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Hi all,
As you've perhaps noticed, my Tales of a Gringo emails have stopped as of the last few months. I lost the desire to write them for various reasons and took to keeping in touch on a one-to-one level, or not at all. My list of topics that I keep for those emails keeps growing, but I guess they'll just have to wait for some other time, when I'm in the mood to share them.

However, I did want to share one personal item, at least with people close to me, or whom are well aware of my experience here in Rio. I guess I wanted to do it almost to remind myself of the joy this brings me ... in the midst of my own ups and downs here, the ongoing war, and the increasing tensions here in Rio.

As you all know, I mainly came down to Rio because of the pandeiro (which even most Brazilians think is completely nuts!). The idea was to stay 3 to 6 months and I've been here for 2 years as of April 1st. You all know as well that when I got here I couldn't play due to health reasons and that was an obstacle for some time.

What I've gone through makes what's been happening lately all the more sweeter. I've seen a very noticeable difference in the way people have been responding to me as a pandeiro player. It might seem trivial to most people, but for me it's an accomplishment beyond what I ever really hoped for.

The last few weeks I have received some compliments from some very accomplished musicians and people that I respect. I've had some opportunities to sit in and play in some really great situations ... and things went well.

The names of the people I've been playing with won't mean much to most of you, but I guess I should put some of them down for the sake of good storytelling. These names come mostly from the Samba and Choro worlds ...

Teresa Cristina e Grupo Semente at the Centro Cultural Carioca; Dobrando Na Esquina at Carioca da Gema; Sururu Na Roda at Semente; several "rodas de choro" (a kind of jam session) at Bip Bip in Copacabana with a cast of characters including Paulão 7 Cordas, Marcello Gonçalves, Ze Paulo Becker, Eduardo Neves, Henrique Cazes, etc.. And last weekend I went to a birthday party BBQ in the Tijuca section of Rio for a respected samba composer/guitarist/singer named Moacyr Luz. It was quite an afternoon. I wound up playing in a "roda de samba" with some very important guys in Rio ... Wilson das Neves, Walter Afaite, Wilson Moreira, Delcio Carvalho, etc.. And there were plenty of instrumentalists there as well, like Claudio Jorge, Helio Delmiro, Marcos Esculeba, Beto Cazes, Yamandu Costa, Ze Paulo Becker, Edu Neves, etc..

I guess that was probably pretty meaningless for most of you, wasn't it?!! ;-).

The other night a percussionist friend of mine nicknamed "Pretinho" (little black guy) who's been playing since he was 7 years old told me he was blown away by how I sounded (after not having heard me for a few months). His compliment was so heart felt that I almost cried right there in the club. He said, "Man, forget that gringo shit, you're playing your ass off". I know I still have PLENTY more to learn and improve on, but those kind of moments give me a super-charge of confidence ... and you need plenty of that to be a gringo playing pandeiro in Rio de Janeiro!

I still rarely play an actual paying gig, but there are people who invite me to play all night with their groups and I know that on almost any given night I can go out and play in an environment where I'm welcome and (now) appreciated. For me it's a release and a type of therapy.

So, I guess that's about it. I just wanted to share this little/big (depending on your perspective) part of my life. Where this is leading I have no idea, but to feel this unexpected respect come my way was such a pleasant surprise that I felt the desire to share it.

Hope everyone is well,
Scott