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!