Dona Ivone Lara to release her first DVD, “Canto de Rainha”
The great samba composer/singer Dona Ivone Lara, just recovered from a fall in which she broke her leg, will release her first DVD, “Canto da Rainha” with a series of performances starting in March. For those who read Portuguese, there is a wonderful interview with her on Bafafá Online. She talks about writing her first samba at age 12, gives her opinions about today’s sambas de enredo, and cites some of her favorite inspirations: Candeia, Cartola, and Paulinho da Viola.
“Choro For Haiti” at Zinc Bar, Monday, January 25 at 9 PM
Members of the Brazilian instrumental group, Choro Ensemble, will perform a one-hour set at Zinc Bar New York, with all proceeds to benefit the American Red Cross disaster relief for the people of Haiti. Donation at the door is $10 (larger donations are welcomed). The performance features Anat Cohen on clarinet, Carlos Almeida on 7-string guitar, Dionísio Santos on cavaquinho, and Zé Mauricio on percussion. Zinc Bar is at 82 West 3rd Street (between Thompson & Sullivan), Greenwich Village, New York NY 10012. Tel. 212-477-9462.
Rio artist Vitorino selected for the 2010 Austin “Carnaval Brasileiro” poster
Mike Quinn, producer of the huge (and hugely popular) Austin carnaval celebration, has promoted the event with a colorful poster each year for its 32 (yes, 32!) years. For this year, he recounts:
“I can’t go to Rio without at least one visit to the fabled Feira Hippie that takes place every Sunday in Ipanema’s Praça Osário. This arts and crafts fair, which started “back in the day,” also features dozens of painters, some true artists, some hacks, gathered at the center of the feira displaying their works.
One of them is a fellow named Sebastião Vitorino Nunes, known as Vitorino. I met Vitorino back in 1999 when I bought a very large piece of his, maybe four feet by three feet. It is his version of the samba school Mangueira whose colors are green and pink. His style consists of repeating a handful of silhouetted figures in row after row, graduating from small to smaller from bottom to top. In the Mangueira painting, the figures, about a third of whom are playing drums, are in straight lines, and rendered almost like gingerbread men, as is his style, in silhouette. They are against a shocking green background, wearing dark green shirts and pink trousers. There are at least 150 figures in the painting.
I resolved then to somehow get Vitorino to create a poster for Austin Carnaval. I’ve only used two Brazilian artists in the past, the legendary Rede in 1985, and the master of xilogravura (wood block printing) from Pernambuco, Jota Borges, in 1994, and wanted to have another Brazilian-created work in the gallery of our posters. I discussed this with his wife at one point in 2000 or 2001, but, owing to the distance involved, and the fact that I had no way to look at proofs other than snail mail, I was dissuaded from pursuing this course.
Fast forward to 2009. On my recent visit to the cidade maravilhosa, I went to the feira twice. My first dip into that mayhem found Vitorino to be absent. Was he sick? Dead? Asleep? (His wife had told me on another trip that he tends to paint all night and sleep all day.) But interestingly, I saw more than a handful of what I’d call Vitorino imitators. Seems his style has caught on, and several painters were displaying inferior renditions of the Vitorino cookie-cutter technique.
But on my second trip to the feira, I was delighted to find his wife, showing new works exhibiting his familiar style, but imbued with more colors than his paintings I’d seen previously. I immediately saw one I thought would work as a Carnaval poster. This time the figures represented female dancers, male drummers, male dancers. The work exploded with color, energy and Carnaval. I had to have it. We started negotiating and finally agreed on a price. She wrapped it up. It was canvas secured to wooden stretchers, so I carefully packaged it to carry on the plane beside me. No way I was going to check that precious parcel.
So, I finally have a Vitorino poster. To preserve the integrity and vibrancy of the original colors, we chose to print it with two additional colors instead of the traditional 4-color offset process. It has been worth the wait and the expense. The poster is amazing, and I’m happy to have another Brazilian represented in our collection, and certainly a true work of art. Thanks, Vitorino!”
The poster is for sale on Austin Carnaval’s website, and the website is full of information about the event, which will take place this year on February 20 at the Palmer Events Center, and features our own fabulous carnaval musicians, “Beleza Brazil,” for the 8th consecutive year.
Feliz Carnaval!
New Year’s Eve (”Reveillon”) Rio de Janeiro
New Year’s Eve is one of Rio de Janeiro’s most important celebrations, second only to Carnival in popularity. It attracts people from all over the world, and Brazilians from all states.
The festivities are concentrated in Copacabana, with 2 million people every year. There are four stages along the beach with live music shows starting at 8 p.m. featuring everything from traditional Carnival songs to rock and dance.
The fireworks festival starts at midnight, with fireworks stations located in boats anchored offshort from the beach. It lasts about 15-20 minutes, and two highlights are the fireworks cascades at Forte de Copacabana and at Le Meridien Hotel.
It is traditional to wear white, and many people bring flowers to throw them in the ocean before midnight as an offering to Yemanja, the deity of the seas. If you bring a bottle of champagne and shake it so it sprays around when you open it, it’s considered good luck. You may also be blessed by a Candomble priestess, and enjoy the traditional African dances and costumes.
Reveillon is a party where there are no class distinctions — you’ll run into socialites, working class people, transvestites, children, seniors, couples, teenagers — it’s a time for everyone to mingle in peace to welcome the new year.
Here’s a video to give you a taste of Reveillon in Rio. Feliz Ano Novo!
Pedro Giraudo’s composition “El Bajonazo” wins “2009 Latin Jazz Composition Of The Year”
“In the 2009 Latin Jazz Composition Of The Year, “El Bajonazo,” from El Viaje by The Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra, composer Giraudo digs deeply into the format. He utilizes a lot of musical ideas wisely throughout the song, but from the beginning, Giraudo applies textural elements with much success. A rapid stream of brash attacks sends the band charging into a ferocious statement, only to shrink into a trio setting. Giraudo takes center stage here, bowing his bass through the melody with passionate abandon as well as precise intonation and a gorgeous tone. Harmonized hits once again build the group momentum only to find the band shrinking again behind saxophone soloist Alejandro Aviles. Giraudo writes with sensitivity towards dynamics, bringing the group back into the mix in layers, until the full band once again screams through the speakers. Syncopation reigns supreme as the rhythm section places bold accents against a flowing brass melody. As the rhythm section gathers a rapid momentum, the wind players fall into a chaotic free improvisation before Giraudo pushes them back into tense lines that rise into a dramatic climax. Giraudio smartly manipulates a number of musical elements to create emotional impact and riveting excitement through the piece, showing the potential of the modern big band in the hands of a master composer.” (From The Latin Jazz Corner’s Best Latin Jazz of 2009 Awards). More on Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra. . .
Pedro Giraudo “El Viaje” nominated as Album Of The Year
The Latin Jazz Corner » Blog Archive » Latin Jazz This Week
By chip
There has been an outpouring of support for Pedro Giraudo album El Viaje this week, which resulted in the addition of an Album Of The Year nod as well as instrumental nominations for trumpet player Jonathan Powell, trombonist Ryan Keberle, … The Latin Jazz Corner – http://www.chipboaz.com/blog/
Carnaval Brasileiro in Austin revs up for Feb. 20, 2009
Austin’s annual “Carnaval Brasileiro,” is gearing up for its 33rd year as the largest indoor Brazilian Mardi Gras celebration anywhere on the globe, to take place this year on February 20, 2010 at Austin’s Palmer Events Center. The irresistible pulse of samba drums, an endless parade of exotic costumes, and the uninhibited euphoria of over 6,000 attendees have established this Brazilian style festival as one of the most eagerly anticipated blowouts on the area’s social calendar.
Flown in from New York. “Beleza Brazil” is making their seventh appearance. The band has performed at countless carnavals up and down the East Coast and is regularly voted the “Best Brazilian Band in the USA” by the Brazilian International Press Association. Veterans of Rio’s famous carnaval parades, these ten Brazilian-born musicians have played individually with everyone from Baden Powell and Marvin Gaye to Sun Ra and David Byrne, but in Austin, they present an authentic mix of traditional rhythms: samba, frevo, marchinha, bloco-afro and more via their battery of pounding, sensual drums.
Austin’s local Rio-style Samba School, the Acadêmicos da Opera, with 35 drummers and 15 dancers, all in elaborate opera-themed costumes, will be making their sixth Carnaval presentation. Their up-close and personal performances—in the middle of the dance floor—electrify enthusiastic Carnaval throngs with an authentic taste of the real deal from Rio.
Carnaval Brasileiro began in the early 1970s to offer UT’s Brazilian students a nostalgic dose of their homeland’s legendary festivities, and is now a local institution attracting partygoers from all over the United States. Flamboyant, often scanty costumes, throbbing Brazilian samba, and the uninhibited, spirited atmosphere have earned this Carnaval its reputation as the premier such festivity in the USA.
A portion of the proceeds from Carnaval will benefit the Austin Sunshine Camps, a non-profit organization which provides not only free summer camps for Austin at-risk kids, but year-round mentoring and leadership programs.
For more information about Austin Carnaval: 512-452-6832, or log onto www.CarnavalAustin.com.
For more information about “Beleza Brazil” carnaval band, click here.
Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra selected by David R. Adler in his top picks
Pedro Giraudo Jazz Orchestra’s latest release, “El Viaje,” has been selected as one of “Top 25 of 2009, plus” in the large ensemble category, by prominent music critic David R. Adler. More. . .
Terrific review of Sofia Tosello’s new CD “Alma y Luna” in Jazz Inside NY Magazine, December 2009 issue
Bob Gish writes about Sofia Tosello’s new CD, “Alma y Luna,” in the December 2009 issue of Jazz Inside NY:
“Here’s a Flamenco, gypsy, Argentine, Cuban, jazz, zamba, tango inspired recording with vocals in Spanish and thematically related to soul and moon — all the tracks full of Spanish staples of amour and moon-dance fervor, flavored by violin, acordeon, bombo leguero, timbales, congas, and the ubiquitous but ever essential guitar.
Sofia Tosello is a perfect match to strike up this jazzy, world music offering with a voice filled with exotic allure and a set of inspired songs of life, love, and longing. All of them, she attests are part of her autobiography, part of her growth as an artist and all collected and set loose here for others to hear and appreciate. Through the music we come to know Sofia Tosello as a vocalist containing multitudes of influences and feelings making for a deep pride in her culture.”
Rabo de Lagartixa to release new CD
The great choro novo group from Rio de Janeiro, Rabo de Lagartixa, will release their new CD, “O Papagaio do Moleque — a música de Villa-Lobos” (Biscoito Fino) on December 4 and 5 in the Sala Baden Powell.
For a taste of Villa-Lobos as interpreted by Rabo de Lagartixa, click here.