Musicians Collective & Record Label based in Vienna, Austria. Creation and Presentation of Original Music. Best of Vienna - since 2004

Nothing is pure. Rebel yourself.
Célia Mara makes music with a big smile.
Singing about new, interesting times.

Célia Mara is a Brazilian artist, born and grown up in the Vale de Jequitinhonhas (Minas Gerais). Now, she is living mostly in Vienna, Austria and sometimes in Salvador, Bahia - tuning the world with her Bastard Sound and presenting a new approach to Brazilian Diaspora music.
Célia Mara sings, plays, composes and arranges. She is a bandleader and a solo artist, a 21st. century singer - songwriter,
a real Brazilian groove lady, a jazz singer full of emotion,
a screaming rock star, a sensual seduction, a funky entertainer…
And she’s always carrying a message for peace and social justice with her …
Célia Mara’s charismatic voice, her strong compositions, the eclectic, but typically Brazilian mixture and the edgy electro-arrangements pushed her latest albums Santa Rebeldia and bastardista among the headliners of „Global Bricolagistas:
Los de Abajo, DJ Dolores, Manu Chao and Mariam and Amadou, Zuco 103, Celia Mara, Ojos de Brujo and Zuba were just a few of the names that grabbed our attention in a year when the world said no to globalization and yes to global music culture mash up.“
Damian Rafferty / fly-global music culture, UK

Célia got an export award -„Copa da Cultura“ - from the Brazilian Ministry of Culture, the albums were among the Top of the European World Music Charts and ranked in between the “best of the year, best of the week” selections in different countries. Célia was also awarded for her social and cultural work with the Herta Pammer Preis in Austria and selected Austrias best world music artist…

Célia Mara is certainly one of the most impressing latin front-ladies living between Brazil & Central Europe… Her passionate singing has led Healer Selecta, of the United Kingdom’s reason2b, to label her as “the best Brazilian international underground artist.” For spontaneous live sessions, Célia’s bastard sound attracted as great artists as Joe Zawinul, Konstantin Wecker, Amparo Sanchez (Amparanoia), Olodum, Think of One, Magou & Dakar Transit or Reggaeman Lazzo Matumbi…

Célia Mara band performed during the last years between hyped clubs in London, Moscow or Prag, in prestigious concert halls like the famous Vienna Opera House or the national palace of culture in Sofia. She played at huge Reggae-, Jazz-, Groove- or World Music festivals throughout Europe, was invited to Latin Americas biggest festival, Ollin Kan in Mexico City, she presented her songs on “fightin‘ for a better world”-mega open airs in Berlin or even rocked a soccer field in Croatia.
www.celiamara.net

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Founded in 1996 by Peter Adarkwah, Barely Breaking Even (BBE Music) started life as a London club night, taking its name from the eponymous Disco record by the Universal Robot Band.

The label grew from the vibrant early 90's club scene with its first release, Stop & Listen compiled by Dr Bob Jones in 1996, opening the door to iconic series' such as All Back To Mine & Late Nite Tales.

A tonne of releases followed, ranging from Disco to Funk, Jazz to House. In the year 2000, the label celebrated Masters at Work's 10th Anniversary with a mighty box set that featured near 80 tracks.

A year later BBE Music spawned the Beat Generation Series of artist albums, notably introducing J Dilla (Welcome 2 Detroit) & a young Will.I.Am's first solo outing, alongside DJ Jazzy Jeff, Madlib & DJ Spinna, all of whom contributed to this seminal set of long players.

A quarter of a century and well over 500 titles later, having worked with Mark Ronson, Roy Ayers, Questlove, Hugh Masekela, DJ Premier, Dimitri from Paris, Joey Negro, Kon, RZA, Laurent Garnier, Black Coffee, DJ Shadow, David Rodigan and John Morales among many others, BBE Music looks to the future, celebrating its rich heritage while continuing to release a bounty of fresh titles.

The label’s most recent projects include an expansive reissue series from pioneering Nigerian label Tabansi, new imprint ‘Batakari’ in association with Boddhi Satva and the critically acclaimed ‘J Jazz’ Japanese Jazz multi-album project, not to mention the recent landmark 500th label release: a brand new version of 'Barely Breaking Even', featuring Leroy Burgess, Patrick Adams and Louie Vega.

In 2021 BBE Music is celebrating its 25th anniversary. To mark this milestone, the label is offering up some special projects, from the 20th Anniversary edition of J Dilla’s ‘Welcome 2 Detroit’, through David Bowie tribute album ‘Modern Love’, to a special new ‘Worldwide’ compilation from old friend Gilles Peterson. BBE Music will also be looking to the future with more exciting original artist projects, plus merch collaborations events and more...

“There’s no reason to make bad Pop music”, says Pavel Shalman, the band’s violinist. Living Transit reinforces this statement with their music, the foundation of which is Soul, enhanced by other elements like funk, swing, pop, topped with jazzy solos, creating a personal style called: “Dynamic Soul”. 

The members of the band come from four different countries, and collectively share over a hundred years of musical experience. With an unusual all acoustic formation consisting of vocals, violin, cello, contrabass, piano and drums, they take the listener through exciting soundscape with lyrical strings, funky grooves and sexy rhythms, appealingly contrasted by clear elegance and technical refinement. The “crown jewel” of the ensemble is their singer RONJA*, who captures the audience with her amazing voice, skillful dancing and her extravagant outfits.

This wide musical array from one genre into the next, yet always remaining soulful is a metaphor for a musician’s life. Always on the road, constantly moving, but still being the same person. That’s what the name of the band is projecting: Living Transit. 
(Peter Stenitzer)

"Sexy, sophisticated, stylish & soap bobbly concert - WOW!" (Facebook Fan)


RONJA* (Otto Lechner, Carole Alston, Luis Ribeiro, Kadero Ray) – vocals
Pavel Shalman (Russkaja, DelaDap, Wr. Tschuschenkapelle) - violin
Raphael Preuschl (Bob Mintzer, Wolfgang Puschnig, Jim Black) - contrabass
Markus Gaudriot (Marianne Mendt, Hans Salomon, Toni Stricker) - piano
Silvio Berger (Fendrich, Ambros, Chaka Khan, Joe Zawinul) – drums
Gudula Urban (Extracello, Salzburger Festspiele) – cello


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