Seasons Greetings

I want to thanks the readers of this blog for sharing interest in the Brazilian choro, I'll continue posting new blogentries in 2009, but no longer on a weekly basis, as I have other obligations to take care of. The blog has had weekly entries since August 2006 and has by now reached a number of 180+ entries since then. It takes time to do proper research, I am not an expert, just a curious investigator interested in sharing my limited knowledge on the subject with other people, who may have a similar interest in choro. Anyway, if my small contributions have helped people to open their senses for one of the world's most beautiful and fascinating music traditions, I'm happy and content. - I wish you all a Merry X-mas and a Happy New Year!

One of my first encounters with the Brazilian violão as played by a contemporary and highly estimated artist was through listening to some of the released recordings by Carlos Barbosa-Lima, who recorded several outstanding solo-albums for the American Concord label during the 1980s. - Carlos Barbosa-Lima (b.1944) is a native Brazilian, who began studying the guitar when he was seven . Among his teachers were the influential Brazilian guitarist Isaias Savio and further Andres Segovia. While still a child, he was performing in public and he made his recording debut when he was just 12. He first toured the United States in 1967 and during 1971-72 Barbosa-Lima performed in London and New York, gaining a worldwide reputation. He lived in New York for quite a few years before settling in Puerto Rico. Carlos Barbosa-Lima's tasteful yet virtuosic control of the guitar has resulted in consistently delightful solo recitals that appeal to a wide audience. His releases have found him exploring the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim, George Gershwin, Scott Joplin, Luiz Bonfa, Cole Porter, Leonard Bernstein (songs from West Side Story) and a variety of lesser known Brazilian composers.(info excerpted from AMG)

I found several uploaded videos at YouTube featuring Carlos Barbosa-Lima, I insert some examples below to share these highly enjoyable renditions of classic choro pieces by a master of the violão, who knows his roots. - Here's a rendition of "Tico tico no fúba" from a live-performance with accompaniement by a ukulele player!

Here's a solo recital of Nazareth's "Odeon":

Finally, here's Carlos Barbosa-Lima's terrific solo recital of Pixinguinha's "Um a zero" from a live performance - enjoy!

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Stay tuned, best wishes for the seasons holidays!

Jo

Yamandú Costa - Wizard of The Violão de 7 Cordas

One of the highlights in Mika Kaurismäki's 2005 documentary film on choro in Rio, 'Brasileirinho', is the scene with Yamandú Costa playing Pixinguinha's 'Carinhoso' alone on stage fronting an audience of hundreds of people spellbound by Yamandú's engaging stage appearance and little by little joining in singing Braguinha's lyrics and thus making the performance a mutual experience - a true spiritual community tied together by the magic of Yamandú's guitar, exposing the soul of choro to the spectator of the film.




Yamandú's stage appearance is pure magic , a spontaneous explosion of aristic vitality that is not often seen in entertainment nowadays where every step and lift of an eybrow by the performer on stage seems to be studied in advance and a conscientious gimmick applied to gain the wanted success. Not the issue regarding Yamandú - the magic is a natural effect of the simple fact that he is an authentic artist, not just another pretender. This does not mean, however, that Yamandú does not do work-out to gain success during performance, of course he does - but his stage appearance comes naturally from the heart and soul of a true artist, I'm convinced.

Yamandú Costa (b.1980) is from Passo Fundo in the Southern part of Brazil and he started to study the violão at seven years of age with his father, Algacir Costa, leader of the group Os Fronteiriços, and he mastered the instrument after studying under Lúcio Yanel, an Argentine virtuoso rooted in Brazil. At fifteen he studied the folk music of Southern Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. After hearing Radamés Gnattali, he began to study the music of other Brazilians, such as Baden Powell de Aquino, Tom Jobim and Raphael Rabello. At seventeen he played in São Paulo for the first time and he was soon to be recognized as the musician to revive Brazilian guitar music. At that time Yamandú had decided to make the violão de 7 cordas his main instrument, and he has since evolved as a true virtosic master of this Brazilian instrument, both as a soloist and as an accompanist. He has performed together with the cream of Brazilian MPB artists, leads his own trio and has toured worldwide besides recording, composing and arranging. Learn more about his career from the official website, click here

The shown cd by Yamandú Costa,'Mafuá', has been released recently by the German label Acoustic Music and this is the first cd fully devoted to Yamandú's skills as a composer and soloist. The cd has 13 tracks of music composed, arranged and played by Yamandú on the violão de 7 cordas, a tour-de-force exposing his virtuosic skills as a performer of different styles, but all with a touch of genius that is his very own. You can hear elements of choro, samba, bossa and Argentine roots music mixed with inspiration from Bach and even the flamenco tradition. The title tune, 'Mafuá' (- meaning 'shambles' in English), is a choro that shows off Yamadú's mastering of the genre in a convincing and engaging performance of the tune. Other titles, like i.e. 'El negro del blanco' mixes elements of Argentine roots music (chammamé and milonga) with Brazilian elements applying a breathtaking technique that borrows from both flamenco and gaucho tradition, also present in the last track on the cd, 'Tipo bicho'. Tunes like 'Samba pro Rafa' and 'Bostempornea' pay tribute to the inspiration from Raphael Rabello and Baden Powell, and you'll probably detect other influences as well when listening to the cd. Do not hesitate to get a copy of this fabulous album, which may rank as the record of the year 2008, if you like high quality guitar music. Definitely recommended! - Learn more about tracklist and listen to audioclips clicking here

YouTube has several upoloaded videos featuring Yamandú Costa, I found a lengthy excerpt of a recorded live-performance in Tel Aviv, Israel, from November this year. Yamandú plays three tunes, the first is a part of 'Bachbaridade', the next is the title tune of the mentioned cd, 'Mafuá' and finally you'll have a rendition of Nazareth's 'Breijeiro' - enjoy Yamandú in action!

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This blogpost will be the last on a regular weekly basis in 2008, from 2009 I've decided to post only once in a while.

Jo

'Edinho no choro'

Recently I was pointed to a recording that seems to be a pioneer recording of the electric guitar used in choro. I got curious and searched the online discoteque at Instituo Moreira Salles hoping to find the recording there and having the possibility of listening to it. I was lucky, I found the record searching the title stated in headline above. If you are unfamilar with the search facility at Instituto Moreira Salles, you have the possibility to listen to 'Edinho no choro' by clicking here or headline - the musicplayer available at Instituto Moreira Salles opens in a new window and then you can listen to the streaming audio after it has loaded.

'Edinho no choro' was released on a Continental 78 rpm in 1945 (Continental, 15.337) and it is performed by Pereira Filho playing the electric guitar accompanied by his Conjunto. Comparing the recording with recordings of the electric guitar from the same time made in the USA or Europe the sound of the instrument is rough and distorted in certain sequences caused by problems with an adequate volume control during recording, anyway, a lot of early recordings of the electric guitar suffer from the same problem, refining of pick-ups at the guitar, amplifiers and recording equipment had to wait another decade to be solved sufficiently. Never mind, the recording of 'Edinho no choro' is a valuable historical document of the electric guitar used in choro, especially considering the fact that choro traditionally has been performed using acoustic instruments only. Of course, there are other early examples of an electric instrument used in choro - i.e. Garoto (Anibal Augusto Sardinha) made recordings of choro and related music 1943 playing the electric lap steel guitar accompanied by pianist Carolina Cardoso de Menezes (- like in the USA the electric lap steel guitar seems to have been the first electric string instrument used in Brazil).

No photo and not much info available on the main performer of 'Edinho no choro', however, here is an English summary of the profile in Dictonário Cravo Albin - the main source in Portuguese about Brazilian MPB artists.

Pereira Filho (João Pereira Filho) (1914-1986) was born in Rio de Jaineiro as a son of a professor of the violão, João Pereira. Already as a kid of 4 years of age he started playing the cavaquinho and he had bandolim lessons with his father even before he could read. While at primary school he formed small conjuntos with his school mates and performed at private parties, soon deciding to study the violão as his main instrument. At 11 years of age he participated in a festival promoted by Istituto Nacional de Música and soon after he was featured in a spectacle at Teatro Lírico, "Reisados e cheganças", promoted by the city Hall of the City of Rio de Janeiro. He composed his first piece for solo violão,"Variações sobre cateretê", in 1929, and in 1930 he became a member of Orquestra de Napoleão Tavares. In 1932, he joined Orquestra de Ioiô, where he stayed as a member the following eight years. In 1933, he recorded his first solo record for Victor of his own compositions, "Jongo africano" and the waltz "Áurea". In 1936, he recorded "Variações sobre cateretê" for Victor, and in 1937 he recorded the samba canção, "Tua partida", together with Mário Morais and vocal by Francisco Alves, also for Victor. - In 1941, Pereira Filho formed his own Conjunto. In 1944, he accompanied singers Dircinha Batista and Déo in two recordings, and in 1945 he recorded "Edinho no choro" for Continental. In 1951, Pereira Filho e seu Conjunto accompanied Pedro Raimundo in five recordings for the Todamérica label, and in 1953 Pereira Filho recorded his own "Conversa fiada" and "Serenata havaiana" for Todamérica. Accompanied by his Conjunto he also recorded the bolero "Garoa" and the dobrado "Borba gato" for Continental the same year. In 1959, Pereira Filho recorded his own "Noite sem rumo" for Todamérica, which seems to be his last solo recording.

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Jo

Celebration

This week my friend, Hans - co-editor and supervisor of this blog - is celebrating that his keepswinging-blogspot has reached the magical number of 1000 entries since its start in February 2006. An amazing effort considering the fact that he has been posting always well researched and engaging posts on a daily basis about music and other passions that keep him swinging and have attracted readers from all over the world to visit his blog regularly. I congratulate you, dear Hans, with the blogentry no 1000 that has been published today, and I sincerely want to encourage readers of the choro-music blogspot also to pay your keepswinging blog a visit - a list of all posted subjects is to be found by clicking here

Had it not been for my friendship with this remarkable man and blogger extraordinaire, this blogspot devoted to the Brazilian choro music probably would not have been published in this part of the world, I guess. It was Hans' idea to make a blog about choro music, which he loves just as much as I do, following an unstopable enthusiasm for new inputs regarding swinging affairs. By coincidence I happend to be the person, who had the pleasure of introducing Hans to the subject, but had it not been for his encouragement and belief in my limited knowledge and ability, I had not dared to join in and write about a culture I only know of as an outside spectator, inspecting my own reactions from meetings with a musical universe of joy and passion, an authentic culture almost unknown in the Western part of the world dominated by American culture. Thank you, Hans, for your back-up and for the passion we are sharing here regarding choro music!

Last week I received the shown cd, "The Best of Ernesto Nazareth", just released by ChoroMusic.com, a sample-cd promoting the project of spreading knowledge about choro music by publishing written scores and enclosed recorded music to be used by musicians interested in getting started with playing choro. I have mentioned the project by ChoroMusic.com earlier, an excellent effort encouraging serious musicians to get involved with choro taking advantage of the written music and the play-along cds accompanying the sheet. If you are a musician interested in choro, this is a fairly good way to engage into choro by using the music-minus-one (- you're the soloist) method, I recommend a visit at the website of ChoroMusic.com to learn more about the project and music already published, click logo below

The shown cd should be available from ChoroMusic.com shortly, I had my copy sent from their division in São Paulo, Brazil (- thanks a lot to Isabella Leite for manufacturing my request and to Daniel Dalarossa, president of ChoroMusic.com, for directing me a free copy) - the cd is being released both in Brazil and the USA at the same time. Even though you are not a musician, this cd is worth your money, the music and arrangement of 16 compositions by Ernesto Nazareth, Rei do Choro are just excellent and well performed by a team of skilled musicians. Among featured soloists are Daniela Spielmann (soprano & tenor sax), Izaís do Bandolim & Milton Mori (bandolim), Nailor Proveta & Luca Raele (clarinet), Daniel Allain, Daniel Dalarossa & Toninho Carrasqueira (flute). The soloists are accompanied by a regional featuring Arnaldinho do Cavaco (cavaquinho), Edmilson Capelupi (violão de 7 cordas), Lula Gama (violão) and Betinho Sodré (pandeiro). The recorded compositions by Nazareth include famous pieces like 'Ameno Resedá', 'Apanhei-te Cavaquinho', 'Brejeiro', 'Odeon', 'Escorregando' and 'Batuque' - all composed for the piano, but here arranged for choro ensemble from the original scores. Moreover, two unpublished compositions by Nazareth, 'Zizinha' (1889) and 'Ideal' (1905) are also included - both very well arranged and performed like the rest.

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To end this, I insert a couple of videos celebrating some of Nazareth's most popular pieces - here is a solo guitar version of 'Odeon'

Finally, here is Marco de Pinno Quarteto from a live-performance playing 'Apanhei-te cavaquinho'

Jo

Saudade que passa

Choro, samba and other popular genres of Brazil often seem to be categorized as 'Latin', when you browse through career profiles of artists in various sources available at the web or in short articles in printed books designated to give an overview of the musical background of a certain artist. This procedure seems to be the norm regarding musicians having their main career in jazz or popular music in the USA, however, the word 'Latin' does not state the tradition of the various musical sources supposed to be contained in the concept - in short, the 'Latin'-concept is unclear and without a precise meaning, making the word easy to use by journalistst and writers appealing to a public more interested in the colour of the underwear of the artist than the musical background. I was reminded of this, when I recently tried to look up information in English about the early career of Laurindo Almeida (1917-1995), the well-known Brazilian guitarist having his main career in the USA. In the general public, Almeida is known as a 'Latin' guitar player, who had his breakthrough in the States late 1940s as a member of Stan Kenton's big band, later in the 1950s he would be the first to inspire jazzmusicans to be interested in Brazilian music styles through a co-operation with Bud Shank, with whom Almeida made some now famous recordings in 1951, introducing 'jazz samba' to an American public. When Almeida moved permanently to the USA mid-1950s, his career spanned both jazz, classical and popular music - his work as a composer, arranger and guitarist is impressive, he made more than 800 compositions and participated in a great number of recordings - info about this chapter of his career is easily found in articles written in English. Anyway, here I like to put some focus on his early career in Brazil by pointing to his first solo recording, made 1938.

Laurindo de Almeida was born 1917 in a small town in the state of São Paulo as a member of a large musical family. His father held an occupation as a railroad worker, but spent his leisure time as an amateur musician participating in serestas (- in English: serenade sessions). His mother was an amateur pianist, who taught Laurindo the basics of music, and a sister taught him to play the violão in secret, an instrument he was attracted to already as a kid. At the age of 12 he would accompany his father and brothers in the serestas, by 15 he moved to São Paulo to find his fortune as a musician and to take part in the political riots of the city. In 1932, he met and got aquainted with Garoto while staying at a hospital, and they would later become partners, when Laurindo moved to Rio de Jainero and in 1936 joined as a staff musician at Rádio Mayrink Veiga. Garoto and Laurindo worked together as studio musicians accompanying various popular artist of the time, i.e. Carmen Miranda, and they also recorded together as a duo accompanying other vocalists and instrumentalists.

Together with guitarist Gastão Bueno Lobo and Garoto Laurindo had success with programs at Rádio Mayrink Veiga performing as Conjunto Hawaiano for some time, displaying a string ensemble influenced by the Hawaiian way of playing the (slide) guitar, probably inspired by the experience of Gastão Lobo, who had had success playing the Hawaiian slide guitar with Oscar Alemán in Argentina and Europe some years earlier. In 1938, Laurindo and Gastão had a co-work as composers of the choro 'Inspiracão', which was recorded for Odeon on a 78 rpm with Gastão playing the lead on Hawaiian guitar accompanied by Laurindo on violão and Tute, violão 7 cordas. The flip-side of this record (Odeon, 11649) contains the first recorded solo by Laurindo Almeida under his own name of his composition 'Saudade que passa', a waltz that reflects the tradition of choro as the musical background of Laurindo Almeida. - Listen to 'Saudade que passa' by clicking here

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Jo