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Ahh,
Brazil!
With
sports, it's soccer. With music it's the guitar, the
single instrument which perfectly compliments Brazil's
split personalities: The vast beaches of Rio's Zona
Sul, the vast reaches of the Amazon, the Pantanal and
Iguassu. The vast richness of blended cultures from
points worldwide.
Six
strings, seven strings, electric or acoustic, the Brazilian
guitar is symbolic for its people and their cultural
history.
It's
Garoto, Bonfá and Baden Powell's visions of Bahia.
For João Gilberto, it's the 'before and after'
of unbridled genius that resulted in Bossa Nova. It's
Laurindo Almeida with Stan Kenton in the 1950's, and
Charlie Byrd with Stan Getz in the 60's. It's Antonio
Carlos Jobim - as a prop for Frank Sinatra's television
special.
It's
Oscar, and Edu and Roberto Menescal. It's the backbone
for voices, for Gil and for Gal.
It's
Caetano Veloso in his clear plastic suit, onstage in
São Paulo, amplifying a new generation's defiance
of dictatorship. It's the sound that frames Astrud Gilberto's
innocence as she sings "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars."
In
fact, you would have to contemplate for a while to name
a Brazilian singer who does not play the guitar. Dori
Caymmi does. So do Djavan, Toquinho, and João
Bosco, Jane Duboc, Rosa Passos and Rita Lee.
Even
Ivan Lins plays the guitar. A little.
So
does Pelé, and Xuxa, and auto racing's champion,
Cristiano da Matta.
Legend
has it that the quirky and inventive Hermeto Pascoal
once used an acoustic guitar's soundbox to echo the
correctly pitched squeal of a squeezed pig for one of
his songs. Heitor Villa-Lobos composed music for the
Brazilian guitar tuned to perfect fifths. Badi Assad
uses the body, neck and bridge of her guitar as a percussive
array.
The
Brazilian guitar is Choro and Samba and Maracatú
and Rock and MPB and Frevo and Tropicália and
Pagode and Classical and Embolada and Samba-Reggae and
Mineiro and Jazz and Baião and Trio Elétrico
and Lambada.
The
Brazilian guitar is Bossa Nova.
This
year our 'Brazilian Guitar Month' salutes a dozen of
the instrument's innovators. Charile Byrd, Luiz Bonfá
and Baden Powell (who was actually named after the founding
father of the Boy Scouts) all played a part in the development
of Bossa Nova outside of Rio's incubative cradle. And
Paulo Bellenati's penchant for the revival of classical
and traditional guitar works is world-renowned.
Torcuato
Marinao and Victor Biglione emigrated from Argentina
to become new voices for the Brazilian guitar. Sandro
Albert moved north, too - from the south of Brazil to
Los Angeles to make his mark as a rising star. L.A.
is also home to Oscar Castro-Neves and his unsurpassed
career as a performer, arranger and musical ambassador
for his country.
Ditto
for Lee Ritenour, whose love for Brazilian music resulted
in a personal dedication to introduce us to many of
Brazil's top singers - his recordings showcased Djavan,
Ivan Lins, Caetano Veloso, João Bosco and Gonzaguinha
- often for the first time on a US album.
And
for awhile, the City of Angels was home to Ricardo Silveira,
who with Toninho Horta was for years the face of Brazilian
guitar on this side of the Equator. Today, another talent
contends for that moniker: Romero Lubambo's resumé
is an impressive contribution to our appreciation of
this marvelous instrument.
Connectbrazil.com's
'Brazilian Guitar Month' expands to our radio and webcast
schedule, too. Each week, our broadcasts will feature
the Brazilian guitar in a variety of settings. Here's
our programming lineup for the month of May:
Weekend
of May:
07
- The Brazilian Sound: Guitars!
14 - Guitarist Sandro Albert
21 - Guitarist Torcuato Mariano
28 - Guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves
Don't forget - our webcasts are available 24/7 for listening
at home or work. Channel 1 plays the current week's
program and Channel 2 is an encore of the previous week's
show. Please visit The Sounds of Brazil page for Interactive
Playlists, show capsules and details on our webcasts.
And
be sure to check our 'Art & Culture' section frequently
this month. We'll be adding multimedia content and news
about Brazilian guitar music here in the US.
I
hope that you enjoy this special presentation as much
as we did in preparing it for you. And we'd love to
get your comments - send us an email from our 'Contact
Us' or 'Contest' pages.
After
all, sharing the music we love with friends is what
its all about…
Scott Adams, Publisher
Connectbrazil.com
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