Herbert
Viana is reborn for music
Musician returns to Paralamas
do Sucesso with the release of a new CD. He is also getting ready for
shows around Brazil
 In
February last year Herbert Viana had a serious accident while flying
his microlight plane along the Rio coast line. He lost his wife, Lucy
Needhan, in this accident and could have been killed himself. At the
time, many people doubted that the musician could return to writing,
singing and playing as before. But Herbert has surprised many people.
At the end of September Brazil accompanied, on Fantástico, the
return of Herbert Viana. He sang and played songs from the new Paralamas
do Sucesso CD. Despite being in a wheelchair, Herbert proved that he
is still highly competent as a composer, singer and player. Now Herbert
and his two friends from Paralamas, Bi Ribeiro and João Barone,
are getting ready to play the songs from the new CD, Longo Caminho,
in shows all over Brazil.
Leila
Pinheiro:
unsung queen of MPB
The singer, domestically
and internationally renowned, talks about the Globo Festival and says
that Brazilian songwriters1 are the most creative in the world
She most certainly is not very popular among
the teenagers more 
familiar with Malhação and she is never seen on talk shows hosted
by the likes of Xuxa and Luciano Huck. However, in spite of not being
very well known by the younger generation, Leila Pinheiro is considered
one of the greatest Brazilian singers of all time, being revered by such
titans of MPB as Tom Jobim, Chico Buarque and Ivan Lins. She recently
celebrated twenty years of an award-sprinkled2 career, recognized not
only in Brazil but also in the USA and Europe.
Leila took off3 in Brazil at the Festival of Festivals, a successful
musical event organized by Globo in 1985. Leila was then considered
to be the find4 of the time. Fifteen years later, Globo organized a
new music festival. "I felt frustrated by the selection of songs.
Unfortunately the festival didn’t get together a faithful show5,
a truer portrait6 of the wealth of music produced in our country,"
said the singer over the telephone to Maganews.
In recent years Leila has regularly played gigs in Asia, Europe and
the USA. Asked about the ability of Brazilian songwriters compared with
those from other countries, Leila believes that Brazilian artists are
the most creative in the world. "Brazilian poetry has gone down
very well all over the world."
Even after twenty years and ten albums - Reencontro, with the songs
of Ivan Lins and Gonzaguinha is the latest - Leila is already thinking
about the next CD, in which she will add7 her touch to the songs of Paulinho
da Viola. All very Brazilian, like all the other work done by the singer
born in Belém, Pará in 1960.
For those who do not yet know much about this singer, it’s worth
remembering that when she hit the music scene in Brazil Leila was compared
to Elis Regina. At the end of the ’70s she split8 her time between
gigs at night and medical school by day. By the beginning of the ’80s
she made the most important decision of her life: to abandon university
and take the plunge9 into the world of music. And that’s how Belém
lost a doctor and Brazil found one of its greatest singers.
Vocabulary
1 songwriter – compositor
2 award-sprinkled – premiada
3 took off – decolou
4 the find – a revelação
5 faithful show – uma amostragem fiel (show – no texto
= amostragem / mostra)
6 portrait- retrato
7 to add – acrescentar
8 to split - dividir
9 to take the plunge – tomar a iniciativa
Rock
Made in São José
Six Joseense bands get together to record a 25-song CD, all of
it in English, and get themselves ready for new "flights"
by the end of the year
The ’90s were completely dominated by pagode,
axé and sertanejo. While these genres2 continue
to take the biggest slice of the Brazilian music market and a huge part
of the media, good old rock has grown silently in alternative parts
of the city. Tens of bands have been formed, drinking at the font of
American and English bands like Nirvana, The Ramones and The Beatles.
A small sample3 of this work that has evolved over the last few years (although
few people knew this) can be heard now with the launch of a CD containing
25 songs by six great bands from the city. Daisy Down, Elegia, Mary
Help, Jerks, Plastic and Kwazzemhudo.
The name of the CD is Of Noise, vol. II and marks the
launch of the independent label4 Airplane of Noise.
The CD was launched in July over four weekends. Curiously, the shows
were held in Campos do Jordão during the traditional Winter Festival,
when classical musicians invade the city.
What stands out5 in this work
is not just the impeccable production, but the organization and union
of the musicians. All the bands have their own homepages and have done
shows all over the country. Elegia went furthest6 - they got to do a show in Germany (read more on the next
page).
Whoever thinks that these rockers are spotty-faced7
teens will be surprised: some of these bands, like Daisy Down and Elegia
have been around for more than ten years. The "baby" is Kwazzemhudo,
who have existed for two years.
Unlike the historical rivalry between the big English
bands of the ’60s and ’70s, these bands and many others keep
in constant contact with each other. They have also been in some of
the most important music publications in the country and have even been
in the variety pages of the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo.
By the end of the year each one of these bands will
have produced a new disc containing just the songs of each respective
group. Anyone wanting to know more about each band can visit the following
sites: www.hpo.net/users/elegia www.daisydown.cbj.net
www.geocities.com/maryhelp_page www.geocities.com/jerks_sjc
(Plastic's and Kwazzemhudo's sites are undergoing changes.)
Brazilian band rocks German Festival
Elegia, from São José, was the only band from South
America to play in a German Rock Festival made up of bands from around
the world
A Joseense rock band, Elegia, practically unknown8 in its own city,
has 
a very good chance of becoming better known...in Europe! More precisely,
in Germany, where they played a rock festival in June with 50 other
bands from around the world. The band thrilled9 the audience, and had
a headline article written about it in a German magazine. Elegia came
back to Brazil but left some copies of their first CD (launched in June)
with a German fan.
This German worked for the organizers of the festival and he could
be an important contact to spread our work around Europe", said
Marcelo D’Angelo, one of the members of the band which also includes
Paulo Gotoh, Escobar and Emerson. Paulo, the singer, has lived in Japan
for three years. It was through him that the band’s material got
into the hands of the German organizers of the festival. They liked
what they heard and included Elegia and put them on the roster10 for
the show.
It is impossible to tell what is going to happen in the future but
there is no doubt that it is looking good for the band. Playing in Germany
in one of the most traditional rock festivals in the world is already
a great achievement. Formed more than ten years ago, the Joseense band
was the only one from South America to take part in the Gotik-WaveTreffen
Festival, in Leipzig. It was four days during which the Brazilians had
a golden opportunity to mix with bands from other countries. "We
made friends with musicians from the USA, Austria and Switzerland. In
terms of equipment, they are in a better position. But musically we
aren’t even a little behind them," Marcelo said.
Vocabulary
1 to get together – se reunir
2 genre – gênero
3 sample – amostra
4 independent label – selo (gravadora) independente
5 to stand out – chamar a atenção / sobressair
6 furthest – mais longe
7 spotty-faced – rosto com espinhas
8 unknown – desconhecido
9 thrilled – agradou (lit. fez tremer)
10 roster – lista
Total
Chorinho to salute 2000
Musicians from São José dos Campos
have been recognized by the São Paulo Government and now they are taking
good music all over Brazil
Once upon a time1 there was a conductor2
who loved chorinho. He dreamed of taking good music all over São José
dos Campos’ neighborhoods3 with his band Clube do Choro Pixinguinha and
it didn’t take long for his dream to come true with the support4 of Rede
Globo and Sesi. Then his Música na Cidade project arrived in several cities
in the Vale do Paraíba region. People have gathered in squares5 and other
public places to listen to music such as compositions from Pixinguinha,
Ernesto Nazareth, Zéquinha de Abreu and even, Calado and Chiquinha Gonzaga,
which they can’t listen to on FM radio.
Clube do Choro Pinxiguinha has been so successful that the
Government of São Paulo, through the Choro para Todos Project,
recognized the work. And now the musicians will be showing their work
around the whole country. The year 2000 will surely be unforgettable
for these "chorões". In February they are going to
release their second album. There are 12 songs and joseense composers
created almost all of them. Curiously, one of these composers was the
former São José dos Campos’ mayor from the ’50s, Elmano Ferreira
Veloso. Clube do Choro Pixinguinha is made up of six musicians
who play not only choro, but jazz, classic, samba, waltz6 and forró, amongst
others.
Conductor Cunha is the leader and creator of this band. Late in 1994
he founded the Clube do Choro Pixinguinha and decided his club
would not have only professional musicians in it - any people could
be accepted if they enjoyed music. And since then, the club has grown
and today there are about 300 people associated and all of them can
enjoy benefits such as books and musical scores7
free and exchange experiences with great professionals like the six
musicians in the band. If you appreciate chorinho it is worth8
knowing this club. *
For further information: (012) 323-4076
(Conductor Cunha) or 9643866 (Ricardo)
Vocabulary
1 once upon a time - era uma vez
2 conductor - maestro
3 neighborhood - bairro
4 support - apoio
5 square - praça
6 waltz - valsa
7 musical scores - partituras
8 to worth - valer a pena
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