Sonntag, 17. Juli 2011

15 July

The day started rather chaotically - still some problems with the internet upstairs, trying to get in touch with different musicians I heard of and generally attempting to organize my schedule and activities for the weeks to came.
The afternoon piano lesson I gave to my Portuguese teacher José was a mixed bag - him being really rusty after a long break from the instrument, and myself rusty as an advice giving "authority"...
The second part of the day was dedicated to Mimo Ferreira - the scheduled rehearsal at 4 pm turned into a protracted waiting with intermittent updates on his whereabouts, culminating in his arriving 2 hours later - a very Brazilian thing indeed.
But...it was well worth waiting for - the minute we started playing, it just clicked in a pretty huge way. Mimo is an open, strong and attentive player, grooves as hell and is not a stickler to the "etiquette" of any given tradition in a narrow sense.
We really had great fun. After a short repose, we met up at the MEME, a great cultural center. Up until a year ago it was a Casa de Santo, a place where the popular Brazilian religious cult Umbanda is practiced. The five current owners turned it into a lovely space combining a bistro, patio and practice+performance space. During the daytime the are classes of aerobics, pilates and all things bodily. In the evenings it turns into bohemian meeting point with occasional performance events.
Mimo and I kicked off the proceedings by playing my tune Itapo. We really were flying there, and the audience erupted with the loudest, most enthusiastic show of appreciation. Afterwards we enjoyed a number of wonderful dance performances, culminating in a collective trance dance, evoking the spirits of the house in it's previous function - a truly Brazilian manifestation of pride, strength and spiritual beauty.

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