Nailor Proveta (Nailor Aparecido Azevedo, b 1961) is a highly estimated Brasilian reed player, composer, arranger and director, who has conducted a career in Brazil both as a sought after instrumentalist and as a founder and leader of the São Paulo based big band Banda Mantiqueira excelling in updated versions of Brasilian music. Proveta has a high place among the best musicians of Brazil. He learned the musical notes before he could write the letters of the alphabet, and at 6 years of age, he was already playing the clarinet. As mentioned, he is the leader and arranger of the big band Banda Mantiqueira, formed in 1991 and nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Performance in 1998 and again in 2006. Proveta has been playing with some of the best artists in Brazil and also with international artists, such as Joe Williams, Anita O’Day, Bobby Short, Benny Carter, Natalie Cole, Ray Conniff,a.o.. Proveta has also been working intensively in recording studios as a player and arranger and has participated in hundreds of recordings of the most important Brazilians artists.- Musically, Proveta is deeply rooted in choro and the traditional styles of Brasilian music, and to give you an impression of Proveta performing in this context here is a live recording from a oncert arranged by Instrumental SESC Brasil. Nailor Proveta's quintet features Carlos Roberto (piano), Edimilson Capelupi (7 string acoustic guitar), Cléber Almeida (percussion), Jericó (trompet and flugel horn) and Proveta (clarinet and sax), the tune played is "Cochichando", a classic choro by Pixinguinha
Proveta released his first solo cd in 2006, "Tocando para o Interior" featuring arrangements of traditional Brasilian music styles, last year his secound solo issue, "Brasileiro Saxofone" (Acari Discos), was released.
The disc is a result of a project conducted by Proveta. For a long time he has cherished the idea of dedicating a whole album to the saxophone and its story in Brazil. The cd is a result of the project that also has included workshops and concerts to share information and experience with other musicians and a public interested in learning more about the instrument's role in Brasilian popular music. The repertoire of the disc ranges from nineteenth century pioneers such as Anacleto de Medeiros (1866-1907) to contemporary composers such as Christovão Bastos, Mauricio Carrilhos and Proveta himself and includes also a handful of great twentieth century musicians such as: Pixinguinha, Radamés Gnattali, César Guerra-Peixe, as well as a few others specially linked to the saxophone: Moacir Santos, K-Ximbinho, Luis Americano and Ratinho. A website devoted to the project (- both in Portuguese and English) is available clicking here, here you can also read more about the single tracks of the cd and listen to sound clips including two unissued compositions.
The saxophone in contemporary music is mostly connected with jazz and the great American performers of the instrument, however, the instrument has a story outside this field in compositonal/erudite music and popular music as well, and if you are looking for examples of the instrument's importance and story in Brazil, the cd by Nailor Proveta is a great source featuring arrangements of music of high quality challenging a jazz infected ear to take the advantage of a closer listening. The cd is highly recommended as an example of the serious work being maintained by great musicians to preserve and relive an important field of the rich Brasilian music tradition. - Below is inserted an example of the music at the disc from a live presentation at a concert last year at the IX Festival de Música de Ourinhos. Proveta (sax) is accompanied by Mauricio Carrilho ( ac.7 string guitar) and Paulo Aragão (guitar) and the piece performed is a composition by Radamés Gnattali, "Caminho da saudade"
On the 4th of September 2000 an official document of the Brasilian government announced that the 23rd of April every year shall be marked as Dia Nacional do Choro - National Choro Day. The 23rd of April was deliberatly chosen in honor of Alfredo da Rocha Viana Filho - better known as Pixinguinha (April 23, 1897 - February 7, 1973), choro composer, arranger, flautist and saxophonist. Today it is Pixinguinha's 113th birthday - and Choro Day, all over Brazil and elsewhere music events are scheduled to celebrate choro and Pixinguinha. We also want to mark the day by inserting some videos below featuring music by Pixinguinha - Here is first a short film fragment of the Maestro with his regional recorded in the 1950s playing "1X0" - Enjoy!
From a live concert arranged by Instrumental SESC Brasil earlier this year featuring Zé da Velha (trombone), Silvério Pontes (trumpet), Alexandre Romanazzi (flute), Charlles da Costa (violão), Alessandro Cardozo (cavaquinho), Netinho Albuquerque (pandeiro) and Rodrigo Jesus (percussion) here is a rendition of Pixinguinha's "Ainda me Recordo"
From the same concert, here is Pixinguinha's "Os Oito Batutas"
Finally, to end this small celebration of Pixinguinha, here is a magnificent rendition of the tour-de-force for any flautist, "O Gato e o Canário", from the same concert - Enjoy!
If you are a guitarist excelling in choro and want to learn more about the various rhythm patterns in choro and how to accompany them on your instrument in a choro ensemble, then there is good news for you. An accomplished choro guitarist, Abdallah Harati, has prepared and uploaded several pedagogical examples on his website to teach you the right approach. - I'll insert a couple of examples below of the short videos (- also available at YouTube) to give you an impression of Abdallah Harati's lecture on the different patterns in accompanying choro on the violão/guitar. Each example has text in English to reach also non-Portuguese speaking learners, an excellent service to spread know-how and prepare you for Choro Day events later this week, I think. Learn more about Abdallah Harati at his website (- both in Portuguese and English) by using the link above or click here
Here's an example of the basic rhtyhm in choro and how you can accompany on the guitar, the chords used here are Dm and A7 and it will work with Pixinguinha's 'Ingênuo'
Here's an example of the tango brasileiro rhythm pattern, the chords used are G and D7, the key Gm - the accompaniement fits with Nazareth's 'Brejeiro'
Last example here covers the maxixe, the chords used are F6 and C7 and the music that fits the shown pattern is “Flor do Abacate” (Alvaro Sandim)
In recent years the popularity of choro has spread outside Brazil, musicians worldwide have opened their ears to the spellbinding sound of this original music of Brazil and now devote their chops to learning and playing choro. - An example of this movement is the English choro ensemble, Choro Bandido, located in Surrey, UK. In 2008 Choro Bandido got together to explore Chorinho. The members of the quartet have been involved in various musical genres in their time. Classically trained violinist Alison Hopper cut her teeth on classical and folk music. Multi-instrumentalist Dave 'the hat' Anthony has played in many contemporary rock bands. He plays keyboards, violin, bass & percussion but for Choro Bandido has added cavaquinho to his instrumental armoury. Guitarist and teacher Brian Bull, a huge Django Reinhardt fan, has a long background playing Gypsy Jazz. Having added a seventh string Brian is now studying the works of the great Yamandú Costa and Dino 7 Cordas. Percussionist Mick Pyke's musical path has been from blues rock through reggae into African music and has now finished up in Brazilian music. He co-founded the samba bloco, Bloco do Sul, (in Surrey, UK) more than 21 years ago and still runs it with Dave. - In 2009 Choro Bandido travelled to California Brazil Camp (CBC) where they spent a week learning from Ted Falcon who is now professor of violin at the "Escola Brasileira de Choro Raphael Rabello" in Brasilia.
Choro Bandido have just completed a 6 track EP CD, shown above. There are just a handful of Choro groups in the UK where choro is little known, so they have chosen some classic tracks to introduce choro to their ever growing audience.
The cd is available from the website of Choro Bandido where you also will find further info on the group including several uploaded videos and audio tracks. - To give you an impression of Choro Bandido in action I insert a couple of videos from live-performance below. The first was recorded recently and features a rendition of Jacob do Bandolim's 'Vibracoes' - enjoy!
Here's a rendition of Waldir Azevedo's 'Brasileirinho' from the same live-performance as above
More music by Choro Bandido in streaming audio available by clicking here
The musical legacy of João Pernambuco (1883-1947) was almost forgotten for three decades after his passing away, only a small selection of his compositions was recorded by other musicians (i.e. Dilermando Reis and Jacob do Bandolim) in the 1950s and 1960s. However, with the essential release of some of Pernambuco's choros on two LPs by Turibío Santos in 1977 and 1979 featuring magnificent arrangements of some of his most well known and beloved pieces arranged for solo violão and choro group the music of João Pernambuco was relived and saved from oblivion. From then on Pernambuco's compositions have been considered a part of the choro standard book, and since the recordings by Turibío Santos several other artists have made recordings of his works both in Brazil and elsewhere. In 1983, the centennial Of Pernambuco was celebrated through a recording by pianist Antonio Adolfo and the choro ensemble Nó Em Pingo d'Aqua featuring new arrangements of some of Pernambuco's pieces, another essential recording that I have commented earlier. - There have also been several released recordings by solo guitarists featuring Pernambuco's compositions, some of them by Brasilian artists are mentioned in an earlier entry at this blog, and you can also find more info at Angelo Zaniol's website dedicated to Pernambuco's legacy, click here
Last year guitarist and cavaquinho player Nelson Latif recorded the above shown cd, Tributo a João Pernambuco (NL002), that has been just released. The cd is recorded in Brasilia and Amsterdam from April to December 2009 and contains 12 tracks of both solo pieces and arrangements for choro ensemble - 10 tracks feature compositions by João Pernambuco, the 2 remaining are compositions by Latif and guitarist Bosco Oliveira, who accomponanies Latif in the ensemble tracks on the cd and further is a regular member of Latif's various ensembles excelling in different variations of Brasilian and world-music styles. The ensemble tracks have further participation by Flávio Sandoval on tenor and soprano sax and Rafael dos Santos on pandeiro. The cd takes off with a great arrangement of Pernambuco's 'Dengoso' featuring Latif on violão 7 cordas and cavaquinho overdub and solo contributions from Sandoval's reeds backed by Oliveira and Rafael dos Santos. This is followed by a duo recording of 'Sons de Carrilhões' by Latif on violão 7 cordas and Oliveira on violão including an improvisation by Latif reflecting the famous duet recording of the piece by Raphael Rabello and Dino Sete Cordas from the early 1990s. 'Graúna', 'Interroganda', 'Brasileirinho' and the Oliveira composition 'De João para João' are trio recordings featuring Latif on both violão 7 cordas and cavaquinho, the reed playing by Sandoval is featured again on 'Mimoso'. 'Sentido', 'Lágrima', 'Saudosa Viola', 'Rebolico' and the Latif composition 'Uma Toada para o João' are solo contributions by Nelson Latif on violão 7 cordas, the Pernambuco pieces reflecting the historical recordings from the late 1920s by João and Zezinho. - The cd is highly recommended as an example of the fact that João Pernambuco's musical legacy is taken good care of today and still challenges musicians to offer their best and as such relive the soul and heartbeat of true Brasilian music. Learn more about Nelson Latif from his official website (in Portuguese, English and Dutch), the above mentioned cd and other released recordings by Nelson Latif are available from his website using the link in the Discography section.
To end this small review of 'Tributo a João Pernambuco' I found an uploaded video on YouTube from a live performance in Amsterdam last year featuring Latif on violão accompanied by ensemble, the title of the tune is 'Feira de Mangaio', the style is much in the vain of João Pernambuco - enjoy the music and have patience with the rather bad footage!
The disc is a result of a project conducted by Proveta. For a long time he has cherished the idea of dedicating a whole album to the saxophone and its story in Brazil. The cd is a result of the project that also has included workshops and concerts to share information and experience with other musicians and a public interested in learning more about the instrument's role in Brasilian popular music. The repertoire of the disc ranges from nineteenth century pioneers such as Anacleto de Medeiros (1866-1907) to contemporary composers such as Christovão Bastos, Mauricio Carrilhos and Proveta himself and includes also a handful of great twentieth century musicians such as: Pixinguinha, Radamés Gnattali, César Guerra-Peixe, as well as a few others specially linked to the saxophone: Moacir Santos, K-Ximbinho, Luis Americano and Ratinho. A website devoted to the project (- both in Portuguese and English) is available clicking here , here you can also read more about the single tracks of the cd and listen to sound clips including two unissued compositions.
The saxophone in contemporary music is mostly connected with jazz and the great American performers of the instrument, however, the instrument has a story outside this field in compositonal/erudite music and popular music as well, and if you are looking for examples of the instrument's importance and story in Brazil, the cd by Nailor Proveta is a great source featuring arrangements of music of high quality challenging a jazz infected ear to take the advantage of a closer listening. The cd is highly recommended as an example of the serious work being maintained by great musicians to preserve and relive an important field of the rich Brasilian music tradition. - Below is inserted an example of the music at the disc from a live presentation at a concert last year at the IX Festival de Música de Ourinhos. Proveta (sax) is accompanied by Mauricio Carrilho ( ac.7 string guitar) and Paulo Aragão (guitar) and the piece performed is a composition by Radamés Gnattali, "Caminho da saudade"
