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2002–2009
Daniella Thompson
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Daniella Thompson on Brazil
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Na Cabeça and other treats on KPFA-FM
Last night, Eddy Pay and I presented the first North American audition of Marcos Sacramento’s new CD, Na Cabeça, plus nine other diverse albums, in a two-hour program on KPFA 94.1 FM.
The program is archived until Tuesday, 30 June 2009. Listen here.
The tracks we played are listed below. Click the CD covers to visit the artists’ websites.
Marcos Sacramento: Na Cabeça Na Cabeça (Luiz Flavio Alcofra/Marcos Sacramento) Pavio (Luiz Flavio Alcofra/Sergio Natureza) Calúnia (Luiz Flavio Alcofra)
Terno Carioca: Terno Carioca Interpreta Claudionor Cruz Caprichos do Destino (Claudionor Cruz/Pedro Caetano) Chico Flores (Claudionor Cruz/Pedro Caetano) — Zélia Duncan Potiguar (Claudionor Cruz/José de Freitas) Dia do Preto Velho (Claudionor Cruz) Cuidado Naná (Claudionor Cruz)
Marcos Sacramento: Na Cabeça Prisionero del Mar (Luiz Arcaraz/Don Marcotte/E. Cortazar/Portuguese: Galvez Morales) Um Samba (Carlos Fuchs/Marcos Sacramento) Minha Palhoça (J. Cascata) Dia Santo Também (Paulo Padilha) Canto de Quero Mais (Zé Paulo Becker/Moyséis Marques) A Rosa (Chico Buarque)
Felipe Radicetti: Sagrado Profano Canto de Roda da Pedra do Sal (Felipe Radicetti) — Felipe Radicetti Dom Pixote (Felipe Radicetti/Marcelo Biar) — Clarisse Grova Cadafalso (Felipe Radicetti/Cristina Saraiva) — Chico Adnet & Felipe Radicetti
Michiel Buursen: Dualogy—Michiel Buursen Plays Jobim Gabriela (Antonio Carlos Jobim) 7:27
Jam da Silva: Dia Santo Agô (Jam da Silva)
Celso Adolfo: Estrada Real de Villa Rica Caminho Velho (Juarez Moreira/Celso Adolfo) Serrano (Celso Adolfo)
Carlos Careqa: Tudo Que Respira Quer Comer 28 [Vinte e Oito] (Carlos Careqa) — Carlos Careqa & Mônica Salmaso Vacamor (Carlos Careqa/Adriano Sátiro) — Zé Rodrix
On Sunday afternoon, 31 May 2009, three top acts will appear on the green at Healdsburg Recreation Park in the same program—a tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim:
Guitarist Toninho Horta, accompanied by Airto Moreira (percussion), Santi Debriano (bass), and Billy Hart (drums).
Trio da Paz, consisting of Romero Lubambo (guitar), Nilson Matta (bass), and Duduka da Fonseca (drums).
Vocalist Leny Andrade, with the Stephanie Ozer Ensemble featuring Stephanie Ozer (piano), Mary Fettig (flute/saxes), Scott Thompson (bass), and Celso Alberti (drums).
The pronunciation-challenged Chuy Varela will MC. Luckily, there’s no one on the program by the name of João, but be prepared for a mention of Milton “Nacimiento” in connection with Toninho.
Doors open at noon. Tickets: general $25; students & seniors (65+) $15
Tickets are now on sale for the Stanford Jazz Workshop concert of guitar maestro Paulo Bellinati with special guests Carlos Oliveira (7-string guitar) and Harvey Wainapel (reeds).
The concert will take place on Friday, 17 July 2009, 8 pm, at the Campbell Recital Hall on the Stanford campus.
At 7 pm in the same venue, Harvey Wainapel will speak about the History & Development of Brazilian Choro. Admission to this lecture is free with a concert ticket.
Marcos Sacramento & Luiz Flavio Alcofra at Sala Cecília Meireles
Tonight, from 8 to 10 pm, Eddy Pay and I will present a live, unreleased recording of singer Marcos Sacramento and guitarist Luiz Flavio Alcofra in their concert Valserestas Brasileiras, which was performed on 11 April 2008 at Sala Cecília Meireles in Rio de Janeiro.
The repertoire consists of valsas and serestas (hence the title), most of which were originally recorded by Orlando Silva in the late 1930s and early ’40s. Along with Sacramento’s interpretations, we’ll play historic recordings of the same songs by Orlando Silva and Aracy de Almeida.
People outside northern California can listen online. The show will be archived online for the next two weeks.
Michiel Buursen and friends surprise and delight in Dualogy.
Michiel Buursen
Michiel Buursen is a formally trained Dutch jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. “Insansatez,” which he first heard at the age of 12 on Tom Jobim’s The Composer of “Desafinado” Plays, was his gateway to to Brazilian music. Later he graduated to Ivan Lin’s “Começar de Novo” and Baden Powell’s “Berimbau.”
“About ten years ago, a friend intoduced me to Leny Andrade and Cesar Camargo Mariano and a live radio broadcast of a concert in the Netherlands of Leila Pinheiro with Leandro Braga on the piano, and from that moment on I was hooked on that music,” says Buursen. “All my favorite music—Classical, jazz, African and Brasilian nordestino—comes together in the Brazilian way of making music.”
Buursen visited Rio for the first time in 2003 and has been returning ever since. Now he’s released a CD dedicated to Jobim, and it’s refreshing to find that his disc is far removed from the run-of-the-mill albums flooding the market during Bossa Nova’s semi-centennial year.
Dualogy puts the spotlight on lyricism and melodiousness rather than on slavish rhythm, signaling a mature attitude toward the material that Jobim would have approved. Piano solos open and close the album, serving as the bookends to eight duo tracks, each featuring a different guest musician (hence the Dualogy of the title).
The homage begins, appropriately enough, with the tune that awakened Buursen’s interest. In his hands, “Insansatez” is a ruminative piano solo treated as a platform for improvisation. Then soprano saxophonist Thijs van Otterloo joins Buursen in “Gabriela,” playing the bounciness of samba against the piano’s meditativeness.
In the first of two vocal tracks, singer/flutist Inke Krudde interprets “Por Causa de Você” in Portuguese. Gentle and honestly expressed, Inke’s singing interweaves itself with Buursen’s piano rather than being merely accompanied by it.
“Falando de Amor” is a beautiful, low-key dialog with Erik Robaard on fretless bass. It is followed by an extended spare journey along “Estrada do Sol,” in which Buursen is joined by drummer Wim Kegel.
In one of the album’s highlights and the longest of its tracks—the gorgeous “Caminhos Cruzados”—Remmert Tromp’s alto saxophone and Buursen’s piano proceed leisurely, at times playing in unison, at others in counterpoint, all the while building momentum and volume from a hesitant beginning to a forceful conclusion.
Jasper Somsen’s sonorous contrabass carries the melody in “Luiza,” while the piano provides the harmony before taking off on an independent flight, ending with the melody part. Katelijne van Otterloo sings the English lyrics of “Dindi” in a small, intimate voice. I’ve never been a fan of “Dindi,” but the interaction between singer and pianist is attractive.
The penultimate track, an interesting pairing of “Chora Coração” and “Piano na Mangueira,” with percussion by George Pelupessy , traverses the emotional and rhythmic range, beginning in a quiet morning and climbing to a batucada peak before descending to the sotto-voce finale that suggests the dawn after a wild night. From here it’s a natural transition to the closing track, a free-form treatment for “Tema para Ana.”
There’s a lot to like in Dualogy, none of it obvious or pat. Listen to excerpts.
Michiel Buursen: Dualogy (Independent; 2008) 66 min.
01. Insensatez (Antonio Carlos Jobim/Vinicius de Moraes) 02. Gabriela (Antonio Carlos Jobim) 03. Por Causa de Você (Antonio Carlos Jobim/Dolores Duran) 04. Falando de Amor (Antonio Carlos Jobim) 05. Estrada do Sol (Antonio Carlos Jobim/Dolores Duran) 06. Caminhos Cruzados (Antonio Carlos Jobim/Newton Mendonça) 07. Luiza (Antonio Carlos Jobim) 08. Dindi (Antonio Carlos Jobim/Aloyisio de Oliveira/Ray Gilbert) 09. Chora Coração (Antonio Carlos Jobim/Vinicius de Moraes; Piano na Mangueira (Antonio Carlos Jobim/Chico Buarque) 10. Tema para Ana (Antonio Carlos Jobim)
Claus Schreiner of Tropical Music in Germany just released the DVD series Legends of..., with material never before available on video. Each DVD is 2.5-hours long and comes with a 56-page booklet packed with original artwork and texts.
The excerpts above were extracted from DVD 1, which includes Gypsy flamenco, Argentine folkloric music, and MPB.
The Brazilian part consists of 45 minutes shot in Germany during the festival Cançoes Macumba, Samba e Bossa Nova do Brasil 1966. Among the artists are Edu Lobo, Sylvia Telles, Rosinha de Valença, Dom Salvador, Sérgio Barroso, Chico Batera, J.T. Meireles, and the percussionists Marly Tavares, Rubens Bassini, and Jorge Arena.
Tracks: 01. Macumba Rhythms – Jorginho & Rubens 02. Macumba Rhythms – Marly Tavares 03. O Barquinho – Meirelles Trio 04. Reza – Edu Lobo 05. Upa Neguinho – Edu Lobo 06. Não Tenho Lágrimas – Meirelles Trio 07. O Orvalho Vem Caindo – Meirelles Trio & percussion 08. Acalanto – Rosinha de Valença 09. Consolação – Rosinha de Valença 10. Samba Torto – Sylvia Telles 11. Samba de Uma Nota Só – Sylvia Telles 12. Finale – Marly, Jorge, Chico & Rosinha 13. Tristeza – Meireilles with band & soloists
“Cantáteis: Cantos elegíacos de amozade” (1993) by Chico César is a poem consisting of 144 strophes and dedicated to Tata Fernandes, for whom Chico harbored this hybrid emotion between amor and amizade.
So says the text on Chico César’s official website. Chico gave a reading performance of “Cantáteis” on 17 September 2008 at Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil in São Paulo. Accompanying him was singer and songwriter Lica Cecato, who didn’t sing. Instead, she played the theremin.
