Mostrando postagens com marcador Luizão Maia. Mostrar todas as postagens
Mostrando postagens com marcador Luizão Maia. Mostrar todas as postagens

19 março 2009

Copinha - Jubileu de Ouro (1975)

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CopinhaCopinha era filho de italianos e tinha oito irmãos, todos eles músicos. Seu primeiro professor de flauta foi Vicente, irmão mais velho. E, nas serenatas e rodas de choro de São Paulo, iniciou-se no jeito de tocar em grupo, solar e acompanhar.

"Eu comecei a estudar com 7 anos de idade, em 1917. Mas estudava direito, estudava música primeiro. Hoje a gurizada pega um instrumento e vai tocar de ouvido. Estudei música, solfejo, depois mais tarde harmonias, essa coisa toda. Com 9 anos é que eu peguei a flauta. Com nove anos eu já fazia serenata com o Canhoto [Américo Jacomino]. Toquei muitas vezes. Ele gostava e dizia: 'Esse garoto é bom'."

Antes dos 20 anos de idade, dominava também o clarinete e o saxofone, que aprendera no Conservatório Dramático e Musical de São Paulo. Embora Copinha tocasse também clarinete e saxofone, o seu instrumento de preferência, e o que mais utilizou durante toda a carreira, foi a flauta. O que caracteriza Copinha, além da evidente qualidade técnica e musical, é a capacidade de se adaptar a uma enorme variedade de estilos.

Não existe uma "flauta" de Copinha, que se imponha de maneira uniforme independentemente do que e com quem esteja tocando; porém tampouco falta personalidade à sua execução, pois alguns traços estão presentes em todas as suas intervenções: a limpeza do som, o estilo chorado, a economia de notas e, acima de tudo, a interação com os outros instrumentos ou com a voz – a flauta de Copinha está sempre integrada ao conjunto sonoro, e mesmo quando sola não ignora o acompanhamento.

Não existe melhor maneira de perceber tudo isso do que ouvir sua atuação com João Gilberto e, depois, com Paulinho da Viola. Escutar os discos "Chega de Saudade" e, em seguida, "Nervos de Aço".

Apesar de sua discrição e de seu papel de acompanhante, Copinha era respeitado pelos grandes músicos. A ponto de Hermeto Pascoal, um músico em tudo e por tudo diferente, cuja flauta soa no mais das vezes nervosa, "suja", agressiva, ter homenageado o colega com a composição "Salve, Copinha" (gravada no disco "Brasil Universo").

Copinha tem menos de 20 composições gravadas, a maioria nos seus próprios discos. São quase todas obras tradicionais, românticas, típicas das serestas. O compositor Copinha viveu no segundo plano em relação ao músico, pelo menos no que se refere às gravações.

A originalidade de arranjador de Copinha não deve ser procurada nos discos orquestrais e sim, principalmente, em três discos de Paulinho da Viola para os quais escreveu os arranjos: "Nervos de Aço", "Memórias Cantando" e "Memórias Chorando" – dois discos de canções e um disco instrumental.

Sem prejudicar em nada o balanço e o sincopado dos sambas e choros que Paulinho escreveu ou interpreta, Copinha cria um ambiente camerístico no qual cada músico tem seu papel mas, também, a sua liberdade. Há um jogo de som e silêncio, tanto de cada instrumento isolado quanto do grupo como um todo. Instrumentos que se emparelham de maneira imprevista e original. E divisões surpreendentes – como nos contracantos de "Comprimido".

"Interessante a maneira com a qual Copinha combina os instrumentos aqui: bateria (vassourinha), baixo, violão sete cordas [Raphael Rabello] e flauta. Copinha, neste arranjo, mostra como era a vanguarda no choro. Como Paulo Moura, tem uma visão bem livre dos arranjos, com poucas sinalizações, mas fundamentais". (Hélio Amaral)

O disco a que se faz referência aqui é "Bonfiglio de Oliveira Interpretado por Copinha e seu Conjunto". Ao rever a música de um antigo compositor de choro, mais uma vez Copinha preserva o essencial da tradição mas não despreza a modernidade, como na junção do contrabaixo com o violão de sete cordas.

Copinha teve duas carreiras distintas: a das orquestras e grandes conjuntos, e a de instrumentista em pequenos grupos, ou acompanhando grupos e cantores. Ambas foram longas, intensas, e produziram resultados muito distintos. Começou a carreira profissional em 1934, como flautista, fazendo fundo para filmes mudos em cinemas de São Paulo e tocando em programas de rádio, quando teve a oportunidade de se apresentar com os violonistas Garoto e Armandinho.

Mas logo deu início à criação de orquestras, principiando pela Orquestra Irmãos Cópia, sob a liderança do irmão mais velho, Vicente; depois,"Juca e seus rapazes"; e, mais adiante, a orquestra do Maestro Gaó (Orquestra Colúmbia), em apresentações nas rádios paulistas.

Com Gaó, ainda na década de 1930, mudou-se para o Rio de Janeiro, onde tocou em boates, cabarés (com Pixinguinha, no Dancing Eldorado), teatros e cassinos; com a orquestra de Simon Boutman, no Cassino do Copacabana Palace; Carlos Machado, no Cassino da Urca; e Paul Morris, no Quitandinha, em Petrópolis.

Com vocação de andarilho, desde a década de 1930 empreendeu um ciclo de viagens internacionais que se estendeu até o final da vida, sozinho, em grupos, como músico de orquestras ou maestro.

Corria a década de 1940, e Copinha criou a primeira orquestra sob sua liderança, chamada inicialmente de Cópia e sua Orquestra. Com ela, ao longo de quase 20 anos, tornou-se um dos principais acompanhantes de cantores como Sílvio Caldas, Francisco Alves, Mário Reis, Carmen Miranda, Cyro Monteiro, Dircinha Batista, Aracy de Almeida, Orlando Silva e Dorival Caymmi.

Em 1958, recebeu em sua orquestra um músico nordestino que viria a fazer história na música brasileira: Hermeto Pascoal mudou-se de São Paulo para o Rio de Janeiro a fim de tocar acordeom na Orquestra do Maestro Copinha, que então se apresentava no Hotel Excelsior. E, no mesmo ano, juntou-se à orquestra o pianista acreano João Donato, durante uma temporada no Hotel Copacabana Palace.

A partir da década de 1960, tornou-se um dos mais requisitados músicos de estúdio e de shows do Brasil. O espaço das orquestras rareava pela soma das novas tendências da música com o alto custo necessário para mantê-las. E Copinha afastou-se aos poucos, primeiro desmobilizando sua própria orquestra para trabalhar nas orquestras da TV Tupi e, depois, da Rede Globo e, por fim, praticamente abandonando os grupos orquestrais.

São raros os cantores e compositores de primeira linha da música brasileira, a partir da década de 1960, que não tenham contado com Copinha e seus instrumentos de sopro – particularmente a flauta. Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento, Cartola e Ivan Lins são apenas alguns deles.

É de Copinha a flauta que se ouve na famosíssima introdução de "Chega de Saudade", que abre o primeiro LP homônimo de João Gilberto, com arranjos de Tom Jobim. Assim como é de Copinha a flauta que acompanha João em outras faixas do mesmo LP.

Copinha toca flauta em "Canção do Amor Demais", de Elizete Cardoso, considerado um dos marcos iniciais da bossa nova. São dele os sopros em grande parte dos discos de carreira de Paulinho da Viola.


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CopinhaAn active sideman for recording sessions, Copinha accompanied the stars Carmen Miranda, Francisco Alves, Mário Reis, Carlos Galhardo, Orlando Silva, Sílvio Caldas, Nuno Roland, Rui Rei, and many others in the Golden Age of song (between the '30s and '40s). During the bossa nova years (late '50s to early '60s), he accompanied Elizeth Cardoso, João Gilberto (since his first album), and other icons of the movement. He recorded Pierre Barouh's score for the famous film Un Homme et une Femme, together with Baden Powell, Milton Banana, and the Castro-Neves brothers: Oscar and Iko. From the '70s to the '80s, he was a sideman for Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque, Paulinho da Viola, Roberto Carlos, Gilberto Gil, and others. He also had international success with his solo work, which was ahead of his own orchestra.

Born the seventh son of Italian immigrants, he began his musical studies at age nine with his older brother, Vicente Cópia (all his brothers were musicians). Taking up the flute, he became a professional in 1924, accompanying silent movies until the advent of sound in 1930. In 1928, he took up the clarinet and the saxophone and played around a lot. In 1930, he performed several times for Rádio Paulista, accompanied by Garoto. His first album was recorded in that year, together with Garoto, Aimoré, Armandinho (all violonistas [acoustic guitar players]), and singer Moreira da Silva.

CopinhaWith his brothers and nephews, he organized the Orquestra Irmãos Cópia (who played regularly until 1934), where crooners like Rui Rei, Nuno Roland, and Grande Otelo performed. Completing an engineering degree at a university, he worked for some time in that profession, but never abandoned his busy schedule as a musician. In 1931, he joined the quartet of Spartaco Rossi on their tour of Germany. In 1932, he accompanied famous singers Mário Reis and Francisco Alves. In 1933, he performed at Rádio Cruzeiro do Sul with Maestro Gaó's Orquestra Columbia, joining them regularly between 1937 and 1939.

Expanding his activities to Rio de Janeiro in 1936, he was hired by Rádio Ipanema and played with Pixinguinha at the Eldorado gafieira. He was an active sideman during the '30s and '40s. From 1939 to 1943 he joined the orchestra of Simon Bountman, and from 1944 to 1946 he performed with the orchestra of Carlos Machado at the Cassino da Urca, playing also in other casinos. His own orchestra was formed in 1946; they performed until 1959 at the Casino of the Copacabana Palace Hotel. In that period, coinciding with the inception of bossa nova, several of the important names of the movement joined his orchestra or were accompanied by them, such as João Gilberto, João Donato, Milton Banana, and many others. In 1958, after having accompanied Elizeth Cardoso on the historic album where bossa nova was launched (Canção do Amor Demais), he was invited by Tom Jobim to appear on the debut album of João Gilberto. In the bossa nova period, he continued his active participation as a sideman in recordings. In 1966, he performed in Monaco with his orchestra, Copinha do Rio. In 1967, he teamed with pianist Dom Salvador, drummer Chico Batera, and bassist Sérgio Barroso, playing in Miami, Dallas, and Minneapolis (U.S.A.). His 50-year career was commemorated with the recording of the LP Jubileu de Ouro (Som Livre), in July 1975.

Alvaro Neder - extracted from All Music Guide

17 janeiro 2007

Wagner Tiso - Trem Mineiro (1981)

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Clique aqui para baixar o disco/Download the album - Mediafire . enviado por J. Neto

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Wagner TisoNeste pacote de registros de lançamentos excelentes - todos sérios candidatos à lista dos melhores do ano, não poderia faltar ao menos uma citação de "Trem Mineiro", terceiro elepê instrumental de Wagner Tiso, Maestro, arranjador, tecladista e sobretudo compositor, este mineiro de 36 anos, uma larga quilometragem musical, identificado com Milton Nascimento desde sua adolescência, é hoje um dos arranjadores mais diasputados. Como instrumentista compositor já revelou na série de 3 elepês do Som Imaginário toda uma extraordinária versatilidade. Mas tem sido nestes últimos três anos, em álbuns da Odeon, onde tem tido liberdade para colocar todas suas idéias e concepções, que tem atingido os pontos mais altos. Ao contrário dos dois discos instrumentais anteriores, "Trem Mineiro", por razões econômicas, não teve a ampla secção de cordas que Tiso tão bem sabe utilizar. Em compensação, a integração com músicos como Mauro Senise (sax alto), Cidinho (percussão), Luisão (baixo), Roberto Silva (bateria), Ricardo Silveira (guitarra - violão - ovation), Serginho (trombone), Leo Gandelman (sax alto), faz com que cada uma das oito faixas se ouça com uma imensa emoção. Classificar em gêneros e graus, procurar descrição de palavras para transmitir a beleza, a harmonia e as cores sonoras com que Wagner marca este seu trabalho, é, em nosso entender, quase impossível. Com exceção de "Banda da Capital", parceria com Nivaldo Ornellas e uma regravação de "Os Pássaros" (Milton Nascimento) as outras composições são exclusivamente de Wagner. E em todas sente-se como um trabalho perfeito quando lhe dão condições: "Cello Caribe", "Sobe Serra, Desce Serra", "Mata Burro", "Trem Torto" e "Trem Mineiro", são temas instrumentais que sem deixarem de serem brasileiríssimos, podem emocionar pessoas de qualquer parte do mundo. Sem falar em "Armina", composição dos tempos do Som Imaginário, que volta em nova roupagem. Um disco emocionante e antológico, o mínimo a dizer...

Aramis Millarch, publicado no jornal Estado do Paraná em 31/05/1981 - extraído do site Tablóide Digital
Para mais informação, visite o site do Wagner Tiso

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Wagner TisoWagner Tiso is a model of contemporary musician. Composer, conductor, arranger, his creations are imbued with a vigorous Brazilian sound expression. The fusion of several musical elements, which shape his compositions – from the gipsy sentimentalism to the baroque style of Minas Gerais – gives this magnificent musician a sense of exceptional musicality.

He has recorded 28 albums, composed a series of soundtracks for cinema, theater and television and been awarded several times in these areas. Music has always been to him an act of continuous invention. Built with a variety of rhythms and rich musical combinations, this invention not only keeps distance from monotonous repetitions but also from an inexpugnable experimentalism. How good for music!

Wagner Tiso is one of the most respected musicians abroad. He frequently plays at the best European jazz festivals such as Montreux, Berlin, Montmartre (Denmark) and Nice and performs at the main concert halls in Greece, Italy, France, Austria and Germany.

Wagner Tiso is an accomplished musician. Pianist, keyboardist, composer, arranger, conductor, musical director and with a background of fruitful experiences in almost all areas, he belongs to the special and restricted circle of accomplished musicians. He has expanded his work into different directions: popular music, symphonies, operas, soundtracks for films, theater and television, jazz and ballet.

The quality of his work is beyond description. It’s vital, pulsating, ravishing, unique, extremely beautiful in harmony and melody and replete with power of expression.

Wagner is an original musician. Like few, he knows how to draw from his orchestras an absolute sense of unity and cohesion, with discipline, team spirit and exceptional musicality. Perfectionist, he has accomplished a memorable work, creating his arrangements with the refinement and diligence of a dedicated artisan. His orchestrations highlight the melodic essence of the compositions, projecting the virtues of an outstanding and genuine composer: form, sensibility, content, inventiveness and originality. More than creative and original, he is an inventor of sounds. His imagination descries inumerous melodic and harmonic possibilities in order to develop and expand the themes. The contrasts of sound, the different atmospheres and the tonal colors transform each piece into real impressions of the themes he approaches.

Extracted from Saxophone Repertoire Information
For more info, visit Wagner Tiso's site

29 julho 2006

Toninho Horta - Moonstone (1991)

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Toninho HortaAntônio Maurício Horta de Melo nasceu em Belo Horizonte, no bairro Floresta, em 2 de dezembro de 1948. Filho de Prudente de Melo, mestre-de-obras, e Geralda Magela Horta de Melo, funcionária pública. Seu pai tocava violão e a mãe, violão e bandolim. O primeiro músico da família foi o avô materno, João Horta, funcionário da Central do Brasil que montava uma banda em cada lugar em que morava. Paulo, um de seus cinco irmãos, foi quem mais o incentivou para música. Aos 10 anos, Toninho começou a tocar violão e, aos 13, fez sua primeira composição, "Barquinho Vem". Aos 19 anos, iniciou a carreira de músico profissional tocando na noite. Na adolescência, conheceu Milton Nascimento, Márcio e Lô Borges e Beto Guedes – aos dois últimos ensinou harmonia. Mas foi a partir do Festival de Belo Horizonte, em 1969, que começou a união musical do grupo. No final dos anos 60, foi para o Rio de Janeiro, onde trabalhou com artistas como Elis Regina. Em 1972, organizou arranjos de base, tocou guitarra, baixo e percussão no disco Clube da Esquina. Após 10 anos nos EUA, em 1999 retornou ao Brasil com uma carreira internacional consolidada. Hoje dedica-se ao seu selo Minas Records e a publicação do Livrão da Música Brasileira, compilação de cerca de 700 partituras, abrangendo desde Carlos Gomes até compositores contemporâneos.


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The sound of Brazil are ringing together from its deepest reaches. Few feel its diverstity more intimately than Toninho Horta, whose elegant regional colors have been global ambassadors of the country's rich musical gifts for decades. Toninho Horta - by Cristiano QuintinoHorta embraces the most beautiful gestures of fingerstyle bossa nova, accompanying his own vocal lines with a grace that transcends mere harmonization; at a turn, he dispatches felt-toned octaves in soaring bop mode that utterly desegrates the invocations of jazz, classical, folk and african rythms within his shifting, surreal progressions. "I love to show a conception of my music", asserts Horta in an English riddled with the dialect of his native Belo Horizonte, the capital of the Brazilian state Minas Gerais. "That's much more meaningful to me than to just play guitar".

Although his compositions and fluent playing brought him recognition from Belo Horizonte to Rio de Janeiro, it wasn't until Milton Nascimento's popular breakthrough that the city-and Horta especially-became a touchstone for a growing international awareness of Brazilian music. Horta accompanied Nascimento in 1970 for the singer's very first performance in Rio, and two years later participated in the making of the landmark recording Clube da Esquina. Toninho's first solo album Terra dos Passaros was recorded during a period when his works were being covered by everyone from Sergio Mendes to Flora Purim to Norman Connors' Starship Orchestra.

A self titled follow-up, released in 1980, featured the contributions of a professed Horta disciple whose own music has carried that pervasive influence to audiences worldwide: Pat Metheny.

When Toninho immigrated to New York in the mid '80s, he spent time in the clubs alongside two former Pat Metheny Group members, drummer Danny Gottlieb and bassist Mark Egan, as well as percussionist Manolo Badrena. To hone his craft, he did two taxing semesters at the Juilliard School. "When I took the placement tests, he laughs, "they said, Ah, you don't know anything about music! And you have to start again with the rudiments if you want to study here. It was very strange, but it was an interesting experience."

Toninho Horta - by Fernando LibânioDiamond Land, Toninho's American label debut of last year, represented the results of his dabblings in orchestral study: Its lush, sweeping arrangements are propelled by a guitar voice that sings his melodies with a provocative sweetness. Moonstone is a return to the intimate setting that lends a more organic quality to Horta's compositions, several of which he performed unaccompanied at the urging of producer Ricardo Silveira, a fine Brazilian guitarist in his own right. For the ensemble pieces, Toninho is joined again by Egan and Gottlieb, along with the Brazilian vocal group Boca Livre, drummer Paulo Braga, bassist Steve Rodby, pianist Eliane Elias and percussionist Nana Vasconcelos, among many other stylistically diverse musicians.

The record is an exquisite statement of melody and mood; on the title track, Horta reunites with Metheny-whom Toninho is often surprisingly said to "sound like"- for a subtle acoustic dialog that brings the two guitarists together more inseparably than ever before. "A lot of people I speak to make the comparison", Toninho smiles, "but there are many guys who play the electric guitar more similarly to the way I do, like John Abercrombie. Lee Ritenour came to see my show in California, and Al di Meola saw me recently, and the guys loved the stuff. Lee told Ricardo, 'Toninho's incredible because he doesn't play licks'. I try not to sound like anybody else, and I prefer to make my mistakes and have more limited playing in terms of scales. I don't want to play licks. It's good, but I never want to do it. I have my licks, "he laughs, "but that's my way".

Why the more focused approach?
I've always loved orchestration. When I was very young, between 10 and 13, I listened to much American stuff, like Stan Kenton, Stan Getz, Nelson Riddle, Ella Fitzgerald and I loved the big arrangements. Then one day I started playing guitar, and realized it's better to use six strings most of the time: I'd play with five fingers of the right hand to make a big sound, and use a lot of open strings to get more of an orchestrated sound. On both of the records I did in Brazil, and Diamond Land, I put too much (laughs). I had the opportunity to show my stuff playing-wise, but also to invite friends to play with me in the kinds of music that enjoys a lot of orchestration-very full. But Ricardo told me, "Toninho, you have to concentrate more on yourself now, on playing more". and besides, I promised the people at the record company that on the next album, I'd make it all just myself, and maybe some decoration. But between the last album and Moonstone, I'm more focused in my music, because I think the people in the company and maybe the United States want to listen more to me than a lot of stuff around it. Toninho Horta - by Cristiano QuintinoI love to play guitar, but I don't think I'd want to be a guitarist like Pat Metheny, because I like composing, singing, playing piano, production-I co-produced the first album I did here. But I thought I'd make it more simple, with less outside people, to show more of the styles, acoustic and electric, that I can play.

If you were to make a record that would really represent Toninho Horta, would it involve just singing and playing acoustic guitar?
Yeah. What got me into playing electric guitar was hearing people like Wes Montgomery, Barney Kessel and Tal Farlow. But I never took lessons, I just listened a lot. I started when I was 15 years old. My older brother Paulo is a bass player, and he's got a lot of American records. I listened all the time, but never copied one phrase from those guys. Maybe one chord. But I just listened and listened, and I never got a teacher in Brazil. And I really listened to Brazilian musicians, guitar players like Baden Powell, Chiquito Braga, Joao Gilberto, of course, and Jorge Ben. Growing up in Belo Horizonte, I met many musicians, but I found my style maybe when I was 18; at that time people said 'Toninho, you've got good harmony, god ways of music'. I would like to have studied then, but it's good now.

Some musicians have a creeping fear that if they learn the musical language, they'll get taken in by all the rules and find it more difficult to express themselvs. Did you experience that while studying at Juilliard?
Well, I got into a lot of orchestration, but then again, my idea was only to stay in Juilliard for a short time. I took an exam there, and it was so bad, even though I studied in Brazil in a private theory class for about two months before. At Juilliard, I made it through the beginning of harmony in four voices. I had a good time, and my teacher, a conductor named C.Jeffrey Langley, told me, "You don't need this", he made tests of all the others in the class, and they all knew that a Bb major scale had these notes with the accidentals or whatever, but when he started a test at the piano, on singing and identifying notes, I was always the best of the class. I have no theory, but a lot of experience. But I had a good time there; it helped in, learning to write better. A little bit, not too much (laughs).

Did it help your playing?
For playing, no, and for composing, no. Just for writing and understanding something about basic theory. But for applications like playing my music with other guys, definetely not.

Because studying harmony strengthens arranging skills, it also often helps guitarists learn more about moving the differents voices around on the instrument. Didn't your solo playing benefit from that?

Of course, but not intentionally. I always prefer a more natural sound. I've listened to all kinds of music at all times in my life. Right now, I listen to (arranger) Claus Ogerman and think about it, and that helps translate ideas, just keeping information. But when I sit with the guitar to compose a song, I never remember any scale or musician. I just play; maybe an old song of mine, or one by Antonio Jobim or Jorge Ben or Cole Porter (sings Porter's "I love you") - I love that song. Then I start to improvise lines, find some idea, and then I open my mind and start to compose. But I never decide, "Oh, now I'm going to compose a 6/8 song. " I once wrote for a small symphony in Campinas the second biggest city in Sao Paulo. It was a piece called "Earth", in four movements, and in this kind of work, you have to concentrate: I wanted to start with a big earthy sound, and then a happy song, so I had to compose a slightly faster part, and then be able to create sadness. I can work in a focused style, but I never think about the time, the rythm, or the chords. I just compose and play. It's easier for me, and it's best for the people who listen. It seems so natural.

When you compose, do you create the melody first and then build an accompaniment around it?
It all comes at the same time. Always together. Melody, harmony, and rythms.

When you came over to America, did people immediately compare your style to Pat Metheny's?
Yeah, of course. All the time (laughs). The first time I heard it it bothered me, but not now, because it happened so much that I got used to it. Pat and I have the same idols on guitar, and he's self taught, too. Like I said, I started when I was very young-my brother and mother showed me some chords. So Pat and I have some similarities. I met him in 1980 in Brazil: Celia Vaz, a brazilian guitar player who studied with Pat at Berklee, introduced us, and the first time we got together, he loved me as a person and for my playing. I loved him too-I bought Pat Metheny Group and American Garage (both on ECM) before I went to see him. And I remember saying, "If only someday I can play with Mark Egan (laughs)! "It was incredible because after we played together the first time, he said, "Toninho, would you like to make a record?" Some people told me that Pat and (Pat Metheny Group keyboardist) Lyle Mays, when they were at Berklee in 1972 and 1973, had Milton's first album, Clube da Esquina, which they bought in Brazil, and after that, they started to listening to Brazilian music, and more from the composers of Minas gerais. Since that time, he has gotten into many interesting records. Toninho Horta and Pat MethenyWhen Pat and Lyle came to Brazil, they said " Let's go to Clube Da Esquina to take pictures", but esquina is just a corner; it doesn't have a club (laughs), it's only a name. Close to the Minas Gerais corner in Brazil, there was a house belonging to (singer) Lo Borges' family: his father, his brothers, everybody playing and singing and writing songs, and sometimes I'd go and play with them. People would come and play until Milton broke out in Brazil in 1967, and then we started to play with him. I think my similarity to Pat is more natural than anything else. I loved him, and I never listened to just one solo. He's listened to my stuff a lot, but I don't think he copied anything. It's a similarity of emotion.

Did you improvise "Moonstone", your duet with Pat?
He's known the song from a long time ago. He invited me to play with him at the wedding of (actor) Robert Duvall. I played acoustic and he played electric. Pat always loved that song. And when he came to record my album, I asked, "Pat, what are we going to play-maybe 'Diana'? Because he also liked that one, and I never recorded it in the States. We played that and another song, and then we just started playing "Moonstone". We just started playing it. He gave some ideas about the form, then he improvised, then I improvised, then we played together, just very simple. We made six takes, and used the fourth one. I'm happy because Ricardo originally thought Pat wouldn't play on the record, but we are friends, and it's good because we wouldn't otherwise have had the opportunity to get together. We had a great time there.

Do you play a custom acoustic?
I use an Hermanos Conde, from Madrid, Spain. It's a flamenco guitar. Paco De Lucia may use a similar one, but his model is more classical. Mine is flamenco.

What's the difference?
It's cheaper and lighter. and the classical has a slightly wider neck. But for me, it's perfect because it's very easy to play. I don't have nails, and the guitar is very flat and easy to get at. For recording, it's very nice. I never use a pick with acoustic-only fingers.

Do you amplify that guitar?
No, I like it direct. I sometimes use an equalizer, a very old 6-band MXR pedal. But I have a Shadow pickup on the Hermanos Conde, and they might use a Boss DD-3 digital delay. For this album, I also played a Roland GR-303 guitar, but I only use the syntheseizer part once or twice a year. I use plain guitar, maybe some chorus, but not too much, through a Roland JC-120 amp. I used that for "Francisca," "Bycycle Ride". On "Liana", I used a 1959 Telecaster, which I borrowed from the studio owner, for a slightly brighter sound. Some people brought a (Gibson) ES-175 just for the recording, which I played on "Yarabela" and "Spirit Land", but then I decided to use only acoustic on that song. Then my Hermanos Conde cracked while recording, and I had to get another instrument. My friend lent me an acoustic/electric Takamine for the last two songs I did, "Gershwin" and "Saguin", which I performed by myself. It sounded a little different, with a little more middle, but it's okay. The music is more important than the equipment.

Have you ever worked with Joe Pass?
I met him at G.I.T. in California, where I did a seminar with Abe Laboriel. I met some guys from Brazil there around '83, and was supposed to come and do a seminar on Brazilian music, but I didn't have any time. Then a friend introduced me to Joe Pass the same week, who told me that Abe was doing a seminar for Latin music and asked if I would get involved. Larry Carlton was there (drummer) Ralph Humphrey, and a percussionist, and I played "I love you", I played a solo only with chords, and the people loved it. I have a tape of the people (mimics wild crowd noice). 300 guitar players in G.IT., never heard a chord solo!

Your Latino rythms must have freaked everybody out?
Yeah (sings straight ahead jazz rythms, then more anticipated rythms). It's got the feeling of jazz, but with special syncopations all over the place. The United States is incredible. When I was very young, I listened to all sorts its music, and it's great to get the opportunity to play my music here. Toninho Horta - by Cristiano QuintinoI worked in Rio for 10 years, and my producer told me, "Your place is the United States, not Brazil. "In Brazil there aremany good musicians and a lot of rythms, like baiao, samba, modinha- because Brazil is so big. The north is heavy influenced by Africa. The state of Bahia has african influences, and instruments like the congas (sings percussively)- Minas Gerais, my state, is heavily influenced by Spain and Portugal. Modinhas are like waltzes- not like jazz waltz-but Chorinhos and Modinhas have many influences from Spain and Portugal; mandolins, violins and guitar for example. The melodies and rythms are very Spanish. The rythms are very folk-song-like. And Rio de Janeiro has a more urban influence. Brazil is great musically, but to make music there, it's very, very hard, economically, politically, and socially. You see, you> have contemporary jazz, rock and pop. In Brazil now, we have instrumental music (laughs). The musicians don't have many opportunities, and to play at nights at clubs is hard. Also, there isn't much information. Here, you can buy the records of John Coltrane or Chopin or debussy, and you have the solos of Tal Farlow and Barney Kessel and Joe Pass. And the Berklee school, you get a thousand people playing the same thing, which actually is kind of bad. In Brazil, you don't have this, because it's hard to get a teacher and have big schools and information and books. I hope to release in Brazil a Real Book with about 350 songs by composers from Minas Gerais. Many important guys have risen from Brazil. The cultural secretary of Minas Gerais may be able to give the money for the project. It's important for the United States, because Brazilian music is better here again now, and there is interest in these harmonies and melodies.

Do you feel a responsability to the music of Brazil, or are your own concepts and playing your priorities now?
I have to be true, because until now, I haven't in a way. If I didn't make a record with more of myself playing, it's because I sometims feel insecure. When I play guitar and sing, or I accompany another person, it's easy for me. But when I have to play my music, play the melody and improvise, it's more difficult. This may be because until now, I've used too many people playing with me on a record, just because I loved it. But I never prepared much forehand. I find the songs and the form, but most of the time I write in the studio:"Oh, you just played it! Improvise here, make fills here, and if you want to, change it!" I like to show my music, and I am not interested in particular aspects. I have to concentrate more on playing than on the conception of the songs, but that's okay. Each of us has his own way. 100,000 people can play with more technique and ideas than I can, but I think when I play a phrase, I play it my way, and nobody plays like that but me.

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