Wednesday, May 06, 2009

JSN in Europe May/June 2009

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Jovino Santos Neto

Hello friends,



I hope this finds you well and enjoying the springtime weather, wherever you are…I am glad to be returning to Europe, this time doing a series of educational events and also performing my music with a great group. For most of May I will be artist-in-residence at the Birds Eye Jazz Club in Basel, Switzerland, presenting workshops and lectures to a wide variety of participants, from schoolchildren to music students to music teachers. I will also perform music from the CD Alma do Nordeste (Soul of the Northeast), which was released in 2008 by Adventure Music. You can check out music samples and read reviews of that CD by visiting the link below:

http://www.jovisan.net/AlmadoNordesteCD.htm



I am playing with a fantastic Quartet, including Rodrigo Botter Maio on flute and saxophones, Stephan Kurmann on bass and Mauro Martins on drums. Here are our dates:



Ø Monday, May 18 at 20:30 at Gasthaus Schützen, Schützenallee 12, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany - http://www.jazzkongress.de

Ø Friday, May 29 at 16:00 at the Tinguely Museum, Basel - http://www.roche-n-jazz.ch/en/index-future/bs-jz-event.htm

Ø Friday and Saturday, May 29 and 30 at 20:30 at the Birds Eye Jazz Club in Basel – www.birdseye.ch

Ø Monday, June 1 at 16:00 at the Nijmegen Music Meeting Festival, Park Brakkenstein, Nijmegen, The Netherlands – www.musicmeeting.nl

Ø Wednesday, June 3 at 20:30 at Bimhuis, Amsterdam – www.bimhuis.nl



Ø In addition, from June 8 to 12 I am also doing 6 concerts around London, England, in duo with the Brazilian accordion virtuoso Chico Chagas. The dates, times and venues for those performances are listed on my website and on my MySpace page, just click!



Brazilian-born Jovino Santos Neto worked as a pianist, flutist and producer with the legendary Hermeto Pascoal from 1977 to 1992. He is a Professor of Music at Seattle’s Cornish College of the Arts. He has released several recordings as the leader of his own ensemble and also in collaboration with other musicians. He has received several jazz and chamber music commissions. His 2 most recent CDs, Canto do Rio (2004) and Roda Carioca (2006) were both nominated for a Latin Grammy. His latest release is Alma do Nordeste, inspired by the music of Northeastern Brazil.



I hope to see you at one of these events. If we do not come close to where you are, I invite you to visit me on the Internet and maybe next time we’ll meet!



Obrigado,



Jovino Santos Neto

jovino@jovisan.net

realengo@comcast.net

web site: www.jovisan.net

www.myspace.com/jovinosantosneto

Music now available on iTunes Store!

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Outono em Seattle

Oi, galera,
É bom estar de volta aqui em Seattle, o outono começou esta semana, e essa é uma das minhas estações favoritas aqui. Os dias estão lindos e luminosos, e a temperatura começa a baixar aos poucos, criando cores na vegetação e um frescor no ar que me faz bem. Para meus olhos cariocas, me lembra a região serrana fluminense.
Estou dando aulas no Cornish College e trabalhando no novo CD que vai sair em breve. O som está pronto, mas ainda falta trabalho na capa, encarte, fotos, etc...
Estou feliz com o resultado e com o outono...

Friday, September 07, 2007

Back in Seattle...

I apologize for the lengthy hiatus from blogging...I was in Brazil for 2 weeks in August, working on a new CD, titled "Alma do Nordeste" (Soul of the Northeast. I am so happy with the results! I worked with a great team: Marcio Bahia on drums, Dudu Lima on bass, Marcelo Martins, Eduardo Neves and Carlos Malta on flutes/saxes, Toninho Ferragutti on accordion, Gabriel Grossi on harmonica, plus Durval Pereira and Tiago da Serrinha on percussion, Josemen Honaine on 10-string viola and Pernambuco on aboio (Northeastern cattle call). All the music is original and was composed in the Brazilian nordestino styles - xotes, baião, forróm quadrilha...The CD is coming out in Brazil and in the US in early 2008, so stay tuned for details.
I also spent a delightful week at Califonia Brazil Camp in Cazadero, CA last week. A great musical hang among the beautiful redwood trees. It was great playing with drummer Edu Ribeiro, guitarist Chico Pinheiro, plus my choro buddies Mike Marshall and Andy Connell.
BTW, you can see pictures of the concert I played on August 25 with Mike, Andy and percussionist Brian Rice in Berkeley here

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Concerto da Solidária Idade - 10.08.07

Olá amigos,
Faz muito tempo que não me apresento no Brasil, e agora que estarei no Rio trabalhando num novo disco, apareceu uma oportunidade especial: Sexta-feira, dia 10 de agosto às 20h, vou fazer uma apresentação única no bairro onde nasci e fui criado, Realengo, na Zona Oeste do Rio. O motivo: arrecadar fraldas geriátricas a serem distribuídas aos idosos carentes internados no Hospital Estadual Albert Schweitzer. Isso mesmo: o ingresso é um pacote de fraldas geriátricas, e cada uma vai fazer uma grande diferença na qualidade de vida de quem batalhou uma vida inteira e merece respeito e dignidade, no mínimo...

Vou tocar um pouco de piano solo, mas também vou tocar com outros convidados especiais que lá estarão. Fico feliz em voltar a tocar no Rio, e mais feliz ainda por contribuir para esta campanha, idealizada pelo meu grande compadre e companheiro de aventuras musicais Jacinto Augusto de Almeida e realizada pelo Corpo de Voluntários do Hospital Albert Schweitzer.

Os detalhes:

O que: Jovino Santos Neto, Baião de Dois e convidados
Quando: sexta-feira, 10.08.07 às 20h
Onde: Salão Emoção das Flores, Av. Santa Cruz 1088 (praça da igreja), Realengo, Rio, RJ
Quanto: um pacote de fraldas geriátricas


Espero vê-los lá!

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Alma do Nordeste release

Jovino Santos Neto
Projeto Alma do Nordeste
Release para a imprensa – julho/07

O compositor e músico Jovino Santos Neto foi um dos agraciados com o apoio do Programa Petrobrás Cultural em 2006 com o projeto de composição e produção musical intitulado Alma do Nordeste. Com o objetivo de resgatar expressões culturais populares nordestinas e traduzi-las em forma de música contemporânea e criativa, Jovino fez uma viagem de pesquisa em maio de 2007, acompanhado por sua esposa e assistente de pesquisa Luzia Grob dos Santos, visitando várias cidades nos estados de Alagoas, Paraíba e Pernambuco, rodando mais de 1.300 km e registrando suas experiências em áudio e imagens. As fotos da viagem podem ser acessadas através do site: http://picasaweb.google.com/jovinosantosneto
O próximo passo foi compor temas inspirados nos locais e pessoas encontrados. Em pouco mais de um mês, Jovino escreveu vários temas baseados nas formas tradicionais nordestinas, mas sempre com uma visão criativa e inovadora, aliando sua experiência como discípulo do grande músico Hermeto Pascoal (com o qual ele trabalhou durante 15 anos) à sua sensibilidade à gente, musica e cultura nordestinas.
Mesmo tendo nascido e crescido no Rio de Janeiro, Jovino sempre sentiu uma forte afinidade musical com o Nordeste. Seu avô sergipano lhe apresentou ao universo literário de Guimarães Rosa com Sagarana quando ele tinha uns 10 anos de idade. Mais tarde, ao fazer parte como pianista, flautista e produtor do grupo liderado pelo alagoano Hermeto, Jovino pôde conhecer a fundo o amplo panorama do baião, do coco, do arrasta-pé, das marchas, do frevo, maracatu, xote, xaxado e muito mais.

Mais tarde, já radicado como músico e professor em Seattle, nos Estados Unidos, Jovino aprofundou seus estudos lendo Mário de Andrade, Câmara Cascudo e um relato de viagem escrito por C. Nery Camello nos anos 30, com o título de Alma do Nordeste. Jovino diz: “Numa de minhas viagens de volta ao Brasil, encontrei um exemplar autografado deste livro dedicado ao meu avô, e nele encontrei um retrato simples e profundo do sertão, do agreste e do cariri. Naquele momento senti que eu precisava ir ao Nordeste, beber daquela fonte e incorporar suas cores, formas e energias ao meu trabalho.”

Agora, a partir do material composto, Jovino Santos Neto vai gravar seu próximo disco em agosto de 2007 no estúdio Tenda da Raposa, no Rio de Janeiro. Com ele estarão músicos do calibre de Carlos Malta, Marcelo Martins e Eduardo Neves (sopros), Marcio Bahia (bateria), Dudu Lima (baixo), Josemen Mansur (viola caipira), Toninho Ferragutti (sanfona), Gabriel Grossi (gaita) e Thiago da Serrinha e Durval Pereira (percussão).

Os últimos CDs lançados por Jovino tiveram uma excelente acolhida de público e de imprensa. Canto do Rio (2003) e Roda Carioca (2006) foram ambos indicados ao prêmio Grammy Latino. Com este novo trabalho, Jovino pretende ampliar ainda mais seus horizontes musicais, integrando sua experiência internacional como artista e educador aos horizontes do Nordeste brasileiro.
Para entrevistas e maiores informações sobre Jovino Santos Neto, favor contatar Lu Mounic pelo email lumounic@uol.com.br .
Jovino na Internet: www.jovisan.net

Tristeza em Congonhas

Fiquei muito triste em saber da notícia da tragédia ocorrida no aeroporto de Congonhas esta semana. Uma pena a perda de vidas, e a insegurança que isso traz a todos nós que viajamos frequentemente. Tragédia maior é saber que acidentes assim poderiam ter sido evitados, e que a ganância humana sempre acaba levando vantagem sobre o bom senso.
Mando daqui do Alaska, onde estou, uma boa vibração musical a todos os familiares das vítimas do acidente.

World Heart@All Nations Cup

This past weekend in Seattle there was the premiere of a new piece I composed - World Heart. This is a composition for 20 percussionists, exploring a wide variety of grooves, and featuring musicians from the US, India, Africa, Ireland, Japan and many other places. The occasion was the opening ceremony of the All Nations Cup, an amateur soccer tournament held in the Seattle area. You can visit their web site here .
We will perform the piece one more time on July 29 at 5 PM, right before the final championship game of ANC. If you want to attend, please see the ANC website for more information.

"This piece of music is being conceived as a vehicle for expression of the many rhythmic languages of our planet. It will be performed by 20 percussionists from different cultures, so its goal is to find common musical points that can be shared without words. My work as a composer is to organize my ideas into a coherent flow and to lead the ensemble in performance, creating space for individual solo/duo features while blending all the participating drummers into primeval grooves that can be felt and perceived by the audience."

Jovino Santos Neto and the World's Heart Global Percussion Orchestra are presented as part of Site Specific / 2007 King County Performance Network , a collaboration between 4Culture and King County local arts agencies. More than 30 site specific performances will take place in various locations around King County between June and December 2007. For more information go to www.4culture.org
World's Heart is sponsored by KBCS Community Radio

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Jazz Camp West 07

Once again I had a wonderful time teaching at Jazz Camp West in La Honda, CA. I wrote a lot of new songs there, and had incredible musical experiences with other fellow teachers and students. Camp directors Madeline Eastman and Stacey Hoffman do an excellent job at organizing this Camp, now over 20 years in existence. YOu can always find out more about it visiting their website.
I promised my morning ensemble class that I would post the charts for the tunes I composed there, so here it goes. This is a link to a page where you can download the PDFs.
I hope you enjoy the music...
more music news in my next post!

Friday, June 15, 2007

Alma do Nordeste Project

Years ago, I found a book that had belonged to my grandfather (the original Jovino Santos). It was an autographed copy of "Alma do Nordeste" (Soul of the Northeast) by C. Nery Camello. Writtem in the 1930s, it was an account of the writer's journeys through the Northeastern part of Brazil. While travelling by train, car and donkey, Camello documented all the various aspects of "nordestino" popular culture - poetry, culinary, folklore and language through the states of Alagoas, Sergipe, Pernambuco, Paraíba and many more.
I am a Carioca, born and raised in Rio de janeiro,but since I spent so much time as a kid with my grandparents, both Nordestinos, I delevoped a strong affinity for the character and the soul of that region. Later on, as I joined Hermeto Pascoal's group, I had the privilege of learning in depth all the subtleties of the music from the Northeast - baião, xote, coco, frevo, xaxado, maracatu, cabocolinho, the list goes on and on...in my opinion, one of the richest sources of musical material in the world.
Still, my knowledge of the area remained limited to other people's accounts. In late 2005 I applied for a grant from Petrobrás, the Brazilian state oil company for a project called "Alma do Nordeste". To my surprise, in mid 2006 we got the grant! The project involves a research journey through the Nordeste, the composition of music as well as its recording and commercial release.
So the first phase has just happened, as my wife Luzia and I spent 3 weeks in May in Brazil, driving from Maceió (Alagoas) inland to Arapiraca, Garanhuns, Caruaru (Pernambuco), Campina Grande, João Pessoa (Paraíba) and Recife (Pernambuco). I brought along a digital recorder, with which I documented much music, interviews with musicians, historians, and many other people.. We also shot hundreds of pictures, which can be seen right here.
As I already suspected, I found a strong resonance, personal and musical, with the Nordeste. Now, as I am back in Seattle, I am busy composing music that I will record in August in Rio, and this will be my next CD - well, unless the solo piano recording gets released first - read the next post for that!