Tuesday, November 29th
more sounds of Brazil
Tom Zé (1936-, vocals, compositions), live, Sao Paulo (Brazil), 2018
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago (Alexander Calder [1898-1976], Flamingo [1973], detail)
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Category: Brazil
2022
Monday, November 28th
passings
Gal Costa, singer, September 26, 1945–November 9, 2022
“Sua Estupidez” (R. Carlos), live (TV show), 2002
Gal Costa, one of Brazil’s greatest singers and a model for generations of Brazilian performers, died on Wednesday at her home in São Paulo. She was 77.
Her death was announced on her social media accounts. No cause was cited.
Ms. Costa’s voice, a lustrous mezzo-soprano, was a marvel of grace and vitality, equally capable of gravity-defying delicacy, tart teasing, jazzy agility and rock intensity. Over a recording career that spanned more than 50 years and three dozen albums, she championed innovative Brazilian songwriters and cross-fertilized Brazilian regional styles with international pop and rock.
In the 1960s, Ms. Costa was at the forefront of tropicália, the movement that brought psychedelic experimentation and anti-authoritarian irreverence to Brazilian pop music. When the leading songwriters of tropicália, Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, were forced into exile by Brazil’s dictatorship, from 1969 to 1972, Ms. Costa recorded their songs for Brazilian listeners.
—New York Times obituary (excerpt), 11/9/22 (Jon Pareles)
2022
Monday, July 25th
sounds of Brazil
How about something quiet, and delicate, and beautiful?
João Gilberto (1931-2019, voice, guitar, compositions), live, Tokyo, 2006
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
2019
Wednesday, May 29th
The world today: two guys from Ukraine—DJs/producers—playing a set in Rio de Janiero.
Artbat, live, 2019
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lagniappe
reading table
Mountain streams flow down
into each other
out of their sounds—Yosa Buson, 1716-1784 (translated from Japanese by W.S. Merwin and Takako Lento)
2017
Friday, May 12th
sounds of São Paulo
Bixiga 70, live, São Paulo, 2017
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lagniappe
art beat
Danny Lyon (1942-), Jack, Chicago, 1965
2015
Thursday, September 17th
tonight in Chicago
These guys are playing at Constellation.
São Paulo Underground (Rob Mazurek, cornet, electronics; Mauricio Takara, percussion, cavaquinho, electronics; Guilherme Granado, keyboards, electronics, vocals), live, Italy (Pisa), 2012
2015
Wednesday, August 12th
sounds of Brazil
Jorge Ben & Gal Costa, “Que Pena,” live
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lagniappe
art beat
Robert Frank (1924-), Cafe – Beaufort, South Carolina, 1955
2015
Monday, May 18th
sounds of Brazil
Gilberto Gil, live (TV show), Brazil, 1994
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lagniappe
random thoughts
Of us they are sublimely oblivious—birds.
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taking a break
I’m taking some time off—back in a while.
2014
Friday, June 13th
sounds of Brazil & Jamaica
Slavish imitation. Contrived reinvention. Tributes usually leave me wondering why they even bothered. Not this.
Gilberto Gil (1942-), Tribute to Bob Marley, live, Brazil (Sao Paulo), 2001
2013
Monday, August 12th
sounds of Brazil
Gilberto Gil (1942-; vocals, guitar) with Dominguinhos (1941-2013; accordion), “Lamento Sertanejo,” live, 2010
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
What would it be like to live in a world that sounded everywhere the same?
music clip of the day 