Once a year in a remote tropical beach side of Bahia state in Brazil, an alternative community creates a liminal state; a so called ‘free society’, or a ‘parallel universe’. Some people would prefer to call it a rave (or in Brazil a ‘haivee‘) festival. The participants and promoters of the festival are part of [...]
Music & Dance
The Gringo Carnival Pilgrimage.
The season has started and it is in full swing. Thousands of gringos (non-brazilians in Brazil) from the world over descend upon the cities of Recife, Salvador and especially Rio de Janeiro to play or dance or simply galavant around in carnival. In cities all around the world, from New York to Amsterdam to Tokyo you [...]
Talking Jazz, New York Times style, feat. Gal Costa
BraZil’s biggest export? Coffee you say? yes well you may be right, but I would argue that first if not a close second is music. Music is the domain of everyone in Brazil. In Brasil it is a national pass-time. From the masses of people in impoverished neighbourhoods to the more ‘refined’ upper classes… p’shaw… Brazilian music, [...]
Jason Gardner, Brazil, NYC & the World!
I’ve met a lot of cool people in the world, and a few of them have been New Yorkers. One of the coolest New Yorkers I’ve met is my friend (I think we qualify as friends) Jason Gardner. He is a music & travel photographer par excellence. www.jasongardner.net
You may be saying, ahhhh sh****t, he is [...]
Zelia Duncan’s music
In 2007, the Brazilian 1970’s legendary psychedelic rock band, Os Mutantes, regrouped after 30 years and invited Zelia Duncan to join them on an international tour. This itself is very telling of the quality of Zelia’s artistry as a performer and singer. Indeed she is everything that is good about a Brazilian singer/songwriter. She [...]
The Art of Djavan
Djavan, (pronounced Dee-jah-van), is a Brazilian singer/songwriter fusing sounds from around Brazil and adding his special touch on the guitar. His music can be classified under the ‘MPB’ moniker (Musica Popular Brasileira or ‘Brazilian Popular Music), because it is essentially the kind of music that almost all Brazilians like, and because it involves elements of bossa nova, [...]
Brazil in New York!
A brief summary and view on Brazil in New York City: the syncronicity, the Brasil Day events and the hot spots and coolness! New York is a little bit cooler these days because people everywhere can now find Rio Máte ice tea at select locations! (link coming soon!) And in honor of this I thought I’d do a little run down on the cool Brazilian happenings in New York.
Vinicius de Moraes Brazilian Ambassador
Vinicius de Moraes is a great figure of modern Brazilian popular culture. A composer of bossanova and a playwright, he was an esteemed diplomat in the early post-war period of the modern state of Brazil. He is most renowned for his compositions in partnership with Antonio Carlos Jobim, such as the song “A Garota de [...]
Seu Jorge & Almaz: the show review.
Recently (2 days ago) I saw Seu Jorge and Almaz perform at the Phoenix in Toronto. As those of you who read my previous blog post already know, I knew what I was getting into in terms of music and the show. Somehow I don’t think most people who attended the show did however…
Five or [...]
Seu Jorge & Almaz…
Ok… Seu Jorge. The secret? Well, he is a pure performer. In a universe of incredible musicians, the Brazilians who truly rise to prominence are the amazingly versatile performers. He is an actor, a musician, a song writer, and a “character” so to speak. I can say this with a certain degree of confidence because [...]
