heading down to Sao Paolo & Rio in two weeks! can't wait.
looking to hook up with anyone who is interested in digging or knows good nightlife!
NEVILLE C ? you have some hook ups in Rio? i know nothing about rio outside of the fact i'm going. need mad help in that city.
Hi
I'm in Sao Paulo and can take you to some places for records, if I have time. And can hook you up with a dealer/DJ in Rio for digging & nightlife. Drop me a line when you were about to come here. Bring the raer, plaese.
the store Plano B in S??o Paulo had some joints, it's in Lapa I think.... shouldn't be too hard to find. MoogMan was prob. already knowing about that spot on some Biz "Got It!" type shit.
But if not, it would be mos def worthwhile for you both to check it out.
I just got back from Brasil yesterday afternoon, I spent 4 months down there kicking it in Bahia (Salvador, S??o Luis, Jericocoara, Belem) Estado do Amazon (Manuas, Tefe) and of course: Rio and S??o Paulo. Such a beautiful place filled with dope weather, music, people and food (allllllll the fresh fruit *especially*)... I've been unpacking all day and getting hella upset its all over...
You cant leave Brasil without kicking it on a Tuesday night in Salvador... Truussssst me.
I love the fruit man..everyday starts off with that...
Yeah I really want to go to Bahia..but get to know it for real..so i might have to reserve some time for that..any contacts?..
Ill actually be spending about for moths here too...
Hey if you got that Bahia Blues i got a song thats perfect for you
Good lookin' on that joint. If you're trying to go to Bahia, I can hit you with all the hotels & pousadas that treated my girl and myself right when we were down there. You gotta hit Salvador for real... I was sad as hell when we left there to go to Rio.
Sunday was another Ibra crib affair that started off with a meeting with Ibra in preparation for the Fran??a-Brasil Encontro 2007 (more will be posted on this)
But today we were not BBQing we were preparing a traditional senegalese dish Tieb-Ou-Yap (lamb like what!)
Also Kuter was busy painting stages for the FAN festival, the kids are going to travel through 12 different african homefronts placed in a circular fashion to give it a village type feel
As you can see the storgae space that was built on my sweat and blood is real useful..especially now that rain season is on
Its a lways a lovely relaxing time at Ibra's
We decided that since a lot of work is on its way with the FAN, the France-Bresil thing and the AfroBrazil Festival the whole staff will meet every 2 weeks for a potluck at Ibra's...i have already received Poutine requests...
Daniella from the office was there with her husband Emerson...it was super interesting meeting him...he is a musician that does a lot of community work with the favela community..he also has a band and oganizes Kalmunity type events in BH...muito interesante
As you can see Kuter recruited some extra help...I even painted a turtle shell (wow!):)
Anyways...we were supose to have lunch but it ended up being supper... check the food yo...
Mad exotic salads...fruits in the house..crazy star carambole action!
Tieb action with raisins mang
The table was set..were my dogz at?
I left Ibras early and ended the night in the office mixing some sounds for the FAN...the next day would prove to be huge...once more in a good way
The day started with a rush to get to the perfeitura office to attend the Encontro Fran??a-Brasil 2007
I am not talking about
More like
I had to meet Ibra there (he called me from the bus to ask for the adress) i met him there running through downtown in my shirt-tie combo under the blaring heat
When I got there I was kind of intimidated by the giant marble steps and huge doors...security guard style..."i have a meeting" and they let me in...hilarious
At the table were the minister of culture for MinasGerais...french ambassade figurehead and secretary, the BeloHorizonte perfeitura dude we had a meeting with last friday and a state representative as well as other civil society members (universities,NGOs,etc...)
When it was time to present each other it was kinda funny..."Antoine Alavo I am an intern with CasaAfrica" the BH dude : "Call him Toninho so he feels right at home"
And then the meeting began... man a million and one ideas raced through my head...this event is going down from the 12-14 of november (right before FAN yeah! ) and is basically an area where CasaAfrica can both make contacts as well as scure its relevance as a go-to organisation for intl relations especialy with african countries....
Our whole objective is to secure our links to the BH perfeitura and the French Embassy (both of which already support a lot of our activities) in view of the promotion of our pilot project to link the FAN with FANSEM festival in Dakar,Senegal....
There is a whole day devoted to Sul-Sul-Norte relations between France-Africa-Brazil and they have asked Ibra to be one of the speakers...this Encontro is ripe with opportunity because it is full of legitimacy (state level) but is reatively void of content a Gap we can fill and both political entities we are trying to secure are looking for new partners
Furthermore me and Ibra are the sole representatives of Africa and almost the only two "brazilians" who speak french
We used our duality to hit up every one resent for business cards or a quick conversation and it worked out great
Big plans like I said people...big plans
After such a big meeting/day of idea pitching, handshaking, contactmaking and plan planning it was time to chill...
FAN had its lancement and the whole Casa Africa staff was invited..great event/evening
The germany guy in the pic is a sick local breakdancer...many familiar faces in the crowd tonight...african culture united so to speak..belo horizonte has a realy good artistic scene and i am blessed to have been introduced to such good peeps...
African food and a photo exposition were on the menu and did i mention...
Afro-Cuban Brazilian band....with 2 percussionists, a DJ, bass, guitar, drums, vocals an a bunch of other instruments (melodia, cuici) all interchangeable played by different members. Half-sung, half-rapped hiphop-samba-rock that had the people dancing!!
A break circle even formed
The show ended with a host of rappers, musicians and friends on stage (including my man Emerson)
I forgot to tell you guys about this great RR story my man Kuta told me over the weekend
He has got 5 signed BobWailers albums because of a fortunate turn of events
His dad was part of the UNITA angolan guerilla and during the time of Zimbabwes independence struggle fought to support Robert Mugabe in hindsight however...
At that time no one around the world was recognizing Zimbabwes independence it had been almost a year since it had declared itself to be a free nation
So the pres organized the now infamous Bob Marley concert to promote this fact...
Kutas dad, part of the elite force, served as a body guard for the Wailers...
Years later Kuta (with dreads at the time) went to see another Wailers concert and caughtJunior Marvin heading to the show, he braved security and went on the classic im a huge fan..Marvin asked him why he should sign his and he name-dropped his dad..Kuta was allowed backstage access and received greetings and thanks from all band memebers..as well as autographs on 5 lps
These records are now in the hands of one of his 22 brothers down in Angola
You are getting a life experience most people can only dream of.
I truly feel blessed in this way and thank you guys for the wishes
gotta keep up the work though
I get the impression that of you guys may think that my work is all play well, this week has been nothing but updates and organization as you can see from this snapshot of my working space
Plans for dayzzzzzzzz but its cool, Ibra, like me, has a million and one ideas for the project and the opportunities keep showing up i serve to remember write down and organize the stuff into a comprehesible format and work with the administrator karu to divide stuff into tarefas (tache in french, mandates if you want) for the staff..we just had a huge meeting this friday and i had to lead it...it went pretty well considering my portuguese...some stuff written on the plan made people laugh while this supposedly corrected of the plan also eased the process of the meeting at the same time
well my weekend represented a mix of both work and play...
Saturday i get up and my man daniel and I leave the house to eat sine there was no water in the building as they were fixing the faucets
Lets go eat some meat at the Mercado Central (market) he says...alright...
We get to Bomb-Bar and order uma cerveja and a meat plate...
the jam-packed market meat/beer experience is one to be savoured
We get a call from Leo who is at the market shopping for goods for tonights samba show at cvasa africa..he asks me if I want to work a shift since they are missing staff and expecting a big crowd..alright so i meet him there and help set up at casa africa
The samba night was incredible..those of you who know me know me to be not this type of man but seriously, strictly from a bar perspective, there was about5 guys in total for the clientele of about 80 in total...this lack of men may ironically become a problem
the scene at 7pm (early shift means i am not too tired the next day)
Samba de Luiz feature members/friends from Black Sonora and they are damn good
They get the party going....
and the drinks flowing
It was really cool to work the shift..friendly customers and a cool ambiance
Plus great music
This guy can attest to that
It was hilarious "Give me a mojito, its for the guy"
A good time was had by all and i got friendly with BlackSonoras cuban rapper frontman..really cool guy talking about early orishas concerts and such
bonus headhunters action
The next day was a big double laptop in the hamac meeting with Ibra that just ended now i am in fact typing out the tarefa messages to the staff as we speak
This upcoming week we need to perform...we also went through looking at a lot of stuff for the FESMAN poject in june to get casa africa over to senegal once again destiny is helping as this year invited country of honor is none other than Brazil
anyways good night folks..i got a big week ahead of me
The next song is the opening cut to a Brazilian rap mix my friend made..the guy is fairly more known then the chinese dude since he was a big hiphop act in brasil and tragically died young
Chico Science
I am sure howeveri would not have checked for his stuff if my ma Leo had not put this in the decks on my irst night here in Brazil
He lights up a spliff and plays this
I ve been listening to this track for a while now ...late nights at the office related
lordy lord, you are in brazil surrounded by music, food, culture and, by the looks of it,LOTS of beautiful women!!! thanks so much for keeping us up...i'm living through your travel log right now. hows your portuguese coming?
It seems that, even in despite of the huge amount of work you got, you are having lots of fun in Belo. For me this is the perfect job: doing something you love and having fun at the same time. Keep the good work, trooper!!
My portuguese keeps on improving (having good spanish helps) ive been here 2 weeks e fico melhorando
Like Edson said I am truly doing something I love and I could not be happier
My co-worker took me to see this incredible film
Tropa de Elite
Just saw it tonight and it is simply incredible..similar to City of God in terms of quality shots and commentary, it also looks at the dichotomies of the favela drug trade but from a police and more current perspective... A lot more of the social elements present in todays Brazil.
seriously dudes run out cop the bootleg, torrents or pre-order just see it
seriously amazing i have so much to write about it i want to see it again
that is all
i am here listening to some of Ibras mixes its kinda ill...i am bringnig my african music knoledge up, while getting some great brazilian tracks too
Ive been working hard on these radio mandates all week (I actually got them done..with the courrier bike-boy waiting at the door... a lil stress of my shoulders but I still gotta a ton to go... however I love what I am doing so I am glad de trablhar duro...
Here is a snapshot of the regular lunch meal here...kinda great..usually its rice, feaj??n (beans), grilled meat..but today was tropejo..feaj??n mix with manioc flour and chirizo sausages
Speaking tropejo I was told I had to try the tropejau minerau at the state stadium and after work I went with Leo and Daniel to go see the CAM (Club Atletico Mineiro) football club match that evening
My first day here in Minas Gerais Daniel shared with me<There is one important thing here...>
I was immediately converted into a fan of Galo....
We left for the stadium hyped up...
But there was NASTY traffic
It was absolute blockage everywhere...we were as stuffed as the people in that bus...
speaking of buses
After 2:15 drive we got there and it was insane I wish i could have taken shots of the rushing amount of fans filling each entry of this gigantic stadium (80 000) and especially when i climbed the stairs staring at the firework lit sky a line of CAM faithful admiring as well
The game was ON!
Just to give you an idea of what it was like try to see how many people are in this bad shot of the crowd
that`s on 20th of the stadium
The famous meal was indeed incredible..especially for sporting event food... I mean damn!
I was about to recommend to you to go see some Galo's game at Mineir??o. If you really wanna have a sample of the brazilian culture experience you need go to some stadium watch a futebol match.
First off I want to thank FRANK...he hooked me up wit Soundway and great things are in the work..thanks so much...
secondly...thanks again to wholewheat ans zimb...seriously these guys songs (along side you ferrari..are you coming to brazil finally?) helped me in a major way to put together hours of mixes..i still aint done..i am currently working on a kid section (lion king breakz for dayzzzzz)
anyway you know what they say after the sunshine comes the rain
Here this is the case... super hot beautiful day...brief torrential downfall...rince...repeat
To illustrate the case I've decided to share with you guys 2 polar opposite african music mixes...
Tristeza is a mix full of slow-burning sad lament songs...complaints about the state of life in africa and songs that call to the times past...Angolan and west-african songs that I adore. Here emotions can be felt and the lament style of cabo-verde resounds..the first track is killer...great stuff
The second mix is light slow and soulful songs comparabe to the sound of waves and the faint echo of kids on a Dakar beach..sit back relax and enjoy the soft sounds...
Also to summerize my weekend in a few words...work..play.long hours
I worked the regular Samba shift at casa africa that ended with a nice little jam session
Then went out to smaller neighborhood Santa Tereza. I love that place and the music was incredible...i then went out for food...late night style but here you have a full restaurant access with like130 diferent plates at 4:30am...
Needless to say nut much sleep
he next day i was up working at Ibra's...finishing deadlines..
forgot to mention..props for pablo (aytorlla77) coming through..i love SS meetings...we hit up a nice bar and i hope you had agreat time after I left...
Some days things are seemingly meant to happen together...
We were preparing all week for our big Noite do Griot show...its format is to honour the long lasting oral tradition maintained in africa of the griot as the master orator and distributor of ancient knowledge.
We offer an intimate concert of african artists where they speak on their life/musical path and answer questions from the audience, each word inspiring a new song, a new discussion...
The show was great but there was another important event taking place in the same palacio das artes just hours before and casa africa was invited
An incredible evening to commemorate some legends of brazilian culture (including Tom Jobim and Jorge Ben) with the ministry of culture Gilberto Gil and President Lula himself...
I was starstruck with all those people in the room and casa africa got a chance to present its program...we have a meeting scheduled with Mr.Gil in Brasilia (political capital) so things are looking up
Now back to the show...it wasa simply a wonderful experience...Perere has a powerful voice and he played many instruments including the charango
and talking drum
The show really started to lift off once Perere started conversing with the audience
I was truly inspired by both his lyrics and his message/life path
A great candid moment came when he invited his 12 year old nephew on stage
The kid killed it on guitar (ive gotta raise my kids like that
Then Perere son just crawled up on stage
All in all a wonderful show..one of the best Griots apparently
FAN also had its official launch with an exposition of african artifacts
A cool event with Gilberto Gil present once more
Ive been planning the France Brazil meeting all week with Ibra (a real political consultant i am becoming) we have a speach ready, and mini DVD business cards that are badass (a little inovative idea from yours truly)
We are also getting ready for FAN... I am actually planning an event FestaBlack where there will be a famous Brazilian DJ, break dancers, a graffiti vs Kuta paint battle,
a photo exhibit documenting the evolution of black music thourghout history and to open things up a world renowned canadian DJ
forgot to mention..props for pablo (aytorlla77) coming through..i love SS meetings...we hit up a nice bar and i hope you had agreat time after I left...
love those mixes btw
Word1 and thank you for the hospitality that shit was mad fun!!Sampa's next where u at Moogman?!Peace!-P77
Comments
heading down to Sao Paolo & Rio in two weeks! can't wait.
looking to hook up with anyone who is interested in digging or knows good nightlife!
NEVILLE C ? you have some hook ups in Rio? i know nothing about rio outside of the fact i'm going. need mad help in that city.
Hi
I'm in Sao Paulo and can take you to some places for records,
if I have time. And can hook you up with a dealer/DJ in Rio for digging & nightlife.
Drop me a line when you were about to come here.
Bring the raer, plaese.
Peace
But if not, it would be mos def worthwhile for you both to check it out.
Good lookin' on that joint. If you're trying to go to Bahia, I can hit you with all the hotels & pousadas that treated my girl and myself right when we were down there. You gotta hit Salvador for real... I was sad as hell when we left there to go to Rio.
do those armed gang 12's pop up down there? or the younger generationn pic sleeve?
can't wait to wade through "compactos"
Hey T*m
Clean your PM box, dude.
please anyone resend the PM's.
i was kind of wondering why i had 200 messages and not received even random pms for a year.
But today we were not BBQing we were preparing a traditional senegalese dish Tieb-Ou-Yap (lamb like what!)
Also Kuter was busy painting stages for the FAN festival, the kids are going to travel through 12 different african homefronts placed in a circular fashion to give it a village type feel
As you can see the storgae space that was built on my sweat and blood is real useful..especially now that rain season is on
Its a lways a lovely relaxing time at Ibra's
We decided that since a lot of work is on its way with the FAN, the France-Bresil thing and the AfroBrazil Festival the whole staff will meet every 2 weeks for a potluck at Ibra's...i have already received Poutine requests...
Daniella from the office was there with her husband Emerson...it was super interesting meeting him...he is a musician that does a lot of community work with the favela community..he also has a band and oganizes Kalmunity type events in BH...muito interesante
As you can see Kuter recruited some extra help...I even painted a turtle shell (wow!):)
Anyways...we were supose to have lunch but it ended up being supper... check the food yo...
Mad exotic salads...fruits in the house..crazy star carambole action!
Tieb action with raisins mang
The table was set..were my dogz at?
I left Ibras early and ended the night in the office mixing some sounds for the FAN...the next day would prove to be huge...once more in a good way
I am not talking about
More like
I had to meet Ibra there (he called me from the bus to ask for the adress) i met him there running through downtown in my shirt-tie combo under the blaring heat
When I got there I was kind of intimidated by the giant marble steps and huge doors...security guard style..."i have a meeting" and they let me in...hilarious
At the table were the minister of culture for MinasGerais...french ambassade figurehead and secretary, the BeloHorizonte perfeitura dude we had a meeting with last friday and a state representative as well as other civil society members (universities,NGOs,etc...)
When it was time to present each other it was kinda funny..."Antoine Alavo I am an intern with CasaAfrica" the BH dude : "Call him Toninho so he feels right at home"
And then the meeting began... man a million and one ideas raced through my head...this event is going down from the 12-14 of november (right before FAN yeah! ) and is basically an area where CasaAfrica can both make contacts as well as scure its relevance as a go-to organisation for intl relations especialy with african countries....
Our whole objective is to secure our links to the BH perfeitura and the French Embassy (both of which already support a lot of our activities) in view of the promotion of our pilot project to link the FAN with FANSEM festival in Dakar,Senegal....
There is a whole day devoted to Sul-Sul-Norte relations between France-Africa-Brazil and they have asked Ibra to be one of the speakers...this Encontro is ripe with opportunity because it is full of legitimacy (state level) but is reatively void of content a Gap we can fill and both political entities we are trying to secure are looking for new partners
Furthermore me and Ibra are the sole representatives of Africa and almost the only two "brazilians" who speak french
We used our duality to hit up every one resent for business cards or a quick conversation and it worked out great
Big plans like I said people...big plans
After such a big meeting/day of idea pitching, handshaking, contactmaking and plan planning it was time to chill...
FAN had its lancement and the whole Casa Africa staff was invited..great event/evening
The germany guy in the pic is a sick local breakdancer...many familiar faces in the crowd tonight...african culture united so to speak..belo horizonte has a realy good artistic scene and i am blessed to have been introduced to such good peeps...
African food and a photo exposition were on the menu and did i mention...
OPEN BAR!
But it was all about the Black Sonora concert
Afro-Cuban Brazilian band....with 2 percussionists, a DJ, bass, guitar, drums, vocals an a bunch of other instruments (melodia, cuici) all interchangeable played by different members. Half-sung, half-rapped hiphop-samba-rock that had the people dancing!!
A break circle even formed
The show ended with a host of rappers, musicians and friends on stage (including my man Emerson)
What a great night...FAN is officially launched!
He has got 5 signed BobWailers albums because of a fortunate turn of events
His dad was part of the UNITA angolan guerilla and during the time of Zimbabwes independence struggle fought to support Robert Mugabe in hindsight however...
At that time no one around the world was recognizing Zimbabwes independence it had been almost a year since it had declared itself to be a free nation
So the pres organized the now infamous Bob Marley concert to promote this fact...
Kutas dad, part of the elite force, served as a body guard for the Wailers...
Years later Kuta (with dreads at the time) went to see another Wailers concert and caughtJunior Marvin heading to the show, he braved security and went on the classic im a huge fan..Marvin asked him why he should sign his and he name-dropped his dad..Kuta was allowed backstage access and received greetings and thanks from all band memebers..as well as autographs on 5 lps
These records are now in the hands of one of his 22 brothers down in Angola
as he puts is I was the youngest so...you know...
I truly feel blessed in this way and thank you guys for the wishes
gotta keep up the work
though
I get the impression that of you guys may think that my work is all play well, this week has been nothing but updates and organization as you can see from this snapshot of my working space
Plans for dayzzzzzzzz but its cool, Ibra, like me, has a million and one ideas for the project and the opportunities keep showing up i serve to remember write down and organize the stuff into a comprehesible format and work with the administrator karu to divide stuff into tarefas (tache in french, mandates if you want) for the staff..we just had a huge meeting this friday and i had to lead it...it went pretty well considering my portuguese...some stuff written on the plan made people laugh while this supposedly corrected of the plan also eased the process of the meeting at the same time
well my weekend represented a mix of both work and play...
Saturday i get up and my man daniel and I leave the house to eat sine there was no water in the building as they were fixing the faucets
Lets go eat some meat at the Mercado Central (market) he says...alright...
We get to Bomb-Bar and order uma cerveja and a meat plate...
the jam-packed market meat/beer experience is one to be savoured
We get a call from Leo who is at the market shopping for goods for tonights samba show at cvasa africa..he asks me if I want to work a shift since they are missing staff and expecting a big crowd..alright so i meet him there and help set up at casa africa
The samba night was incredible..those of you who know me know me to be not this type of man but seriously, strictly from a bar perspective, there was about5 guys in total for the clientele of about 80 in total...this lack of men may ironically become a problem
the scene at 7pm (early shift means i am not too tired the next day)
Samba de Luiz feature members/friends from Black Sonora and they are damn good
They get the party going....
and the drinks flowing
It was really cool to work the shift..friendly customers and a cool ambiance
Plus great music
This guy can attest to that
It was hilarious "Give me a mojito, its for the guy"
A good time was had by all and i got friendly with BlackSonoras cuban rapper frontman..really cool guy talking about early orishas concerts and such
bonus headhunters action
The next day was a big double laptop in the hamac meeting with Ibra that just ended now i am in fact typing out the tarefa messages to the staff as we speak
This upcoming week we need to perform...we also went through looking at a lot of stuff for the FESMAN poject in june to get casa africa over to senegal once again destiny is helping as this year invited country of honor is none other than Brazil
anyways good night folks..i got a big week ahead of me
PAZ y TRABAJO!
It seems that, even in despite of the huge amount of work you got, you are having
lots of fun in Belo.
For me this is the perfect job: doing something you love and having fun at the same time.
Keep the good work, trooper!!
Peace
My portuguese keeps on improving (having good spanish helps) ive been here 2 weeks e fico melhorando
Like Edson said I am truly doing something I love and I could not be happier
My co-worker took me to see this incredible film
Tropa de Elite
Just saw it tonight and it is simply incredible..similar to City of God in terms of quality shots and commentary, it also looks at the dichotomies of the favela drug trade but from a police and more current perspective... A lot more of the social elements present in todays Brazil.
seriously dudes run out cop the bootleg, torrents or pre-order just see it
seriously amazing i have so much to write about it i want to see it again
that is all
i am here listening to some of Ibras mixes its kinda ill...i am bringnig my african music knoledge up, while getting some great brazilian tracks too
anyways
boa noite
amazing film
here is the trailer
Here is a snapshot of the regular lunch meal here...kinda great..usually its rice, feaj??n (beans), grilled meat..but today was tropejo..feaj??n mix with manioc flour and chirizo sausages
Speaking tropejo I was told I had to try the tropejau minerau at the state stadium and after work I went with Leo and Daniel to go see the CAM (Club Atletico Mineiro) football club match that evening
My first day here in Minas Gerais Daniel shared with me<There is one important thing here...>
I was immediately converted into a fan of Galo....
We left for the stadium hyped up...
But there was NASTY traffic
It was absolute blockage everywhere...we were as stuffed as the people in that bus...
speaking of buses
After 2:15 drive we got there and it was insane I wish i could have taken shots of the rushing amount of fans filling each entry of this gigantic stadium (80 000) and especially when i climbed the stairs staring at the firework lit sky a line of CAM faithful admiring as well
The game was ON!
Just to give you an idea of what it was like try to see how many people are in this bad shot of the crowd
that`s on 20th of the stadium
The famous meal was indeed incredible..especially for sporting event food... I mean damn!
The game was just as great..
and GALO won
Outdoor escritorio (2 laptops and a tower)...
Enrique and Kuta were working hard on the FAN scenes (peep the progress)
Really cool stuff I dig Kuta`s style...
I was busy mixing music too creat an enchanting african musical vibe for the kids that will go through the village represented by those scenes...
But I was also busy cooking up a storm... making the Senegal national dish..Yassa!
Ginger-Garlic and minced oignons in a lime marinade...where the chicken stays for a good couple of hours...
With a TON of oignons...
Let it simmer (this was a different tandoori glaze for the chicken breasts) grain pepper is key...
Ibra was prepping the churasco
The chicken is grilled
And the oignons and lime juice boil up into a chicken reduction sauce
the end result
It was a environment place to work in...
for the communication staff...and the painters/scenists
with Cantora chillin...and this crazy bug
We worked hard into the night
and I??im still here in the office mixing...
Ciao gente...
I was about to recommend to you to go see some Galo's game at Mineir??o.
If you really wanna have a sample of the brazilian culture experience you need go to
some stadium watch a futebol match.
Keep the good work, brother.
Peace
secondly...thanks again to wholewheat ans zimb...seriously these guys songs (along side you ferrari..are you coming to brazil finally?) helped me in a major way to put together hours of mixes..i still aint done..i am currently working on a kid section (lion king breakz for dayzzzzz)
anyway you know what they say after the sunshine comes the rain
Here this is the case... super hot beautiful day...brief torrential downfall...rince...repeat
To illustrate the case I've decided to share with you guys 2 polar opposite african music mixes...
Tristeza is a mix full of slow-burning sad lament songs...complaints about the state of life in africa and songs that call to the times past...Angolan and west-african songs that I adore. Here emotions can be felt and the lament style of cabo-verde resounds..the first track is killer...great stuff
The second mix is light slow and soulful songs comparabe to the sound of waves and the faint echo of kids on a Dakar beach..sit back relax and enjoy the soft sounds...
Also to summerize my weekend in a few words...work..play.long hours
I worked the regular Samba shift at casa africa that ended with a nice little jam session
Then went out to smaller neighborhood Santa Tereza. I love that place and the music was incredible...i then went out for food...late night style but here you have a full restaurant access with like130 diferent plates at 4:30am...
Needless to say nut much sleep
he next day i was up working at Ibra's...finishing deadlines..
Great food as always
Kuta as always
till like 11pm... as alwyas
And thus another week begins...
Take care of thyselves people and enjoy the music
love those mixes btw
We were preparing all week for our big Noite do Griot show...its format is to honour the long lasting oral tradition maintained in africa of the griot as the master orator and distributor of ancient knowledge.
We offer an intimate concert of african artists where they speak on their life/musical path and answer questions from the audience, each word inspiring a new song, a new discussion...
The show was great but there was another important event taking place in the same palacio das artes just hours before and casa africa was invited
An incredible evening to commemorate some legends of brazilian culture (including Tom Jobim and Jorge Ben) with the ministry of culture Gilberto Gil and President Lula himself...
I was starstruck with all those people in the room and casa africa got a chance to present its program...we have a meeting scheduled with Mr.Gil in Brasilia (political capital) so things are looking up
Now back to the show...it wasa simply a wonderful experience...Perere has a powerful voice and he played many instruments including the charango
and talking drum
The show really started to lift off once Perere started conversing with the audience
I was truly inspired by both his lyrics and his message/life path
A great candid moment came when he invited his 12 year old nephew on stage
The kid killed it on guitar (ive gotta raise my kids like that
Then Perere son just crawled up on stage
All in all a wonderful show..one of the best Griots apparently
FAN also had its official launch with an exposition of african artifacts
A cool event with Gilberto Gil present once more
Ive been planning the France Brazil meeting all week with Ibra (a real political consultant i am becoming) we have a speach ready, and mini DVD business cards that are badass (a little inovative idea from yours truly)
We are also getting ready for FAN... I am actually planning an event FestaBlack where there will be a famous Brazilian DJ, break dancers, a graffiti vs Kuta paint battle,
a photo exhibit documenting the evolution of black music thourghout history and to open things up a world renowned canadian DJ
I am off to Ibras once again so take care people
ciao gente
I'd like to be there in that Perere's show.
Congratulations again, Toninho! You're doing fu**ing great work.
Peace
Word1 and thank you for the hospitality that shit was mad fun!!Sampa's next where u at Moogman?!Peace!-P77
WE JUST RECEIVED CONFIRMATION FOR 100 000$R FUNDING TO ORGANIZE OUR FESTIVAL
Now you're talking like a big baller!!
Congrats, again and again.
Peace