This blog may just become a big bore ... Scott writing about how good it feels to be accepted in Rio ;-). I just got a call from João who plays tan-tan in a group here called Casuarina. He's in his early 20s and he's actually the son of one of my favorite Brazilian contemporary musicians - Lenine. I've been sitting in with them on and off for a while now and they're a great bunch of young guys. João got ahold of my number and called me just to invite me come by and sit in as they celebrate the band's 2 year anniversary this Saturday. He told me the guys in the band are amazed at how a gringo could be playing like I am ... I've got to say, the flattery is well received!

I suppose stories like the one I'm about to tell may start to sound alike to everyone reading them. But since this blog is going to act as a sort of jornal for me I want to try to document any/all important moments. Last night I took John Clark and Scott Wendholt (here in Rio to play at the TIM festival with McCoy Tyner) to hear some music. John is my buddy Trevor's dad and Scott and I played together from time to time back in NYC. Anyway, I took them to Centro Cultural Carioca to the CD release gig of composer/singer/guitarist Moacyr Luz.

The band was comprised of some of Rio's top samba musicians like Marcos Esculeba, Trambique, Carlinhos 7 cordas, Beto Cazes, etc.. Well, towards the end of the gig when Moacyr started to invite up special guests (and trust me, they were special!) Beto leans over and tells him to call me up. It was almost funny to me because although I've already played with Moacyr informally he surely didn't know my name and probably thought Beto was crazy ... especially given the heavyweights that were on the stage. The percussion section (5 in all) was just ridiculously swinging. Well, Moacyr called me up and up I went. It was a total blast. All I had to do was fit into that groove and pay attention ... man what a feeling. One of the guys sitting in, Marcelinho Moreira, I had never met before. We wound up playing 2 pandeiros together and really hooked up.

Playing with Moacyr 1 (that's me in the back)
Playing with Moacyr 2 (that's me in the back)

After about 5 songs or so the show ended and I left kind of floating. My buddy Gluz took Scott and John back to the hotel and I went on to Club dos Democraticos to unwind a bit more and do some more playing with Anjos da Lua. The samba at Democraticos is always great and yesterday was especially nice. I played a couple of sets with them and must of gotten home around 3 or 4 in the morning.

Another night in Lapa!