Friday, December 09, 2005

Harold Pinter's Nobel prize acceptance speech

Harold Pinter has just been given a Nobel Prize in Literature for his work. His acceptance speech can be read at http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/2005/pinter-lecture-e.html

I encourage you to take a few minutes to read this courageous statement by one of today's brightest minds...

Saturday, September 10, 2005

New CD!

I just finished recording a new CD in Rio,to be released in January on Adventure Music. This new work features the best of Brazilian musicians, including Marcio Bahia (drums), Rogério Botter Maio (bass), Fabio Pascoal (percussion), Hermeto Pascoal(melodica), Joyce(voice), Hamilton de Holanda(mandolin), Marcos Amorim (guitar) and Gabriel Grossi (harmonica). Lots of new material...I will keep you posted as to the news...keep checking!

Help for New Orleans

Like most of you, I am shocked and saddened by the events happening in one of my favorite American cities, New Orleans. For several years I have performed there, and I have many musician friends who are now struggling to get by after this disaster. If you would like to help some N'Awlins musicians, here is a link to the Jazz Foundation of America's site where you can help the New Orleans Musicians Clinic who is locating and sheltering musicians:
http://www.jazzfoundation.org/new_orleans.php

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences also has a fund to help musicians in need. To donate, please visit www.grammy.com and click on "MusiCares Hurricane Relief Fund"

I hope you will reach out and help...


Obrigado,

Jovino

California Brazil Camp

This year's CBC in Cazadero, California was great -as usual...I spent a whole week in the company of such great Brazilian musicians such as Guinga, Hamilton de Holanda, Arnaldinho do Cavaco and many talented students. The classes and the after hours jams were a blast...Of course, I ended up writing a ton of new music. If you are interested in attending next year, check out the CBC's web site at www.mameluco.com

Friday, July 08, 2005

The Answer Is Still Peace

The text below by Dr. Deepak Chopra is from his website, www.chopra.com . His words resonate with wisdom and show the balanced point of view that is so sorely lacking in today's coverage of the sad events in London. Please read on:

The Answer Is Still Peace
The terrorist attack in London today has once again created deep anguish in our collective soul...
Around the world people yearn to find peace and give solace to the suffering and bereaved. Once again the clash of polarized enemies clamors for attention. Al-Qaeda takes pride in this heinous and sordid crime, while Western nations seek to bring the terrorists to justice. Yet it would be naive to take the simple way out and call this an example of pure evil and depravity.
In a very real way we are all part of the London tragedy. Everyone is caught in the tangled web of social injustice, economic disparities, ecological disaster, war, and terrorism. Unless we accept this fact, we will continue with our madness of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Mahatma Gandhi declared that if we continue on this path the whole world would go blind. Will we ever see through our blindness and create a global community of connected humanity? To promote peace today means promoting a critical mass of consciousness where violence is never an option.
London, like the attacks in Madrid and Bali, Indonesia before it, should make us want to live for peace above all. I understand how it's possible to respond to terrorism with deep anger; I cannot understand responding to it with anger that goes on and on forever. There are causes behind every terrorist act and therefore hope that these causes can be changed, even as we continue to pursue justice. We still ignore the source of global instability: religious fundamentalism which has its roots in extreme poverty, where 50% of the world lives on $2 per day, 20% of it on less than $1 per day, a world where 8 million people die each year because they are too poor to survive.
Terrorism also festers because of a lack of education, toxic nationalism, ignorance about the outside the world, and deep economic disparities. Twenty thousand children died yesterday of hunger-related causes around the world, twenty thousand will die today, and twenty thousand tomorrow. That is not part of the evening news. Why not?
Nature abhors a deep imbalance. The human species has become the most dangerous predator on our planet. Nature might be saying to herself, "Human beings were an interesting experiment that didn't work, so let's move on." Or, perhaps, our self-awareness has reached a turning point, as Inside ourselves we've always carried the seeds of creativity. The next creative leap isn't a mystery. Millions of people are ready to join in harmonious interaction with Nature--and with our own complex inner nature--to create a world of peace, harmony, laughter and love. Let us strengthen our intention to create that critical mass of peace consciousness. Every tear can be a drop of nourishment for the new world that wants to be born and is making itself known little by little, every day. Each one of us can help create this critical mass by becoming the embodiment of peace conciousness their peace practices:
Being Peace
Thinking Peace
Feeling Peace
Speaking Peace
Acting Peace
Creating Peace
Sharing Peace
Celebrating Peace.

Sunday, June 05, 2005

Hawaiian music

I went to Honolulu this weekend as a guest of the Hawaiian Academy of Recording Arts to attend the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards, which honor the top musicians in all the different genres from Hawaii. It was a great chance for me to get to know amazing singers and musicians. I was very impressed by the musicianship and hospitality with which I was received. Check out the HARAS web site here . Aloha!

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Canto do Rio scores available for download, movies

I finally created a PDF book with the complete scores for Canto do Rio, the Latin Grammy- nominated CD of my Quinteto. Full details can be found at this link . I also uploaded 2 video clips of the JSN Quinteto performing live at Symphony Space in New York. The link is here . The films are in Quick Time format. I also have a few scores available for free download at this link . Soon there will be pieces by Hermeto Pascoal as well as my big band and chamber music compositions. I love the Internet...

Monday, May 09, 2005

Recording Academy

I was recently elected President of the Northwest Chapter of the Recording Academy. I am excited about this opportunity to connect further with the music community in our region, which includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho, British Columbia and Hawaii. I encourage those of you who are in the music recording business to consider joining the Academy and take advantage of the benefits to members. Check it out at www.grammy.com , or call (206)834-1000 to speak with the folks at the ofiice in Seattle.

Sunday, May 08, 2005

This is my new blog

I recently moved my blog to this new URL. The previous one was getting overloaded with spam messages...I hope to be posting often, so you can see what I've been up to. I also will add interesting links related to music, Brazilian culture and other interesting topics.