Dorival Caymmi, one of Brasil's greatest composers turned 90 today. O Globo dedicated their entire culture section to him ... as they should! After Jobim, Caymmi was the first composer I really became aware of when I started listening to Brazilian music in a serious way ... and I fell in love with his work. Parabéns Dorival!

I just received this very sad news in an email. Here in Brasil I tend to miss a lot of jazz related news and frequently find out about the deaths of great legends weeks, or even months, after they happen. When I stop and think about how I will live to see the rest of the great master die off it makes my heart heavy. I've seen Elvin live before and what an experience it was. To imagine him like this is heartbreaking. Below is the email.

***
The following showed up today, April 27, 2004, on the "Jazz Program
List" site from Larry Applelbaum.

"I saw Elvin last night at Yoshi's here in San Francisco.

He could barely make it to the stage, his wife helping him sit and
placing the sticks in his hand.

Elvin had trouble hitting the drums but his time and sound was
impeccable.

His wife made an announcement that Elvin was obviously very sick and
has been in the hospital for 3 months and she wanted him to spend his
last moments, at his wish, behind the drums.

He looked about like he weighed 75 pounds and was truly sick...it was
one of the saddest moments of my life. I was so used to seeing him
look fit, happy and powerful.

The last number was announced, Dear Lord, and his wife asked us all to
pray as she hugged him from behind the drums for the entire tune.

I could not stop crying...

Please send prayers to this legend, the great inspirational Elvin!"

Yesterday, I participated in a documentary film called "Brasilerinho" which some friends of mine are involved in and is being directed by a Finnish director. The event was also celebrating the Dia National do Choro (National Choro Day) and it took place on a ferry boat that went from Praça XV in Rio to Niterói and back. The were a few "rodas" and the crew filmed while people watched. There were plenty of great musicians involved ... too many to name really, but just to give an idea: Hamilton da Hollanda, Carlos Malta, Trio Madeira Brasil, Rogerio Souza, Bilinho Texeira, Nilze Carlvalho, etc, etc, etc... really, a lot of people. Check out the photos for all the names I left out!

View pics

*****
Sexta-feira é dia de Barca do Choro no Rio

Maria Cristina Valente - O Globo

RIO - Nesta sexta-feira, a Barca Rio-Niterói será transformada na Barca do Choro. Capitaneada pelo Trio Madeira Brasil, do bandolinista Ronaldo Souza e dos violonistas Zé Paulo Becker e Marcello Gonçalves, a barca partirá da Praça Quinze, no Rio, em direção à Estação Cantareira, em Niterói. A concentração está marcada para as 14h.

A idéia é prestar uma homenagem ao Dia Nacional do Choro, mas o evento será filmado para integrar o documentário "Brasileirinho", do diretor finlandês Mika Kaurismaki. A Barca do Choro também contará com a participação do trombonista Zé da Velha e do violonista Carlinhos Leite. Silvério Pontes, com seu trompete, Hamilton de Holanda, com o bandolim, e Rui Alvim, com o clarinete, reforçam a tripulação.

Someone just sent me this in an email. I thought it was funny, so I'm posting it here. The text below basically says he's fed up with the local politians, the drug lords and the stray bullets. He says, "you can get someone else for this job".
...

A third of Brazilians live on $1

One-third of Brazil's population, or some 58 million people, live on less than a dollar a day, a report says.

From BBC News

A third of Brazilians live on $1

One-third of Brazil's population, or some 58 million people, live on less than a dollar a day, a report says.

The "Map of Hunger" report, by the local Getulio Vargas Foundation, says poverty has increased greatly in cities over the past decade.

Brazil's President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has promised to eliminate hunger by the year 2007 when he came to power last year.

But there has already been criticism of the lack of results.

Gap exposed

The foundation's report, released on Thursday, contained detailed information only on Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's second-biggest city.

The statistics on the drought-stricken northeastern areas, where the concentration of poor people is the largest, are due to be released later.

The images of Brazilian poverty... are so familiar, it is easy to forget this is not one of the world's poorest countries
Stephen Cviic
Ex-BBC correspondent in Brazil

Their data show almost 15% of the people live below the poverty line of $27 a month in Rio de Janeiro.

The city is notorious for its slums, also known as "favelas", and high crime rates.

The average monthly salary in Rio's biggest slums was the equivalent of $140, the study showed using 2000 census data.

But in Rio's well-off districts, such as the beachside Ipanema and Copacabana, monthly wages averaged $740.

"That is really the poorest of the poor," a spokeswoman for the Getulio Vargas Foundation said.

Injustice undented

But the BBC's former Brazil correspondent Stephen Cviic says the images of Brazilian poverty - the shanty towns, the street children, the parched landscapes of the north-eastern interior - are so familiar it is easy to forget this is not one of the world's poorest countries.

Brazil has a higher income per head than China, India and almost all of sub-Saharan Africa.

What it does have, however, is a staggering level of inequality, entrenched by decades of inflation, unemployment, unequal land ownership and a weak education system, our correspondent says.

Brazil's government of the 1990s put in place some serious anti-poverty programmes, but a decade of reform barely dented social injustice.

Our correspondent says that these days, many Brazilians are malnourished; few are actually starving.

However, the conditions on the outskirts of big cities remain grim, with youths hanging around doing nothing, an explosion in violent crime and a severely deficient police and judicial system, he adds.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/3631601.stm

Published: 2004/04/16 10:50:37 GMT

© BBC MMIV

Well, after 3 years of living in Rio I finally went to my first futébol (soccer) match. It was part of a finals match between Flamengo and Vasco, two teams from Rio who really, really don't like each other. Maracana is amazing ... really, really big and the fans are so intense that they must enter through different areas (even exit the Metro from different exits) and sit in opposite sides of the stadium. After the game sometimes people have to remove their team shirt so they don't get their ass kicked! Anyway, here are some pics so you can see for yourselves. This site is a bit weird, so if you only see half of each image in the slideshow, cancel out of it and view the images via the thumbnails, etc...

View Scott's pics
View Duda's pics (some from Semente as well)

More drug related violence has been going on the last few days in Rocinha, the largest favela in Latin American. Several innocent people have been accidentally killed and the there is now heavy police occupation in and around the favela. Rocinha is located in between the South Zone (Zona Sul - which is the nicest area) of Rio and São Conrado and Barra da Tijuca, which are affluent areas outside of Zona Sul. There is a tunnel that connects Zona Sul with São Conrado and people are affraid to come and go. Click "continue reading" to read a report on this from BBC News.

View image
View image

From BBC News:

Campaigners decry Rio slum wall

Plans to ring two slums in Rio de Janeiro with a three-metre (10-foot) wall have been condemned by human rights groups and the city's own mayor.

Officials in the Brazilian city are pushing the idea after a drug-related turf war at the weekend left two policemen and six others dead.

"We need to build it immediately," said state Deputy Governor Luiz Paulo Conde.

Amnesty International said the wall would penalise innocent people and was unlikely to be effective.

Another group, Global Justice, said the barrier would create "social apartheid" when what was needed was investment in poor communities.

However, the authorities in Rio state say the wall will help the security forces control the Rocinha and Vidigal favelas, or slums, where 1,200 officers have been on patrol since Friday.

Drug traffickers from Vidigal are believed to have tried to seize control of drug and arms trade.

"The wall isn't to stop the violence, it is to mark off territory," Mr Conde said.

'Theme park'

Rocinha has a population of about 150,000, making it one of Latin America's largest shanty-towns, and both it and Vidigal overlook the city's richest districts and most fashionable beaches.

It had until recently been relatively peaceful and tourists felt able to visit while local businesses thrived.

But hotel guests in the city were shocked to see red and blue tracer bullets streaking across the night sky at the weekend, local media report.

Rio Mayor Cesar Maia said the wall plan was "unbelievable".

"They want to create some sort of theme park on drug and cocaine trafficking," he said.

However, Deputy Governor Conde said the wall would also play a valuable environmental role, protecting forests from the slums' expansion.

"We won't allow unlimited expansion in the name of drug-trafficking," he said.

Police believe that about 40 heavily armed drug gang members escaped their searches on Sunday by hiding out in the forest.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/3620847.stm

Published: 2004/04/12 21:06:12 GMT

© BBC MMIV

I'm way behind with blog entries I've wanted to make (this one is about 2 months late!). I really need to make a selection of pictures from the street blocos from Carnaval 2004, primarily Cordão do Boitatá. In the meantime I'm posting some shots of me in my "fantasia" (costume) at Boitatá. It was a little goof on the whole fingerprinting/ID thing that was going on at the airports in Brasil. Yes, those are my fingerprints on my t-shirt and an ID number. The top hat was just for fun ;-). I played "reco-reco de mola" (an instrument you sort of scrape, this one made with a metal spring) in this bloco.

Nothing like a tall gringo to fit right in
I look serious, but yes, I was having fun!
Me and some good friends

Last week, on April 1st I celebrated my 3 year mark in Rio. I had a little party hear at the apartment and some friends played. I've got some pics, so I'll have to post them soon.

Semente, the Augies of Rio, has been trying to re-open as of late. The neighbors and police are hasseling over the noise, so last Sunday they had a roda in the afternoon. My friend who was playing Surdo asked me to switch with him cause he wanted to play pandeiro. I have just about no experience playing surdo, but I gave it a shot ... and had a ball!

Scott playing surdo

The other night I was at a samba and saw a pretty "morena" dancing alone, so the gentleman that I am, I asked her to dance. She accepted and we started dancing. Well, she was terrible. I'm no Fred Astaire, but I've learned how to do my little thing when dancing samba as a couple and if the woman gets it I do ok. Well, this girl is bouncing around and really stiff. I politely tell her to relax and she asks me if I speak English. I thought, "Oh, she knows I'm not Brazilian". But she asked in English and the accent wasn't Brazilian. It turned out she was Italian! So, I said to her, "Oh, in that case, I'm going to tell you how to dance!"