Long Distance Reggae

Always wanted to try this - so when my mate Ed Rome asked me to be part of his latest project - 'Snapshot - Dubs n Subs' - a triumphant reworking of his earlier album with different artists featuring on different tracks.

I'm on Track 7 - 'El Gringo' - and I recorded it in Rio, sending ideas back and forth for Ed to play with and put them into the final track. It was great fun! - Let me know what you think?

Funk Original....

Ok - I'm trumpeting more these days and my next gig is Thursday 28th November 2013. Its a DVD recording for Gerson King Combo and the rehearsal yesterday sounded great.

The event is at TEATRO RIVAL BR – CINELÂNDIA Get yerself there! 'Friends list' is  R$ 10,00 - just send an email to gersonkingcombo@gmail.com

Come along - the much needed cash to make the recording happen has already been made via http://catarse.me/pt/gersonkingcombo but there is still room for a little one if you fancy a school night wiggle.

Gerson is 70 and this is really a big celebration of Carioca-style 1970's funk. Think platforms and afros and an overdose of peace and love.

What on earth shall I wear?

So, we started a band....

So, after a while making sure we had the right combination of energy and madness, I finally managed to get a band together. (Left to right) Trombone, Trumpet, Bass, Voice, guitar, Drums, Sax.

The picture is at our first gig, a smashing wedding in Sta Teresa. Give me a shout and we´ll come to your party and make a cacophonous racket that you are unlikely to forget.

Rhythms Of The City....

So, a brit bloco is over in rio - and good grief, they know how its done.

Before we made our move to Brazil, I spent years nurturing a fascination with samba and bossa nova - and being a teacher, I loved the way that a truck full of drums could weave magic over performers and listeners alike.

I never got good at it though - and these days, the sensible musician in me is more inclined to keep my hands in my pockets rather than risk the humiliation of hitting something when it clearly should be left well alone.

Rhythms of the City (ROTC) however, took it to another level ages ago - and their brutal rock'n'roll batucada offensive is sure to turn heads - these guys are welcome to hang with Rio's finest (Monobloco, Sgt Pimenta, etc etc).

I saw them (and not all of them either) tear it up with a hall full of primary school kids. They performed to the kids with just the same energy that they would to Lapa's roudiest punters - Shitot.

In another flash of cultural inspiration we nipped to 'nos do morro' last tuesday to watch their musical - 'Bandeira de Retalhos' - a story about an attempt to demolish a section of Vidigal Favela in 1977.

Powerful stuff - especially as the theatre itself is in the heart of Vidigal, looking out onto the very spot that survived the attempted eviction and demolition. Amazing acting and musicianship, in a venue that is a truly special place, representing a really exciting and fresh company - even though they've been around for years.

There ya go - coupla cultural reasons to get of yer arse.

Can´t get enough, of that funky stuff

I'd buy that for R$1!

A few of cool musical things have happened to me recently. A colleague needed a last minute replacement for a gig at Teatro Carlos Gomes and I was in the right place at the right time.

The gig was for 70s carioca funk outfit, Gerson King Combo and the vibe was great. Can't believe how much I've missed this style of music, and the chance to play with these guys at a busy theatre gig was certainly not to be missed.

Click here to hear what they are up to - what staggered me was the sheer diversity of the crowd - hip twenty somethings to proper old dears. Great way to spend the early evening. - And the best thing was that the Prefectura subsidised the event so that punters paid a mere R$1 to get in! - Fantastic. All part of the campaign to hold some of the commuters in the city until the congestion dies down. Are you listening Mr Mayor of London? (whoever you happen to be right now....)

Band is available as a 9 piece + gringo at no extra charge

So, with a rekindled desire to be attacked by phat funk, combined with the need to embark on wholesome and boozy outings while I'm home alone, lead to me going to see Band Black Rio at Casarão Ameno Resedá. This legendary funk outfit also delivered, and this time in a really cool venue near Catete metro, that makes you feel as if you've just walked onto the set of a Bacardi advert.

Can't recommend this place enough and R$40 seemed pretty fair given the quality of the venue and the calibre of the band.  I would definitely get over ther and shake your booty before the world and his funky dog starts queueing around the block to get in. (the restaurant downstairs looks good too). Not sure about the after show DJ though. Erm, actually I am. He was bollocks.

Maria Fumaça - A Staple of Brasilian Funky Stuuf - uuuuuhuu!

Now I just need a mortgage for the Maceo Parker tickets in June..... 

What We Did At Rock In Rio

Yes it is his hair. He´s got the receipt.

Well, we went and rocked - and here´s a few things I´d do If I went again. And a few I wouldn´t.

Overall, I have to say it was a fantastic night (we went on friday for Elton John and Katy Perry and some bird called Rhianna), and the sound quality was amazing for such a big event. The big names did their thing with predictable style and the punters loved it.

Ok here goes - do this:

1. Sort out your transport, preferably in both directions. If you want to get a bus the final couple of kilometers, you probably  need to buy a 'Riocard' first.
2. Wear shoes that might offer some defence against the thousand or so clumsy bastards that are going to dance on your feet.
3. Take money in small denominations. Its amazing how the price of a tinny goes up once they lay their eyes on your hefty note. I heard that cans (R$1 in the supermarket) were changing hands for R$20 in the wee hours of Saturday morning.
4. Get some rest before you go. The whole process is pretty knackering, so it might be advisable to not go out and have an accidental skinful the night before.
5. EAT! - Once you get inside, finding yourself hungry might just mean that you die of starvation in a queue to spend your life savings on a ropey looking burger.
6. Check out the whole place! - We caught a great band on Rock Street - well worth a listen.
7. Buy beers MANY at a time. The queue is enough to make you want to cry slowly and meaningfully. At least when the waiting is over, you can get stuck into more than one overpriced Heineken.
8. RELAX, even if your nerves are about to snap. Remember that moving this number of people around is no mean feat. Remember that one of the reasons you came in the first place was to be amoung so many people. Chill out and sing along.
9. SING/SHOUT/WAVE - Heaven knows you paid enough for your ticket.
10. Watch the highlights on telly! - I absolutely loved catching the best bits over a Pizza at 3am.... Almost felt like we were there all over again.

Some bird called Rhianna

And don´t do this

1. Don´t  drink too many before the bus journey.... Obvious advice I know - but the 40 minute bus ride to Barra took us 3 hours! - And nobody´s date likes to see their other half pissing in a bottle, do they?
2. Don´t sit down in the middle of the crowd without any warning (you know who you are!) - Its hard enough thying to make it through the singalong masses, but if a bunch of revellers suddenly decide to make the lawn their living room, then another bunch are going to fall over them.
3. Don´t wear flipflops. Only utter plonkers wear flipflops to Rock in Rio. Guess what I wore? Oh, and don´t wear crocs either - I´m all for starting an anti croc movement for no sensible reason. I just hate them.
4. Don't get too disappointed if things don't go according to plan. In fact, just be glad if you get there.
5. Don´t wander off anywhere outside the Rock in Rio site. Especially not on your own - stick to where the crowds are. There are some really dodgy looking types around.
6. Don´t take a posey camera. In fact, don´t take anything swanky at all.
7. Don´t try and get to the front.  - If you wan´t to be down there, then get there earlier, if not you´re going to spend the whole of the set pissing people off by treading on them.

That´ll do for now I guess. Did I miss anything?



He kissed a girl and he liked it.



You dancing? You Asking?

Rio Scenarium  

 Rua do Lavrádio, 20, Rio de Janeiro (Lapa)

http://rioscenarium.com.br/

This place rocks. Moreover it does that strange samba wiggle that cannot be learned. It must part of Brazilian DNA or something.

The best thing about having guests is that you make an effort to get off the sofa. On Thursday our visitor were here for the night en route to Paraty, so we decided to hit Rio Scenarium. I've been meaning to go to this place for ages.

Tucked away in Lapa its probably wisest to get a cab rather than risk the stroll. Getting in is a bit of a palaver, and don't forget your photo ID (this is the only time I've needed any so far in Brasil). You get a consumption card and pay on the way out.

Once inside, its easy to see why the Guardian rated it one of the top ten bars in the world. The whole place is happiness itself. Dance however you want an sing along at will. This is uninhibited fun.  The decor is anything and everything, from collections of posters and pictures, to a red phone box (how did that get here?). Tourists and locals smile and get on with the serious business of enjoying themselves. We stayed while the band did their thing. The time just flew. I'm smiling now just thinking about it.

Its pricey, but so what.

You dancing? You Asking?



You dancing? - Reminded me of the young ones...

Rik - Viv are you dancing?
Vivian - Are you asking?
Rik - Yeah
Vivian - Well Piss Off

Dia dos Pais and an Armed and Dangerous Wind Band...

So its Father's day. Quite cool to get a pat on the back. On Friday I was invited to attend a presentation at the little man's nursery. Every dad turned up, without fail, and watched their toddling bundle of joy prance about the place in a cardboard neck tie, dazed and confused as to what this circle of random blokes was doing. There was cake too, and a packet of screwdrivers for each doting dad.

Just another day at the office...

But the celebrations didn't end there - far from it. On the way home, the police wind band was playing outside of the metro station.  Now, I've played for a good number of musical directors with serious psycopathic issues. But I've never played for anyone who found it necessary to carry a bloody gun while the assembled multitude swayed gently from side to side. The band was actually pretty good. Good job really - nobody likes to see bullet holes in a band member just for the sake of a missed note or two.

Its been reported that batons will be used.

Any questions? Didn't think so..

Love Jazz?

As part of the roaming international Jazz festival, John Faddis is coming along on Saturday afternoon to brighten up our day. I spend a considerable portion of my life trying to play Trumpet like this wonderful bloke.

If you´ve not heard of him, chances are you´ve heard him. The music on offer here at the moment really blows me away.

Nothing else to do? Go have a listen, its free. Praça dos Correios, 4pm.

http://ilovejazz.com.br/en/atracoes/rio-de-janeiro

Nice hooter. No, really.

The John Faddis gig is a tribute to Miles Davis, which ties in nicely with the "Queremos Miles" exhibition at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil nearby. Much as that mans demise breaks my heart, I can only wonder at how this one man changed music forever. Not that many people did that.

Insert witty caption here

Lets do it together....

Getting a ticket was never this hard at way ahead records.....

Heh - reminds me of the Larry Miller sketch I used to listen to with my brother.. "Hey fellas, if we bought our own bar, we could live together forever!" - Don´t say you never had similar ideas.

Still, I digress. The genius collective mind at Queremos.com.br have gone ahead and done what every school council dreamt of doing. They work out the cost of booking a band, and then they charge a small number of people enough to cover the cost. Then they sell the rest of the tickets at a more modest price. If the gig sells out the initial investors get to go for free. If it sells quite well then the initial investors end up paying the same as everyone else.

The next gig is Primal Scream, no less! - Here´s how the money works:

• Gig costs R$112,000
• First 560 punters pay R$200 - this covers the cost, and the gig goes ahead.
• If a further 660 punters buy a ticket for R$120, the first 560 get at least R$80 refunded, meaning they pay the same as everyone else.
• If a further 1,670 punters buy a ticket at R$120, the first 560 go free.

Oh, and if the first 560 tickets don´t sell, everyone gets their money back.

Go on... what have you got to lose!

Post Gig Bite and a Natter?

Why not listen while you read?

There is a love of nattering amoung all performers. I suppose it comes from spending hours and hours killing time in cafes and pubs and service stations the world over. It came as absolutely no surprise that in Rio, the nattering has been going on in Style for decades.


La Fiorentina restaurant in Leme (near the end of Av. Atlantica) is a wonderful glimpse into the gigging life of the Carioca performers throughout the decades. Many have left their photos or signed their name on the wall. MPB composer Ary de Resende Barroso even left a bloody great bronze statue of himself.

We stopped by for pizza and pasta Sunday lunchtime. Wonderful, if a little pricey. Still, it beats a pasty in an M1 services at 3am. And that´s always a little pricey too.

Apparently they stay open until the last person leaves. Might be perfect as the last stop after a boozy one in Lapa. Who knows, if I pull my finger out I might be allowed to sign the wall one day.

Fancy a tall, stiff one?

Rock in Rio - Mais Um!

Or 'hock in hio' as its more popularly pronounced - have decided to add another evening to the festival over in Barra de Tijuca.

Now, I've yet to go to a stadium sized gig over here - but the endless marketing going on for this event gives me the impression that it might be time to give it a try.

So we got tickets for the extra evening. Coming, ready or not.... Here's the Globo listings. We're going on the 23rd and 29th. If I had a big bucket of spare cash I'd go to more.

Violinsta no Telhado

(as ever, the real fiddler was in the pit...)

Ok - so I unreservedly take it all back. Broadway musicals in other languages can work. Actually, they can work really well.

One of my earlies memories of the theatre is 'Fiddler on The Roof'. Now I´m not precisely sure when I first saw this show - but I know I was really small (maybe even 2 or 3) - the perfect age to be educated about xenophobia and pogroms. No wonder I turned out to be such a balanced and rounded individual.

The show has popped up to haunt me at various points in my life ever since, and given that it must be 5 years or so since I last saw it, I should have known that I was due for another onslaught. Allbeit here in Brazil.

Ok - going to the theatre here is a big deal and not cheap. So remember to be half smart and not half pissed. Check. Now enjoy the ride.

The biggest difference that struck me the moment the Violin cadenza started, was that the whole thing was going to be at a volume akin to listening intently to an angle grinder at close quarters. Fortunately, the pain soon subsides and it turns out that it is actually a pleasure to listen to a well mixed sound where I can actually here everything. (even if it was like being at some kind of quasi stadium style broadwayesque production)

The band were great, and the cast totally convincing throughout. I was really moved - and I have to say that once you know the story, I don't suppose it matters what language they´re speaking.

At the interval I went and stared into the orchestra pit and exchanged a smile with a couple of the players. To me that place will always be the engine room of the theatre. I couldn´t help but feel a smidgen of envy.

I swear I´m getting softer by the day.



Do you love me? Do I bollocks.

anyhow, if you want to go then click here...



Happy Birthday João Gilberto

Shh..Blame it on the Bossa Nova



If there were ever a truly special reason to learn Portuguese, then this man could easily be it. In the early sixties, he helped to establish Bossa Nova as a new Brazilian national music. To me it seems to capture all that is relaxed and beautiful about this place, despite being juxtaposed with noise and bustle and even danger.. Its still cool to sit on your front doorstep and croon one beautiful lyric or other. Its transcends the age gaps too. Teenagers and pensioners alike are hypnotised again and again. I fail to see how anyone can fail to find these melodies anything less than the height of romance.


Erm... Before I go completely soft, I should also add that Mr Gilberto has also proved to be hilariously intolerant and quirky throughout his life, which in my book confirms his legendary status. He has been known for walking off stage because members of his adoring public were talking. Once he even entertained a sweltering crowd because he insisted that the noise from the air conditioners would ruin his performance. Legend.

And my favourite story of all was about a recording session with Stan Getz and Tom Jobim. Joao was less than happy with Getz (who didn´t understand Portuguese) and told Tom Jobim - "Tom, diga a ese gringo que ele é muito burro.' - Oi Tom - Tell this gringo that he really is a donkey!

Tom smiled and told Stan he was doing fine.

I know that these stories get distorted with the passage of time, but there are so many about this wonderful bloke, that there simply has to be some truth in them,

Anyhow, happy birthday for yesterday João. You are one on your own. (and I dream of the day when the audience sing along with me like they do with you. Simply lovely.)

Me & Macca

the fab 3 (plus a buggy)

Well, when I say Paul McCartney, I mean a bloody good real life impression of him. So good infact, I felt like taking my shoes off and following him accross the nearest zebra crossing.

Beatlemania 40 something years on (and without the other three) has firmly established itself here. Paul is our new neighbour at the nearby Copacabana Palace Hotel, and he's doing a couple of gigs out in "Engenhão" tonight and tomorrow. To be honest, anyone would have thought that Mr Lennon himself had teamed up with Elvis to do a couple of numbers, - but it seems that Paul alone is worthy of this incredible hype.

I wonder if he had the same room Miley Cyrus had last week.....

Its 25 years since Paul played Rio - which really makes me feel old. I remember my grandma buying me the tape of the concert to put in my walkman. To be honest I reckon he'll hardly change the set list this time - if it aint broke and all that. 

Everybody here has been waiting for this moment for months and we stumbled upon a fair sized crowd staking out the hotel this morning. Oh to catch a glimpse of the legend as he polishes of his full english. I met one bloke who was the absolute spitting image of Paul in the Sgt Pepper era - tash and all. I mean it. People were lining up to get a photo. I joined them - he was decidedly amenable considering the number of randoms harassing him. Come to think of it, a twenty something Brasilian Paul McCartney doppelgånger deserves to be the subject of some mild harassment at least. 

Hope its a good gig - its R$180 - R$700 a ticket (68-260 quid!) - At that rate, I'd not only expect  Jude and Michelle and Prudence and Eleanor and Sadie and Sally and Anna and Martha and Madonna (to name but a few) - I'd also expect Nancy's phone number!

Oh for god's sake.