July 29

Another morning and early afternoon of what becomes a daily routine of doing local co-ordination of "events" like rehearsals, meetings, plans to go out etc. The schedule never stays as planned - number of sudden ajustments is always required, and I am adopting quite well, I believe. But it does cost extra energy and nerves. I am feeling it by now, especially since I came down with a bit of a flu yesterday. Lots of raw garlic is being consumed; I might lose all my new friends, but what to do?

I enjoyed the afternoon lesson of piano I gave to José and proceeded to play and talk for a few hours with Rafael Ferrari. His commitment to our project here is great, and I am learning from him a whole lot about the regional music, Brazilian politics and much more. I truly hope one day to be able to bring him, Samuca and couple of other musicians over to Europa. The música gaúcha definitely deserves much wider recognition!

After that i jumped in the taxi which whisked me to Morro Santa Tereza, a sizable hill down the riverside, where all the local outlets of the broadcasting companies co-exist on a rather limited space. The goal was to meet Paulo Moreira and do the live interview with him at TVE FM Cultura. Since I already had the pleasure doing it last year, I felt quite comfortable. Paulo made sure that there is ample information about the upcoming workshops and concerts in the Goethe-Institut, and played a couple of tracks from my CD's.

Here is Paulo at work

I had to cut my visit short - it was time to go to the Teatro Renascença, to catch two great bands backing two fantastic accordion players.
It was really a great show, both parts. I am really very happy about the fact that now I am recognizing most of the genres; not only that, I actually knew a few tunes of the repertoire - thanks to Rafael Ferrari, mostly!

Renato Borghetti opened the show. His band included a very good pianist, so I could check out the figures he used to play Milongas, Chamamés and so on. Very good and strong. Amazing flute player… I need to find out who the guys are…

After a break Chango Spasiuk and his band took the stage. That was even more interesting for me, since I am not informed really about Argentinian music, even though I've been learning bits and pieces about it, thanks to Mimo Ferreira. Chango comes from the region, actually, just from the other side of the border. He seems to be an absolute master of Chamamé - they played many regional variations of this music in 3/4, with unusual accents and rhythmical patterns. Very soulful, strong - also thanks to the guitar player doubling on percussions, including a huge cajon box. I need to learn more about Argentinian and Uruguayan music, that's for sure!

Here is the chamamé maestro: