saturday: Hobart, Tasmania

On Thursday, I woke up and did it all over again, in a beautiful setting amongst Lemon trees at Lateare Gardens in Hobart with a fire burning to keep us all warm and cozy from the cold outside! I think the goals of what we do at TakingITGlobal really connected closely with some people - one teacher was literally in tears sharing how wonderful she thought what we did was... it's really a special opportunity (as exhausting as it is) to be able to share our work with people that are also dedicating their lives to helping young people develop. I think sometimes we all forget the power and opportunity we have to impact the lives of others - and I feel like a few people really felt reconnected to that opportunity, which is really an amazing opportunity to be able to stimulate.

After a short 2 hour break to refresh and do some e-mail, I headed off to the Hobart Yacht club, where I addressed about 50 high school principals, who weren't able to attend the day's workshop because they were having a leadership retreat. I had to pack 90 minutes into a 30 minute before dinner speech, so I think it was overwhelming, but many of them were quite excited by what we do... and I had delicious local Salmon which was a bonus!

The next day was my main day off. I decided not to head off to my next destination right away, but to stick around in Hobart and see some of the beautiful wildlife Tasmania has to offer. So I signed up for a Tasman Island Eco Cruise - having no idea how much of an adventure it would be! After a scenic bus ride to Port Arthur, one of the main convict colonies from the 1800s, we boarded a powerful boat (675 HP) that they describe as a 4x4 of the sea. Initially the ride was quite smooth - and we discovered some caves and amazing rock formations on the coast. The "swells" were only about 1 meter, and so it was just like jumping waves on a boat at home.

However, once we got out to the Tasman Sea, things got a lot more interesting. The waves and the winds were coming strongly from an unusual direction, and 2-3 meter waves and swells gave us quite a ride! I had chosen to sit in the 4th row (moved from the 2nd) and for close to an hour, we jumped waves and it felt like we were on a roller coaster as we plunged down after riding a wave.... but I stuck with my seat - a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

We arrived at two areas with Australian and New Zealand seals, and at a cove where dolphins chased our boat around until we had to leave - amazing to lean over and watch them at the water and bow of the boat jumping up playfully! A number of albatross with their huge wingspans also provided us with an amazing show - watching them fish and gracefully glide across the sky with nothing around us but huge rock and menacing water... or what looked menacing in my book. In 1998, however, the water was so rough that in the annual Sydney-Hobart race, five boats sank and six sailors were killed.

On Saturday morning, before heading to the airport, I spent a few hours enjoying the Salamanca Market, with hundreds of stalls offering delicious local treats and art and coffee and everything needed to pass a few hours and take in the culture of a place!

Sunday - Monday: Adelaide, South Australia

Now I'm here in Adelaide, where this morning I keynoted the International Middle Years of Schooling conference, and was again introduced by a fantastic student duo! I gave out dozens of bookmarks afterwards, with many many people promising to check out the site and connect their students into TIG. I was also followed by an excellent presentation by Professor Erica, who gave a talk on creativity that linked really perfectly and built on top of many of the themes I covered.

Tomorrow I'm off to the Australian Science and Mathematics School to do another day-long workshop, and then heading to Canberra the next morning... I'll be sure to check in soon with more! And I'll be editing this entry in about 2 hours with photos once they upload.

G'day for now, Mike

Tuesday 29 July will see two acclaimed Latin funk collectives take to the Jazz Café stage in a special gig to showcase new albums on Aire Sol Records.

Hailed as one of the hardest-working and most exciting bands to emerge from the States in the last decade, Grupo Fantasma draws on a wide variety of influences from the 1960s’ Fania All-Stars through to folk-fusion wonderkid Manu Chao. Sonidos Gold, released in June this year, is described by bandleader Adrian Quesada as “the one we’ve wanted to make from the beginning,” and features guest appearances from, among others, legendary saxist Maceo Parker. Prince is also a designated star fan, having given the 10-piece group a two-month residency at his Las Vegas nightclub.

Homenaje, the debut album from label-mates Brownout, was two-and-a-half years in the making. It was worth waiting for. Simmering, acerbic grooves, catchy guitar riffs and richly funky solos come as standard. It’s impossible not to feel the energetic party vibes - the CD is one to turn up and play loud, which almost always translates into a highly enjoyable live experience. In fact, you probably won’t be surprised to find out that the eight members of Brownout all play in Grupo Fantasma.

There is clearly a deep pool of talent in Austin, Texas — the home city of both groups. More importantly, they have evidently worked incredibly hard to bring their music to a global audience: the label was formed in 1999. Now they are reaping the rewards, with distribution deals and festival appearances to take things to a new level. Watch out.

Hackneyed cliché it may be, but Kenny Garrett really has done it all. Work with names such as Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock provides a mere glimpse of his glittering CV, augmented by recording dates for labels including Atlantic, Warner and Nonesuch.

At Ronnie’s he was joined by Lennie Stalworth on bass, Jeff Motley on organ and impressive young drummer Justin Brown. The opening number was reminiscent of Davis’s late fusion group, in which Garrett prominently featured, and he opted to play his alto through a variety of electronic effects. Its fluid, shimmering tone was cheapened to the level of poor quality synth sax and struggled for penetration above the bustling band.

This alarming trait continued, with Garrett often abandoning his horn to join Motley on a second keyboard. Not a wise move. Indeed, it was Brown on drums who threw up the most surprises; his energetic, imaginative cross-rhythmic ideas saved many tunes from turning into drearily predictable elevator music.

Garrett’s apparent preference for cheesy smooth jazz in the vein of near-namesake jazz pariah Kenny G will leave purists foaming at the mouth. A final grandstand version of ‘Happy People’ served as the perfect example: with its gospelesque organ vamps and cringingly catchy sing-along sax melody, accompanied by animated calls from Garrett to bring the crowd to its feet for repeated choruses, it represented an undeniable trend of “selling out” to popular appeal.

The performance’s jazz merit was questionable – especially in relation to Garrett’s established post-bop credentials. However, if judged only against itself, it cannot fail to satisfy. The skull-capped saxophonist’s open defiance of “Quiet Please” jazz club decorum demands respect. How often does a full house at Ronnie Scott’s rise as one to sing, dance and applaud? Traditionalists will always take issue, but lovers of enjoyable good-time music have a powerful counterargument.

Here's further proof that the simplest tools often make the greenest sense. For making woodstoves that save 43,000 tons of wood each year, the CEO of a green business in India won the top honors at the Ashden Awards held in London recently. Svati Bhogle helms TIDE, which makes efficient woodstoves and kilns especially for small industries, stoves renowned for conserving 30 percent of fuel. TIDE and its 10,000 products are also directly credited for having improved working conditions for 110,000 workers.

The Ashden Awards iis known as the "Green Energy Oscars" and recognizes and rewards local communities for utilizing sustainable energy. For her win, Bhogle received £40,000.

For more details of the story check out:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/080619/world/britain_india_energy_climate_environment_1

I'm speaking tomorrow at PUSH, an interesting conference here in Minneapolis, MN

The first session that just wrapped up was quite interesting - Chandran Nair took us through a look at the world's problems and how many misconceptions there are about what can solve them. What I found striking was the comparison of world problems to spending on trivial/much less meaningful things:

Health & Nutrition ($13B) : Petfood Spending in the USA ($17B)
Water and Sanitation ($9B) : Ice Cream in Europe ($11B)
Education ($6B) : Cosmetics in the USA ($8B)

Jonathan Greenblatt, one of the co-founders of Ethos Water, also gave us a compelling look into the world of Water and how simple and cheap ($25/person) it is to solve. The one thing I don't get - on a $1.79 bottle of water, Starbucks (which acquired Ethos) donates 5 cents (10 cents in Canada oddly). They were founded on the basis of donating 50% of profits... I can't believe profit on that bottle of water is only 10 cents! (considering how much cheaper other bottled water is). Anyway, he now works with a new magazine - GOOD - which has a unique subscription model of giving away the $20 subscription fee to a charity of your choice.

"Say NO to Violence against Women" is a global Internet-driven advocacy effort, organized by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). It invites people to sign their names to a virtual book as an expression of public support and a call to decision-makers worldwide to make ending violence against women a top priority. As a partner in the campaign, the International Young Professionals Foundation is urging more people everywhere to click and be counted. Over 225,000 people from around the world have signed on. We ask that you please help UNIFEM reach its goal of at least 1,000,000 signatures by November 2008.

How to help:

1) Visit www.saynotoviolence.org and sign the campaign’s ‘virtual’ book.


2) Add your group as a ‘Supporting Organization’ and be included on the global campaign website, receive updates and stay informed.

3) Utilize the Campaign Toolkit, which provides press releases, videos and more—most are provided in English, French and Spanish.

4) Add the campaign’s application to your Facebook profile: Log in to Facebook, click on applications, search for UNIFEM, and add “campaign” to your profile … and invite friends and colleagues to sign and pass on.

5) Send the campaign link and message to colleagues and friends.

Sign your name, spread the word, Say NO to Violence against Women.

Suggestions? Questions? Go to saynotoviolence@unifem.org.

Problems facing the world, as a Nigerian born, I will like to share my experience in dealing with problem in nigeria facing the world, Are All Nigerians Criminals?, Are All Criminals Nigerians? there are good people and bad people everywhere in the world, 500 years agos europeens travel down to african to search for goods in solving problem facing the europeen continent, In 1970s 1 US dollar = 90kobo not up to 1 naira. if the europeen immigrants as 500 years past was treated as how the present african immigrant in europe where treated as of today i will assure you that europe will never be as of today, I also want to remind you that those europeen travel then as 500 years agos travel without visa, they were welcome and give all what they need and things were goes on well the way they plan it that is why they were suceed. As of today I will like to imform the Nigeria govenment to try and check themself verywell. All europeen embassy and American embassy in Nigeria rechecked your contract likewise nigerian embassy in europe and america. United nations how many years will takes us in soving the same problem when problem is made by you. a normal humanbeign living in a well develop country find himself/herself have no right in anything, work, house, talk and so on, the person have already made to be criminal by the Law of that nation. A country like nigeria depend on Oil. which as at many years back; Nigeria oil have to be Refining outside the country before it used buying and re-selling. I will like to inform the world that Nigeria contribute a lot in improvement in any developed country of today but nigerians where paid back with nothing just distruction. Many Nigerians that charge for any criminal offence where made like that. There is a trap made for people who live in a world that the difficult aspect of Law were made for them, seek for right to live, seek for right to work and even seek for right to sleep with your wife/man, seek for right to talk, slavering you till you will commit a crime and the crime will charge against you and send you to prison in dimage your life and the image of your country. What friends does a Lion do with Dog. All favoring doors are closed but the unfavor is open for you. try to be wise and never enter those trap.

Association of World Citizens - documentation of the Special Session of the UN Human Rights Council
22 May, 2008

Citizens of the World welcome the Special Session of the Human Rights Council devoted to the Right to Food and the current world food crisis.

Today, cooperation is needed among the UN family of agencies, national governments, non-governmental organizations, and the millions of food producers to respond to the food crisis which has already led to destabilizing food riots. There is a need for swift, short-term measures to help people now suffering from lack of food and malnutrition due to high food prices, inadequate distribution, and situations of violence.

Such short-term action requires additional funding for the UN World Food Programme and the release of national food stocks. However, it is the longer-range and structural issues on which we must focus our attention.

The world requires a World Food Policy and a At the Rome World Food Conference in November 1974, the then US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger declared that the bold objective of the conference was that "within a decade, no child will go hungry, no family will fear for its next day´s bread, and no human being´s future and capacity will be stunted by malnutrition."

Yet in 1996, then UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali could write, "There has been little progress in reducing malnutrition. In sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the number of malnourished children is actually rising. Almost a third of all children under five in developing countries are malnourished, and malnutrition still contributes to more than half the deaths of young children in these countries." Even the modest Millennium Development goal of halving hunger by 2015 is not being met. Thus, we must agree with a World Bank evaluation that, "The development community, and the world as a whole, has consistently failed to address malnutrition over the past decades."

A central theme which citizens of the world have long stressed is that there needs to be a world food policy and that a world food policy is more than the sum of national food security programs. Food security has too often been treated as a collection of national problems. Typical of this approach is the General Comment 12 on The Right to Adequate Food of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights "The Covenant clearly requires that each State party take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that everyone is free from hunger and as soon as possible can enjoy the right to adequate food. This will require the adoption of a national strategy to ensure food and nutrition security for all, based on human rights principles that define the objectives, and the formulation of policies and corresponding benchmarks."

Yet the focus on the formulation of national plans is clearly inadequate.

There is a need for a world plan of action with focused attention to the role that UN and regional institutions must play if hunger is to be sharply reduced. It is clear that certain regional bodies, such as the European Union, already play an important role in setting agricultural policy both in terms of production and export policy. There may be a time when the African Union also will play a crucial role in setting policy, monitoring and coordinating agriculture.

It is certain that attention must be given to the local and national level of food production, distribution, and food security. Attention needs to be given to cultural factors, the division of labor between women and men in agriculture and rural development, in marketing local food products, to the role of small farmers, to the role of landless agricultural labor, and land-holding patterns.

However, for the formulation of a dynamic world food policy, world economic trends and structures need to be analysed, and policy goals made clear. There are at least five areas that world citizens suggest as a focus for the Special Session: climate change, energy costs, ethanol, the food production and export policy of major agricultural production States, the role of speculation in commodities.

1) There is a need to intensify action on climate change. This year (2007-2008), there has been bad weather in key growing areas. Australia, normally the world´s second-largest wheat exporter, has been suffering from an epic drought. This may be a result of particular weather conditions this year or may be a sign of climate change. It is necessary to analyse the impact of climate change on long- term food production and see alternative strategies.

2) Higher prices for food are in part a reflection of the higher price of oil and energy costs. Much modern farming is energy-intensive for producing fertilizers, running tractors, and transporting farm products to consumers, often at long distances.
Oil prices are influenced by the violence and social breakdown in Iraq and heavy speculation on the oil markets. There is need both for short term measures to bring oil prices down to a reasonable level based on production costs and transportation as well as longer-range energy policies to free countries from oil dependence.

3) Higher prices for oil have encouraged a greater use of ethanol and other biofuels, often without consideration of the impact of the production of biofuels on land use and food production.
While biofuels are likely to be useful, their use should be limited at present so that the consequences of their use can be studied and biofuels developed from non-food sources.

4) Governmental food and agriculture policies need to be analysed and reviewed carefully. The agricultural policies of the European Union and the larger food-exporting countries - USA, Canada, Brazil, Australia - need to be reviewed along with the impact of agricultural subsidies and export encouragement.

5) There needs to be a detailed analysis ot the role of speculation in the rise of commodity prices. Banks and hedge funds, having lost money in the real estate mortgage packages, are now investing massively in commodities. For the moment, there is little governmental regulation of this speculation. There needs to be an analysis of these financial flows and their impact on the price of grains.

A world food policy for the welfare of all requires a close look at world institutions and patterns of production and trade. As Stringfellow Barr wrote in his 1952 book Citizens of the World "Since the hungry billion in the world community believe that we can all eat if we set our common house in order, they believe also that it is unjust that some men die because it is too much trouble to arrange for them to live."

Formed in a Rio de Janeiro hippy refuge in 1999, Ponto de Equilíbrio blend traditional aspects of roots reggae with musical flavours from across Brazil into an utterly distinctive and highly refreshing individual sound.

The group's second album, Abre a Janela, conveys a similarly diverse selection of moods and emotions, from deep, mellow grooves such as 'Janela Da Favela,' to summery upbeat songs like 'Verdaderio Valor' or 'Tão Bela' and a delightful cover of Bob Marley's classic 'Soul Rebel'.

Lead singer Helio Bentes plays the expected principal role with a richly animated and passionate voice, perfect for reggae. However, this does not deprive other band members of opportunities to express themselves. All the songs are finely structured with verses often sparingly allocated, augmented by the hovering ghostly presence of sweet female backing vocals and sharp horn arrangements. It is certainly more than a sum of its musical parts, tailored wonderfully by producer Chico Neves.

'Ponto de Equilíbrio' translates as 'Point of Equilibrium' – an excellent reflection of the myriad of musical characters present, all balanced and brought out in equal measure. No single element is dominant or overriding. Afro-Brazilian dance rhythms such as maculele, capoeira and maracatu, as well as dub and ska, are all underpinned by the constant spirit and feel of roots reggae.

On another level, the band name references the balance point between equality and love, injustice and war, and political messages are present on several tracks. 'O Inimigo' (The Enemy), for example, is an attack on the Brazilian establishment. It represents a fervent cry for people to fight the well-documented social segregation and racial discrimination which ravages Brazilian society. Spiky horn stabs punctuate the opening verses, and a later passage of rapped lyrics over minimal dub background provides an interesting contrast.

Abre a Janela is a set of tunes as colourful and striking as its album artwork. It captures the sheer diversity of history, culture and life in Brazil – each track has its own distinct personality. Neves has succeeded in harnessing the considerable powers of this talented band and making them sound great: the CD has been on daily rotation since it arrived, which is possibly the greatest praise any record can receive.


Published @ Fly, 30/5/08 - click here for original.