AfroReggae
30 March 2010
The favelas of Rio de Janeiro are desperate places – shanty towns where the rule of law is absent, dominated by drug traffickers and gangs, made even more shocking by their proximity to some of the most opulent parts of the city. In 1993 police killed 21 innocent people from Vigário Geral, one of the poorest favelas, in retaliation for the shooting dead of 4 policemen. In response to this tragic event, Grupo Cultural AfroReggae was created to offer young people from the favelas an alternative to a life of drugs and violence. AfroReggae began as a newspaper but soon started offering workshops in dance, percussion, circus skills and a host of other cultural disciplines. Controversially working with some of the major drug traffickers while also attracting major commercial sponsorship from companies including Santander and Brazilian oil giant Petrobras, AfroReggae has grown into a large and extremely successful organisation. We visited three of Rio’s favelas as guests of AfroReggae, being met and escorted at the entrances to each favela by some of the most brilliant samba drummers I have seen. We saw performances of dance, circus skills, percussion, drama, reggae, rock and orchestral music and had a question and answer session with AfroReggae founder Jose Junior. But the climax was undoubtedly a performance by the original Banda AfroReggae – now an internationally acclaimed group making a rare appearance back in the Vigário Geral favela. Banda AfroReggae are a mighty band – big, loud, funky and incredibly cool. Their music incorporates pop, rock, reggae, hip-hop and rap with Brazilian percussion: it’s fast, catchy and irresistible. Hearing Banda AfroReggae for the first time in a private performance in a small studio in the AfroReggae centre was an amazing experience – I’m a fan! You can see a report and photos on our visit to AfroReggae at
http://www.afroreggae.org.br/2010/03/25/nucleos-de-vigario-complexo-e-lucas-recebem-visita-de-diretores-britanicos/, listen to AfroReggae on Spotify and see their remarkable story in the 2005 film ‘Favela Rising’.
Labels: Concerts, Music
Jards Macalé and Jorge Mautner
30 March 2010
The best known protagonists of the Tropicália movement are the musicians Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil – both exiled to London in the late 1960s by the Brazilian military dictatorship. While we were in Sao Paulo we were lucky enough to catch a concert by two of their contemporaries Jards Macalé and Jorge Mautner at Sesc Pompéia. Both singers are now about 70 years old and are clearly revered by what was a packed and enthusiastic audience. The Tropicália movement was based on ‘antropofagia’ – cultural cannibalism, taking in influences from a range of genres and creating something new and unique. Though undoubtedly revolutionary at the time I’m afraid that, to me, the music now sounds a little tame – gentle, beautiful and soothing like bossa nova without the beat. Not being able to understand the Portuguese lyrics is clearly a major hindrance in listening to songs with a strong political message. But it was fascinating to watch the rapturous reaction of the crowd who were mouthing the words to many of the songs and quick to their feet to give a standing ovation to these two legendary performers.
Labels: Concerts, Music
Hélio Oticica exhibition
30 March 2010
I arrived in Sao Paulo just in time to attend the opening of an exhibition on Hélio Oticica at Centro Cultural. Hélio Oticica’s installation ‘Tropicália’, recreated in this exhibition (complete with live parrots!), gave its name to the famous Brazilian art movement of the late 1960s. Entering the packed crowd of paulistas observing and engaging with the works of art was an exciting, intriguing and slightly intimidating experience. It was hard, at times, to distinguish between performers and audience, particularly as many of the pieces by, or about, Hélio Oticica were intended to be worn. Like much conceptual art it was easy to dismiss some pieces as pretentious or provocative, particularly without being able to read the (Portuguese) explanatory text, but it was an entertaining and intriguing afternoon.
Labels: Exhibitions
'Hobo' by Charlie Winston
18 March 2010
I saw Charlie Winston, the troubadour from Suffolk, perform at Womad last July but I’ve only just managed to get hold of his excellent album ‘Hobo’. Winston sings catchy tunes with a confident swagger and tongue firmly in cheek. His voice reminds me in its occasional mock-opera moments both of Neil Hannon from The Divine Comedy (reviewed here in September 2005 and July 2006) and David Byrne. These are upbeat, rhythmic and wryly amusing songs: I particularly like ‘My Life As A Duck’ but there are plenty of memorable tracks on the album.
Labels: Albums, Music
‘Daughter of Fortune’ by Isabel Allende
18 March 2010
I’ve been reading ‘Daughter of Fortune’ by Isabel Allende, a family saga/epic thriller which starts in Chile in the 1830s before telling the story of the California gold rush. It’s a broad canvas which is historically fascinating and filmic in scope but I’m afraid it didn’t grab me and it’s taken me an age to finish it. Isabel Allende has a tendency to undercut the tension by suddenly flashing forward to the characters reminiscing about the current events many years later. I also felt there were odd changes in pace throughout the novel. I enjoyed the well-drawn characters and the settings but I feel I may have missed something.
Labels: Books
Orchestra of St John's concert
8 March 2010
We were at Kings Place in London on Saturday for a concert by the Orchestra of St John's. The programme included 'Cantata No 51' by J S Bach, featuring the excellent young soprano Louise Wayman, and Haydn's 'Symphony No.44 - Trauer'. And it was very interesting to hear Handel's 'The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba' contrasted with Alec Roth's 'Departure of the Queen of Sheba'. Written in 1999, Roth's work uses material from the familiar Handel piece to create a beautifully moving wordless dialogue between the Queen (oboe) and King Solomon (cor anglais). It's a lovely, gently romantic piece of music and it was great to see the composer in the audience on Saturday. The small Orchestra of St John's (featuring only 19 players at this concert) were very impressive: tight, clear and precise, demonstrating how exciting classical music can be.
Labels: Concerts, Music
Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert
3 March 2010
For the past few weeks my personal soundtrack has consisted of Rachmaninov’s gorgeous 3rd Piano Concerto playing almost continuously in my head in preparation for last Saturday’s Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert. It’s a fantastic and fiendishly difficult piece of music and it was very exciting to be accompanying the amazing young Italian pianist, Marco Fatichenti, who gave an incredible performance on Saturday at the Spinney Hill Theatre in Northampton. Marco played many of the most challenging passages of the concerto incredibly fast and his thrilling unpredictability gave the orchestra and our conductor, Alexander Walker, some nerve-wracking moments. But it was a wonderful performance and Marco’s cadenza at the end of the first movement deserved a standing ovation on its own. Tchaikowsky’s ‘Symphony No. 1, Winter Daydreams’ seemed a little tame by comparison but, having conquered the challenge of the Rachmaninov concerto, I felt the orchestra relaxed a little in the second half of the concert and gave a very good account of the symphony.
Labels: Concerts, Music
