São Paulo Sunsets

In the all so stressful everyday life here, it is important to appreciate the sunsets, and here I have seen some great ones. The one to the left I caught at some friends balcony.The right is the view from my flat. Enjoy!

Noisy street..

If you thought your street has noise. I think I mentioned before that I live across the street from a football stadium, and tonight Aerosmith is playing, and the view from my bedroom window is this photo. And sing along , Arma-get-it-on !

Well , Friday again. I am not managing to post things here every day as I wanted , but some days I barely have time to take a shower let along turn on the computer. I am now struggling with my kick drum technique. To play Bossa nova , Samba in medium tempo or even Baião it works with how i have played my rock foot for the last 15 years. But man, try holding down a steady samba at 120 bp with 16's on the hi-hat! There is only one thing to do, and that is to sit down and work with the feet, like I have done for the last weeks, for no less than 5 hours a day. It's so boring I want to throw up, but like my teacher says, God will not come down from heaven and do this for you , you just have to sit there till it works. And I am still sitting..
Well enough about me , over to Milton Banana(Antônio de Souza), who did this very well. He was a self taught bossa nova/jazz drummer. Played with João Gilberto and Stan Gtez, but I recommend Milton Banana Trio !

Hammond groove.

There is a part of the city that is called Vila Madalena. And here there is a place called Madeleine, and this place has a groove. Hammond groove . A trio with drums, guitar and a real Hammond B3 with a Leslie amplifier. They play a mix of jazz, funk with Brasilian music. Amazing sound comes out of this little oasis once a week, and last Thursday I was so lucky as to be asked to come up and play a couple of tunes with them. This was my very first encounter with the live stage in São Paulo ,and rounded it of with Sissy Strut by the Meters. Pfff....
Obs: It's not me on the picture. This is Wagner Vasconcelos , and he's really good!

Pandeiro

This week I am going to start learning a percussion instrument that is very typical in brasilian music. It is called Pandeiro . It is some kind of a tambourine , with skin in the middle. Often used in small groups with a couple of guitars. There is a certain technique to play it, that makes it sound like there are several percussion instruments being played at the same time.
I'll let you know how it goes ;)

This is where I spend most of my time..

Rhythm of the week.

Baião is one of my favorite rhythm´s that I have learned her. It is to play very fast and with a more simple foot pattern, it leaves room and energy for a lot of improvisation and swing with the hands.
It is also cool to change the drumsticks with some kind of percussion. I prefer the triangle ;)
The baião originated with the native peoples in the Northeast but now incorporates elements of indigenous, African, and European musics. A good introduction is to check out Victor Assis Brasil.
He was primarily a jazz musician, but his reportoare spreads well into Samba and Baião. If you can find a recording or live performance of Creek you are in for a treat.

Virada Cultural

Virada Cultural is a cultural event that takes place in São Paulo once every year. This is an opportunity for everyone to enjoy music, cinema and exhibitions without paying anything. Over 50 stages all over the city with all from unknown performers to some of the biggest names in Brasilian music.
The problem is choosing where, who, what end when. There are so much things going on at the same time that this is the day you wish you could clone yourself. For me the choice fell on Vale do Anhangabaú, which is a great spot in the very heart of the center of the city. On an open air stage the the thousands of people that had showed up could enjoy the legend Hermeto Pascoal who is a very important man here. He was a part of Quarteto Novo, that I wrote about earlier. He is one of the more innovative musicians of his generation. After him, entered the stage Airto Moreira, who is a very known drummer and percussionist. He also played with Hermeto , and after he moved to the Unitet States he recorded with Miles Davis among others.

Burbon Street

Yesterday I turned 32. And what better way to turn than to have your wife calling you saying that she heard on the radio that one of your favorite bands are playing in town. And so it went , I got to see Medeski, Martin & Wood. We were not allowed to take pictures so this will have to do;) Maybe one of the most creative fusions of jazz , funk , all kinds of noises and after last night ,punk , I have seen. Worth to catch if they play near you.

Today I decided to change.. the language of my blog. With all do respect, I thought about my many friends who are not Norwegians. And this should be for them also, to the ones who were my first introduction to this country. And to all of you, I´m not going to translate old posts. Consider this your first lesson in MY language . Now that I have learned yours ;)
This blog is about how I see the country of Brasil, through my experiences as a student in São Paulo. I am hear to absorb the most important part of the brasilian culture, as I see it, the music.
So Brasil through the eyes of a Norwegian, hens the name of the blog. I guess you all know what havaianas are. For those of you who live in warm places , Lusekofte is some kind of a wool cardigan , that is very typical in in my country, good for when it`s like 30 bellow zero. Here is a fine example. Enjoy!

Ukas Rytme.

Frevo - er en rytme som kommer fra en typisk marstakt, og kan minne litt om den første rytmen jeg skrev om, Maxixe. Frevo kommer også fra nord-øst, rundt regionen Pernabuco. De fleste rytmene kommer egentlig derfra, da det er der man finner størst befolkning med bakgrunn i rytmisk rike kulturer.
Frevo hører spesielt hjemme i karneval, og spilles veldig fort på skarpen , med basstromme kun på 2 i et 2/4 mønster. Men det er også flere fine kombinasjoner for resten av trommesettet.
Ordet Frevo sies å komme fra ordet ferver, som betyr å koke på portugisisk, og at lyden av Frevo får de som hører på og danser til å føle at det koker rundt dem.

Her studerer jeg

Var vel på tid å vise hvor jeg studerer. Konservatoriet ligger ganske midt i det komersielle sentrum av São Paulo. Dette er stedet for shopping , gatekafeer og bra restauranter. Alt som er dyrt. Enda godt jeg ikke har tid til å ta meg til noe av det. Det er ikke mer enn et par hundre studenter her, hvor av de er det ca. tyve utlendinger. Jeg er den eneste fra Europa. Ellers er det en god blanding fra Amerika, Korea , Japan , Singapore og Australia. Og alle vil lære brasiliansk musikk. Dette er noe de lokale elevene og lærerene setter veldig pris på, at så mange nasjonaliteter er her for å tilegne seg deres kultur på denne måten. Jeg setter pris på å få være en del av det !