Musicians attach great importance to dates of passage—first bands, first important
gigs, first recording sessions, just as they can remember with phenomenal accuracy, where
they were the first time they heard a particular tune, even if it were years before.
Somehow they always know when something of vital significance is taking place and burnish
the memory forever afterward. I'm not a professional musician, but I clearly remember
hearing Gal Costa's version of "Último Desejo" (Last Wish) for the first time.
I was at a friend's apartment in Rio making tapes and enjoying a few too many caipirinhas
the night before returning to Los Angeles. Ever since, I have wanted to write, not about
an evening enshrined in my imagination, nor about Gal, but about her accompanist on the
recording, a musician who communicated with a kind of vibratory chemistry, Marco Pereira.
Player, composer, arranger, and university professor, Pereira is equipped with superb
technique and commands a vast storehouse of musical insight with which he creates dazzling
and inspired music. By combining the strength of his musical ideas and the warmth he
breathes into them, Pereira has carved out a niche for himself as an indispensable
presence both on stage and at recording sessions for artists like Milton Nascimento, Edu
Lobo, Daniela Mercury, Gilberto Gil, João Bosco, Gal Costa, Zélia Duncan, and Djavan.
Possessing that rare quality that enables him to accompany prolific artists, Pereira's
work as a sideman demonstrates the highest aesthetic and spirit of authentic Brazilian
performance practice. In concert he exhibits great daring and imagination, without a hint
of having anything to prove. His playing is tough, sinewy, and intelligent, an unending
volcano of feeling that is always just barely compressed.
Rarely have I witnessed a more blazing affirmation of faith on the part of an
interpreter than when I heard Pereira perform at the recent International Guitar Night
(IGN) in Northridge, California.1 Regardless of the composition—Jobim's
"Luíza," Ary Barroso's "Na Baixa do Sapateiro," Chick Corea's
"La Fiesta," or the traditional "Mulher Rendeira"—Pereira's
playing was characterized by a concentration of emotion that flowed forward with a
spontaneity that bound together composer, performer, and listener. If Baden Powell's
"Samba Triste," played in duet with guitar legend Ralph Towner, did not rise to
the greatest heights, it came within measurable distance of them.
Pereira's thorough grounding in the classical repertoire can be attributed both to his
studies with Isaías Sávio—Pereira's mentor while he attended the Conservatory of
Drama and Music in São Paulo and the University of São Paulo—and to his work at
International University of Music in Paris, where he earned his Master of Acoustic Guitar
degree. During the time that he was living in Paris, Pereira broadened his understanding
of the jazz concepts, which today characterize many of his compositions. While there, he
also defended his dissertation, "The Guitar in the Works of Heitor Villa-Lobos,"
at the Department of Musicology at the University of Paris, Sorbonne; was chosen to
perform at a week-long master class in Lichtenstein given by Julian Bream, with whom
Pereira studied; and stimulated international recognition for himself by performing
concerts and festivals in Europe, Canada, and the United States.
Winner of two international guitar competitions and three Prêmios Sharp—one for
"best arranger" in 1993 for Gal and two in 1994 for "best
soloist" and "best instrumental recording" for his duo project with pianist
Cristóvão Bastos, Bons Encontros—Pereira has also acquired the reputation
both as an educator with an encyclopedic knowledge of theory and guitar literature, and as
a hugely prolific composer.2 His output, which is published by Editora Lemoine
of Paris, includes works written for a wide variety of instrumental combinations, running
the gamut from solos, duos, trios, and quartets to larger works for chamber ensemble and
orchestra. Pereira has developed advanced guitar and harmony courses at the University of
Brasília and is currently an adjunct professor in the Composition Department at the
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Pereira's latest CD, Valsas Brasileiras, is an homage to a genre Brazilian
composers have been cultivating for over 200 years, and the choice of repertoire reflects
his informed taste. Like an anthology, the CD features Pereira's arrangements of works by
outstanding composers including Edu Lobo, Chico Buarque, Guinga, Garoto, Ernesto Nazareth,
Hélio Delmiro, Antônio Carlos Jobim, and Canhoto as well as two of Pereira's own
compositions. I spoke with Marco Pereira after his performance at the IGN about his new
CD, the recording industry, and university teaching.
Brazzil—Marco, what initially attracted you to the instrument and
motivated you to develop in so many different styles?
Pereira—Well, I started playing the guitar by ear. In Brazil, people
customarily start like that, maybe not today, but in my time. That's how it was for me and
Paulo Bellinati and Rafael Rabelo. We didn't have sheet music or those fingering charts
that show how to play scales and chords. I started playing rather late for someone who
would eventually become serious about music, like when I was thirteen, almost fourteen,
which was probably because I am the first musician in my family.
We lived in São Paulo and were very poor; consequently there was never much for me to
do. But some friends of mine in the neighborhood had started playing guitar, and I looked
up to them and liked hearing and watching what they were doing. And one day, when I was
feeling a little sorry for myself, I started thinking that, maybe if I had a guitar, I
could play too. It was a funny way to start, but for me, it happened that way.
I started by just picking up what I saw and heard others playing, a few chords and some
melody lines. Playing regularly accelerated my development, and my hunger to learn quickly
grew. After two or three years of working with the guitar like that, I enrolled in a small
music school in my neighborhood so I could study theory. Little by little, as I learned
more, playing became a passion, and I found myself practicing the guitar sometimes for ten
hours a day, never knowing where the time went.
Brazzil—Was Baden Powell a strong influence on your writing or playing?
Pereira—Yeah, especially my playing in the beginning because when I started
there were, I can say, three very important guitarists on the scene: Baden Powell,
Paulinho Nogueira, and Dilermando Reis. I also used to listen to Garoto and some other
guys, like Luis Bonfá. By that time, Garoto had already died, but we frequently saw Baden
Powell, Paulinho Nogueira, and Dilermando Reis playing on TV. For me, Baden Powell was the
most impressive guitarist that we had in Brazil. I had all of his records.
As I said, we couldn't buy sheet music to read and learn new pieces. It just wasn't
available. We worked directly from the records, and I picked up all I could from Baden
Powell and learned how to play by trying to imitate the way he played. I really feel that
Baden Powell was a guitar revolutionary, especially in Brazil, and his influence spread
quickly throughout the world. The way he played rasgueado was not the same as the
way the technique had traditionally been applied in the flamenco style.3
The flamenco players use a lot of rasgueado. It's indicative of their style. But
Baden Powell created a way of incorporating a kind of rasgueado into the samba
rhythm. And the way he did it was quite different, remarkable really, and we've had such
wonderful results from that. He was a radical who changed the Brazilian guitar forever,
and, of course, he influenced me strongly and most, if not all, of the serious guitar
players from my generation.
Brazzil—Did you ever have an opportunity to play together?
Pereira—No, unfortunately, but in 1987 or '88 we met in Brasília where I
initiated the guitar program for the University of Brasília, you know, the curriculum for
their degree in guitar performance. We had invited Baden Powell to perform a concert on
campus, and this was when I finally had the great pleasure of meeting him. Years later, I
played a program with him in Martinique, but we didn't play together. I played the first
half of the program and Baden Powell, the second half.
Brazzil—I understand that a similar situation will be coming up in
December with Hermeto Pascoal?
Pereira—Yes, some time back, I was asked to be the artistic director for a
performance series at a new venue in Brasília, the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil. The
series began in October with Wagner Tiso, last month Paulo Moura was there, and this
month, Hamilton de Holanda and I will be playing as a duo during the first half with
Hermeto Pascoal playing the second. At the end of the show, we'll play three or four
pieces together, and as you know Hermeto, you know that it will probably all be
improvised. Hermeto is my idol, and for me, it is going to be a tremendous honor to be on
stage with him for the first time. Over the last five or six years, we've played on some
of the same projects, but now I'm going to play together with him. I'm sure we'll have a
lot of fun. Also, I'll be releasing a new CD with Hamilton de Holanda before Christmas
called Luz das Cordas, which is another very exciting project .
Brazzil—Can you tell me a little about it?
Pereira—Luz das Cordas is a work that was originally written for
mandolin, guitar, and string orchestra, but I also wrote an arrangement for just guitar
and mandolin, which is the version we've recorded. It's all recorded, mixed, and mastered.
Everything is ready. Everything is done, even the cover art. Initially, it will be
released independently, without any record label support or distribution. I'm starting
with the Luz das Cordas CD the same way I started with Valsas Brasileiras,
which is now being distributed by Núcleo Contemporâneo in Brazil and has been licensed
to GSP for distribution in the United States and the rest of the world. Actually, GSP is
also talking about distributing Luz das Cordas.
Brazzil—Do you foresee a major label underwriting one of these projects?
Pereira—Let me explain a little about this. The kind of music I'm making is
not like the pagode fad that is happening right now in Brazil and generating
enormous profits. You know, there are many pagode groups that have only recorded
one CD and nothing more because pagode is a kind of wave. Big record labels are
penny wise. They have monster pop acts making hundreds of millions of dollars, but won't
spend an inconsequential amount to record Brazilian instrumental music, which is enduring.
They're only interested in the bottom line, in maximizing profits.
There are, however, a few small record labels in Brazil interested in this kind of
music, who record it because they love the music. They do an admirable job of absorbing
the increasing recording costs and providing whatever they can in terms of product
support. But after some time, it's so difficult for them to continue, that they fail and
close their doors. There was a very, very good record label in São Paulo called Som da
Gente where I made my first two recordings. I have nine solo CD's, but my first was
recorded on vinyl for Som da Gente. They've since closed their doors and still have the
masters for those early recordings, so I can't do anything with them. I've tried many
times to buy my masters. I've tried to license them to someone else. Even though Som da
Gente is no more, they're holding on to their catalog and won't negotiate. Just being able
to print some CD's to sell during my tours and concerts would be great, but they refuse.
So I've learned to do things for myself, you know? That's why I made Valsas
Brasileiras by myself. I paid for everything. I even designed the cover art. Now I can
negotiate from a more lucrative business position. I've only licensed the disc to GSP and
to Núcleo Contemporâneo for distribution. And I'm thinking about stipulating that the
contract with GSP be for four years, maximum. So if it doesn't go the way I want it to, I
can stop and do something else, maybe look at licensing through the Eldorado record label
in São Paulo.
Brazzil—Will you record the string version of Luz das Cordas?
Pereira—Yes, I'm planning to record a concerto CD with my own concerto for
guitar and orchestra, the Villa-Lobos concerto, maybe the Tedesco concerto that I played
with the Orquestra Sinfônica de Brasília in October last year, and Luz das Cordas.
I also recorded a CD this past October with the Quinteto Villa-Lobos that will be released
in March.4 We've recorded a frevo I wrote called "Seu Tonico na
Ladeira," which is dedicated to the group's flautist, Toninho Carrasqueira; my
composition "Lis" for flute, guitar, and cello, with the bassoon playing the
cello part; and Pixinguinha's "Lamentos." It's a beautiful project.
Brazzil—How different is the wind quintet arrangement of
"Lamentos" from the versions you've already recorded on Dança dos Quatro
Ventos and with Paulo Sérgio Santos on his Segura Ele album?
Pereira—Actually, I didn't take part in that project. Yes,
"Lamentos" is on that album, and I am playing it with Paulo, but... I'd better
clarify this because I was a bit angry with Paulo about that recording. There is a
producer in Rio de Janeiro who heads Kuarup Discos, Mario de Aratanha. Many years ago,
when I was still living in Brasília, he had a project to make a record for the Brazilian
oil company, Petrobras, and he invited me to record with Paulo Sérgio and to write an
arrangement for the Pixinguinha. It was not even a CD, it was an LP, and I did it for that
record. But when Paulo released Segura Ele, I found that he had implanted the
"Lamentos" we had previously recorded on his new CD, without telling me about
it.
He is my friend, and I love him, but at that time, I was really irritated with him. You
know, I don't even like the version on Segura Ele, although it is a little better
then the original because they brought out the guitar more in the mix. On the original
version the guitar is so far in the background that you can hardly hear it. I was a little
annoyed about that too, but especially because Paulo didn't tell me that he was going to
put the cut on the CD, and I thought I deserved to know. You know, "Just call me and
say, `Oh, we're going to include that track.'" We should have come to some kind of
agreement because I play on the track, and he doesn't own my performance…
Let's forget it. Anyway, I love him, and I think he's a great player. You know, he's
the clarinet player in the wind quintet that I mentioned. And it's interesting that the
arrangement I wrote for wind quintet and guitar is completely different, but based on the
one that appears on the Segura Ele CD. Yeah, it's a great piece. By the way,
Paulo's son (Caio Márcio) is a fantastic guitarist. Yeah, Paulo Sérgio Santos's son is
one of the best in Rio de Janeiro right now and is performing with his father's trio.
Brazzil—Can you talk a little about your work with Gilberto Gil and
recording Parabolicamará?
Pereira—That CD was done just after I did the CD with Gal Costa. At the time,
I had already met Gil and knew him personally. One evening we were just playing guitar
together, and the next day he called and invited me to record on the Parabolicamará
CD. Yeah, I was really very happy. It's an outstanding CD, and working on it was such a
pleasure because I'm a big Gilberto Gil fan. For me, he's the most important musician in
Brazil. He's incredible. When you see him in a big show, with his group and a large
audience, it's a magical experience. I've seen Gilberto Gil in many different situations,
and he's always incredible.
The last time Gil was at a radio station, he brought two or three musicians from the
band, just to play a little bit. He's like that, you know? A radio station is a cool place
to go and talk a little about your work, and he could have brought the CD and just talked
about it. He could have brought only his guitar and sung one or maybe two songs, but he
started playing and singing, and there was such an outpouring, such a strong response from
the listeners, that they had to cancel the regularly scheduled programs and continue with
Gil's interview.
He was there only to promote his new CD, but he played for two hours. Yeah, that's
true. It's fantastic how he makes people happy. His music is incredible, and he's a great
musician, magical. I've seen how everything quiets down, nothing moves, and then Gilberto
Gil comes on stage and starts singing; people become genuinely happy. It's fantastic. I
really love that guy.
Brazzil—Marco, Valsas Brasileiras is an interesting approach for
a CD. How did the idea originate?
Pereira—The Valsas Brasileiras project started many years ago when I
was living in France. I had a record by John Coltrane called Ballads. I was crazy
about that record and had stopped listening to everything just to listen to that record,
nothing else for a month, without stopping. And I became really inspired to try something
like Coltrane's Ballads, something cool and romantic. But I'm not really a jazz
musician, and I wanted to do something Brazilian. So I started looking at the waltzes
because the feelings you can express through them are similar. The waltz has been in
Brazil for 200 years, maybe more, but came originally from another kind of rhythm. The
first waltz came to Brazil from Europe, from Austria where the works of Johann Strauss
were rather famous.
But in Brazil, the waltz took its own course. In the beginning, waltzes were naïve.
You had very fast waltzes and very slow waltzes; because the harmony was simple, the
melodies had to be simple too. With the composers who came after bossa nova, and
even those who were involved with the bossa nova in Brazil, the waltz took on
notable changes. It was no longer pure 3/4 rhythm, supported by simple broken chords in
the bass and commonplace melodic ideas. It's very interesting. When you analyze the waltz
from the end of the 19th century until today, you can see, exactly, the evolution of
Brazilian music in terms of harmony and, in turn, the increasing sophistication of melody.
Composers like Tom Jobim and Edu Lobo developed the form into a subtle art, a vehicle
for the expression of varying moods of the widest scope. I think, the waltzes we have now
and those that have come about over the last fifteen or twenty years are extremely
sophisticated. In terms of melodic line, harmonic structure, and form, the jazz ballads
bear a favorable comparison to our modern Brazilian waltzes. I knew from the beginning of
the Valsas Brasileiras project that I wanted to work principally with the modern
waltzes, not the old ones. I started by looking at fifty or sixty different waltzes, just
melody and harmony, and finally I selected the twelve that appear on the CD.
Brazzil—You have included two waltzes from before bossa nova. Why
"Eponina" and "Desvairada" out of so many possibilities?
Pereira—Although the form of "Eponina" is rather conservative, like
a rondo form with three sections, it was quite different from the other pieces composers
were writing at that time. When Nazareth wrote "Eponina," he was really pointing
to the future. He wrote the original for the piano in A flat major, but my arrangement is
a semitone higher, in A major, so that the fingers lay more naturally on the guitar
fingerboard. Also, I didn't stay exactly with the original harmony, and I changed the
section endings a little. Even some harmonies are different, some embellishments, just to
make the piece a little more up-to-date.
"Desvairada" has always been a kind of virtuosic showpiece for the Brazilian
guitarist. And, at first, I didn't want to include it on the CD. But one day when I was
playing it, something came to mind, and I started improvising. As a rule,
"Desvairada" has been played at the same tempo throughout, no changes, but as I
approached the third part, I adapted a slower tempo. When I did that, it felt really,
really good. Then I decided to transpose it up to E minor, almost the same as the
original, which is written in D minor, but the new key gave the piece a certain brilliance
on the guitar. By changing the tonality and taking the third section at a slower tempo,
the piece took on a fresh profile, one that I think many guitarists will appreciate. This
new interpretation flowed so well with the other pieces I had chosen for the project, that
I decided to include it on the CD.
Brazzil—It might be my ear, but there's got to be more than one guitar
player on "Valsa Negra."
Pereira—You know, it was difficult to make the Valsas Brasileiras CD.
Overall, it's very cool and calm. It's a CD that your heart feels more than your feet,
which was my original intention. But when I started the project, even though I had very,
very good pieces, I was thinking, "Damn, the same 3/4 all the time might get
boring." Waltzes, of course, can be played faster or slower, and by phrasing two bars
of 3/4 together, you create 6/8, which is a kind of African rhythm, but I needed tunes
that were a bit more virtuosic, just to "cook."
Shortly after I started work on the project, I went to hear a concert given by a friend
of mine from Rio de Janeiro, the great pianist Leandro Braga, really a great musician. He
played "Valsa Negra," and I knew immediately it was the piece I needed to close
the CD. Although I tried to keep as close as possible to his original, Leandro's piano
playing is so plush, that I couldn't realize his piece on just one guitar. I even tried
two guitars, but I finally needed to overdub four guitars on that track, four guitars to
express his music. This is a piece that really pushes the waltz concept.
Brazzil—We were talking earlier about the different versions of
"Lamentos," and I'm curious why "Plainte," which appears on Dança
dos Quatro Ventos, was recorded in a different version for Valsas Brasileiras?
Pereira—Yes, you've made an interesting connection. Plainte is a French
word that means lamentos. And yes, I did record "Plainte" for the first
time on the Dança dos Quatro Ventos CD. I don't think of myself as a composer, but
sometimes I need something to play right away, and I don't have it in hand. I'll look for
the right piece, but if I still can't find it, I'll just write exactly what I'm looking
for. When I was recording Dança dos Quatro Ventos, I felt that there was something
missing. I needed a piece that would bring a kind of closure to the CD. So I wrote
"Plainte" the night before the last recording session. It took me about five or
six hours. After the recording session, I was a little unsettled about the second part.
But it had already been recorded, and there was nothing more I could do with it. Then when
I was recording the Valsas Brasileiras project, the piece came to mind, and I put
"Plainte" on my possibility list, you know? When I played it through, however,
the second part was still bothering me, so I rewrote it. Now the B section is more
aesthetic, more connected to the first part. The version on Valsas Brasileiras is,
for me, the final version. Now "Plainte" is complete.
Brazzil—I'm surprised you say you're not a composer.
Pereira—I say I'm not a composer because, I think, a composer has to work
everyday composing for many different instruments and ensembles. I am a guitarist, and I
have to work with my instrument. Really, the most important thing for me is to play the
guitar. I teach also, so I never have enough time for composition, never as much as I'd
like. That's why I say that I'm not a real composer.
Brazzil—But you're teaching in the composition department.
Pereira—I'm attached to the composition department, but I don't teach
composition. I teach harmony, and I very much like teaching that. I stopped teaching
guitar because I don't believe in the traditional method of teaching where you have one
student at a time taking a lesson from you. I like being in the classroom with many
people. I think it's more dynamic. I think lessons, no matter what instrument—guitar,
piano, saxophone—should be done with, at least, three or four students together at
the same time. And I tried to do that at the University in Rio de Janeiro, but the
administration didn't like it. So I decided to teach harmony, which I like very much. And
I've started teaching a new course at the University in Rio—Functional Harmony.
I teach two kinds of harmony. Harmony in the traditional sense, like Mozart, like
Beethoven, you know, the classical European style, from the beginning of harmony through
the beginning of the 20th century, with Debussy and Ravel. But the subject is kind of
antiquated today, so I started a new course that works more with jazz concepts. Actually,
the harmony is the same because you have the same scales and the same notes put together
into chords. But the choice of the chords, the way they are put together, and the way a
player incorporates them, makes all the difference.
Jazz has its own way of building chords and working with them. The phrasing and chord
progressions are completely different in jazz. Even the way chords are indicated on the
page is different. In traditional harmony, Roman numerals are used for first degree,
second degree, inversions, and so on. But in jazz, letters are used, and this is important
for students to understand.
Brazzil—Has making the transition from the erudite world of playing
concertos to that of playing samba or vice versa ever been uncomfortable for you?
Pereira—You know, we are very rich in terms of rhythm in Brazil, and there are
some strict rules within the choro and samba tradition. I started playing Brazilian
styles, by learning the samba and the choro, the lines of the choro, the
lines that you have to play. Then I went to music school to take lessons in the classical
style and worked with the classical guitar for a long time. I was playing only the
classical repertoire, until I came back to Brazil, and during those transitional periods,
I was really like a stranger in the village.
Brazzil—What was the most valuable lesson you learned from the European
village?
Pereira—When I went to Europe and lived in Paris, I met some jazz musicians,
and that really made the difference for me because I really liked the way that the jazz
musicians played. I liked the music they played, but more than that, I liked the way that
they ran their lives. It was different from the way I saw classical musicians living.
Perhaps classical musicians are too serious. Sometimes they are so inflexible, and I
didn't want to become a boring guy. Jazz gave me a sense of freedom. That's what I loved
from the very beginning. Even today, I really like the aura surrounding the jazz scene,
and I try to convey this, whether I'm playing an orchestral work or samba and choro.
Brazzil—Do you think that classical seriousness is more pronounced for
guitar players?
Pereira—Yeah, I think, because there is something about the guitar, especially
the classical guitar, that isolates. If you are a classical performer, you are alone. It's
like a curse. That's true. Maybe, three times in your life you'll be able to play with an
orchestra. Or if you are really, really famous like John Williams, maybe you can perform
with an orchestra ten times in your life. But normally, you are alone, you play alone, you
cry alone, you laugh alone. And you have to play the same limited repertoire. Really,
because you can't be a composer.
It's not a good thing for a classical performer because composition takes time away
from your practicing. If your approach is more like a jazz musician, oh, you can play with
anyone and everyone you want to, like we did during the IGN tour. We didn't rehearse, we
just improvised, and sometimes it was really bad, but sometimes we surprised ourselves
because it happened at the moment we were playing. For me, that's fantastic. I love that
feeling.
Selected Discography:
| Artist(s) |
Title |
Label |
Year |
| Marco Pereira and Hamilton de Holanda |
Luz das Cordas |
Independent |
2000 |
| Marco Pereira |
Valsas Brasileiras |
Núcleo Contemporâneo |
1998 |
| Milton Nascimento |
Crooner |
WEA |
1999 |
| Zizi Possi |
Per Amore |
PolyGram |
1998 |
| João Bosco |
Dá Licença Meu Senhor |
Sony |
1997 |
| Marco Pereira |
Dança dos Quarto Ventos |
GHA |
1994 |
| Marco Pereira |
Brasil Musical |
Tom Brasil |
1995 |
| Zé Nogueira |
Disfarça e Chora |
MP.B |
1995 |
| Various |
Raros e Inéditos |
SESC |
1995 |
| Edu Lobo |
Meia Noite |
Velas |
1995 |
| Various |
Songbook Djavan |
Lumiar |
1995 |
| Paulo Sérgio Santos |
Segura Ele |
Kuarup |
1994 |
| Various |
Songbook Noel (Rosa) |
Lumiar |
1992 |
| Marco Pereira & Cristóvão Bastos |
Bons Encontros |
Caju |
1992 |
| Wagner Tiso |
Profissão—Música |
PolyGram |
1991 |
| Gilberto Gil |
Parabolicamará |
WEA |
1991 |
| Gal Costa |
Gal |
BMG |
1991 |
| Marco Pereira |
Elegia |
Channel Classics |
1990 |
| Marco Pereira |
Círculo das Cordas |
Som da Gente |
1987 |
| Marco Pereira |
Violão Popular Brasileiro Contemporâneo |
Som da Gente |
1985 |
Official Web Site: http://www.marcopereira.com.br
1 International Guitar Night is the brainchild of San Francisco guitarist
Brian Gore, who, in response to the numerous International Guitar Festivals throughout
Europe, created a forum in the United States for presenting the world's most original
guitar player/composers—artists who refuse to recognize traditional boundaries. Says
Gore, "The Brazilian players that we have in the International Guitar Night are the
most emblematic of what the IGN is all about."
2 The Prêmio Sharp is Brazil's equivalent of the Grammy Award. The
international competitions were the Concurso Andrés Segovia and the Concurso Francisco
Tárrega.
3 Rasgueado is a technique in which the guitar strings are strummed
rapidly in succession with the thumb or fingernails, producing an arpeggio, that is, the
notes of a chord played one after another rather than simultaneously.
4 Quinteto Villa-Lobos, an all-star ensemble of Brazil's top orchestral and
recording session soloists, is the oldest and certainly one of the most esteemed chamber
groups in Brazil. Although personnel has changed since the group's formation in 1962, the
current lineup—Toninho Carrasqueira (flute), Paulo Sérgio Santos (clarinet), Luís
Carlos Justi (oboe), Philip Doyle (French horn), and Aloysio Fagerlande
(bassoon)—finds the quintet in its strongest and most balanced phase.
Bruce Gilman, music editor for Brazzil, received his Masters
degree in music from California Institute of the Arts. He leads the Brazilian jazz
ensemble Axé and plays cuíca for escola de samba MILA. You can reach him
through his e-mail: cuica@interworld.net