Brazil to Cornwall - Cornwall to Brazil

There has been as much interest in this project in Brazil as there has been in Cornwall and as a consequence Silvia has now started her own blog about it in Portuguese. You can find it here. I received an email from Silvia with this photo of her proudly clutching her new passport.

It's less than three weeks before we all get together in the same room for the first time and start making music together. We are all really looking forward to it and can't wait to get our teeth stuck in to the project! We have also added an extra date - We'll be at the Four Winds Inn in Falmouth on  Thursday October 12th. We are also looking at the possibility of doing a workshop on Brazilian music. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime I'm still investigating the connections between Cornwall and Minas and should have some interesting stuff to report in the next week. Watch this space....

The publicity machine grinds slowly in to action...

I have done what anyone that knows me will consider a most unlikely thing for me to do: I've set up a facebook page for the band but I'm such an old fart that I can't seem to drive the thing very well. I guess I'm happier with something like this blog - I'm interested in doing this and consequently got the hang of constructing a blog site fairly quickly. Facebook seems to give you so little control over the appearance of the thing and my usual intuitive grasp of software fails me totally. I can't even find the site myself without logging in and I think I have got to do some serious facebook homework! Despite that, a few people have actually found their way to it. You'll know when I have a better understanding when a link appears on this page - try as I might, I can't put one there at the moment...

Apart from that, here is a flyer for our first gig at the Eco Park -

And here is the Poster for the Miss Peapod's gig -

I think facebook will have to wait for a day or two...

Birth of another song...

Morning Mist in Minas (Photograph © Alberto Woodward)

Whilst looking for more appropriate material for this project the other day I remembered a tune that I had written some years ago entitled ‘Morning in Minas’. I got out my trusty M-Audio MicrotrackII recorder and quickly laid down a basic version of it, dropped it into ‘Audition 1.5’ and converted it to an MP3, then sent it with the following email to Silvia –

Oi Silvia,

Here is the MP3 of my tune, 'Morning in Minas'. As I said, it's a bit rough as my hands don't work as well as they used to, but you should get the idea. The tune was inspired by seeing the mist rising over the Serra when we were in Tiradentes a few years ago. I had been seeing evidence of the Cornish being there (the town of São Jão del Rey had hundreds of Cornish miners living there between 1890 and 1950) and I was thinking how different the landscape must have looked to someone who had started life in Cornwall. What do you think? Could you maybe do something with this?

Love

Pete

Back came a prompt response –

Hi Peter,

Beautiful song! It certainly feels like Minas! Maybe in the previous life you were born in Minas! Do you like me to put lyrics to your song?

beijo,

Silvia

It was my birthday yesterday and I had mentioned this to Silvia previously. She suggested that we should celebrate it again when she and Rodrigo arrived here – hence my email response to her –

Oi Silvia,

I would love you to write some lyrics for this tune. That would be a wonderful Birthday present! And, yes - we will celebrate again when you get here. I can have two birthdays in one year!

Love

Pete

I looked forward to hearing what she might do with my tune but didn’t expect an immediate reply. However, much to my surprise and delight an email was waiting for me this morning. It said -

Hi Peter,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!  Our birthday gift is attached, I hope you enjoy it! I imagined you and Jackie in Minas, at dawn.

beijo grande,

Silvia

Rodrigo sends um abraço!

Attached was the MP3 of ‘Amanhecer em Minas’ (which you will find in the SoundCloud player at the top of the page), complete with some pictures taken whilst it was being recorded and a translation of the lyric. Now that’s what I call a birthday present!

Silvia at work on the lyric

Recording the vocal

Rodrigo mixes the tracks down.

And here is the lyric - 

Amanhecer em Minas (Morning in Minas) (Peter Turner/Silvia Nicolatto)

Alvorecer acorda o sol

Dawn, the sun wakes up

um   raio entrou amanheceu

the sunlight broke in, morning came

Gota divina vem pela fresta

Divine drop comes through the window gap

entra o dia a luz

the light of the day

sonho de um tempo pela janela

dreaming  of an age through the window

vejo a cidade acordar

I watch the city waking up

cantam poemas os seus poetas

singing the poems, the poets

de conspirações ideais

of ideal conspiracies

 surgem paisagens  brasões

sights of landscapes,coats of arms

deixa o dia entrar manhã

let the day come in, the morning

 ruas paisagens clarões deixa o dia entrar manhã

streets,  landscapes, glares, let the day come in, the morning

Minas reluz

Minas sparkles

No seu olhar deixa o dia entrar

In your eyes, let  the day come in

It's an amazing thing, this internet business. It is now possible for people who live thousands of miles apart to work as easily as if they were in the studio together. Long may it continue...

Another song in progress...

There has been a lot happening in the last couple of days, including the fact that I have made contact with a local Cornishman who was born in Brazil and whose father and grandfather were both mining engineers in that country. I'll have more to report about this in the next few days but it has given the project added impetus and we are now looking seriously at the idea of a CD based around the Cornwall/Brazil links. We are currently looking for sponsors but the idea has been given a real boost by the fact that Silvia's partner, well known Brazilian recording engineer Rodrigo Castro Lopes, has decided to come on board and will be responsible for mixing and mastering the end product. More of this soon. In the meantime, here is a clip of a new song by Silvia that we are currently working on an arrangement for.

The birth of a song...

Silvia plans her trip and tries on suitable clothing for September and October in England

The tune that we used for  the song 'Rio Logh' was Neil's composition for Dalla entitled 'King Harry Ferry Furrey' which was inspired by the rhythm generated by the machinery of the old King Harry chain ferry. (You can hear the original on Dalla's first CD - 'A Richer Vein' which is available here). Neil actually sent Silvia a selection of tunes to choose from but this was the one that particularly resonated with her. She had this to say about the song -
"I wrote the lyrics thinking about a fusion between the cultures of the two countries. It tells of a boat in a river.  I used a legend from Amazônia (of the Cuigang tribe), about the supernatural origin of music. They say the lyrics for the first song, which came out of a small branch of a tree,  was “andó xo ca e vô” (with no translation to Portuguese, either). I mixed it with the Candomblé deity of the wind and lightning, and I put them all together in the story, the wind blowing the boat that navigates river Logh."

Here is the lyric in English and in Portuguese. The translation is by Silvia, with a little help from her partner, Rodrigo de Castro Lopes -

desliza  o barco descendo o rio Logh   vento assopra a brisa a embalar

The boat slides down on the river Logh, the wind blows, the breeze is soothing

em terra firme caiurucré ouviu a voz  salve o som do canto e o barco a navegar

On the ground Caiurucré heard the voice, save the sound of singing and the sailing boat

quem vêm em paz segue seu caminho vento que leva o barco ao seu destino 

Who comes in peace follows his path, the wind leads the boat to his destiny

a natureza conhece sua gente  salve iansã guerreira e o barco a deslizar

Nature knows its people, cheers to Iansã the warrior and the sailing boat       

nesse percurso o vento assopra forte

In this route the Wind blows strong

é iansã guerreira e o barco a hesitar canta o encontro entre a sua gente

It's Iansã the warrior and the hesitating boar, sing the meeting of their people

salve a voz do encontro e o canto a celebrar

cheer the voice of the meeting and the celebrating chant

dia de festa  nesse dia quente vento que leva o barco (à sua gente) nasce o canto andó xô cá e vô

Party day in this hot Day that takes the boat to the people, the singing andó xô cá e vô is born

e vê  desce o Logh  o barco a deslizar 

The sailing boat glides in the river Logh

We are also looking into the possibilty of doing some Brazilian Music workshops whilst Silvia is in Cornwall so if you are interested in learning more about these then watch this space, or contact me via the blog.

How the project came to be...as told by Voltarol

Silvia Nicolatto

As followers of 'The Adventures of Voltarol are aware, I am a musician based in Cornwall, who has a passion for the music of Brazil and is a regular visitor to that country. On our last visit to Brazil in January 2010 my wife and I went to stay in Teresópolis, which is a city about 1½ hours drive up into the mountains from Rio de Janeiro. This is where my good friend Alberto’s mother lives: Alberto had organised the trip and had arranged for us to stay at her house. The residents of her particular area have access to their own country club, known as the Weekend Club,which has a bar and restaurant, a club room, a swimming pool, tennis courts etc which we had the free run of. Alberto – himself no mean bass player – knew that there would be several other musicians - particularly a fine pianist known as 'Dudu' - staying near the club and organised regular evening jam sessions which were a source of great pleasure to me as you can imagine. Alberto had provided me with a guitar and amplifier and I was armed – as always – with my little shakers in lieu of a full percussion kit.

One afternoon we were swimming in the pool and were the only people there as the sky was slightly overcast. The temperature was well into the eighties but that, by the standards of the average Brazilian is cold and so they were avoiding the pool. As we swam happily up and down I saw a woman come over to the pool and look suspiciously at the water. “Quente!” I called out – “hot”. She dipped her toe in and looked at me with raised eyebrows. “Para Gringos” (for Gringos), I added. She laughed and jumped into the pool. As we swum we got into conversation. I revealed that I was an English musician with a love of Brazilian music and she revealed that she was a singer/songwriter, originally from the state of Minas Gerais, lately of Rio de Janeiro and currently resident in São Paulo, where she and her partner, a recording engineer and producer, had just moved to. Her name is Silvia Nicolatto and her partner is Rodrigo de Castro Lopes That evening they showed up together at the club and we played together for the first time. That was the basis of a friendship and musical rapport that has led to the fact that she will be performing several gigs in the West of England in September and October this year.

 Left to right: Alberto, Dudu, Pete (Voltarol), Silvia and Rodrigo

 We met up with Silvia and Rodrigo when we returned to São Paulo later that month and over lunch in a rather nice Arab restaurant we discussed the idea of a visit to this country. After our return to England I started looking into the possibilities. Silvia’s regular band consists of herself on guitar, with another guitarist, a percussionist and a bandolim player. We knew that it would be prohibitively expensive to bring the band over as well so started thinking laterally.  I could fill the percussion chair but who else would fit in? 

Pete, with Cajon

Silvia is from Minas Gerais and there have always been strong links between Cornwall and Minas because of mining. When I was in Minas myself a few years ago I saw much evidence of a Cornish presence and I have spotted evidence of Brazilian influence around Cornwall –particularly in the Redruth area. So then it came to me – a Cornish / Brazilian collaboration.

The best mandolin player I know is, without doubt, Neil Davy of the Cornish group, Dalla, who also plays bouzouki and fiddle. 

Neil Davey with bouzouki

Neil knows of my love of Brazilian music and of my fascination with the Minas / Cornwall connection. Indeed, for a while Dalla included one of my compositions in their set – a tune called ‘Morning in Minas’ that had been inspired by my time in that state. I put the idea to him and he jumped at it. There was only one candidate for the guitar chair and that was Pete Kubryk Townsend, who is internationally known as a double bass player but who is also an extremely fine 7 string guitar player.

Pete Kubryk Townsend with 7 string guitar

Both Neil and I had worked with Pete on a regular basis and we share a huge respect for his musicianship. In addition, Pete K. was almost as obsessed with Brazilian music as me. I put the proposition to Silvia and she was delighted. She then proposed that we try to take this collaboration further by writing some material together. Neil sent a few tunes in MP3 format by email and we sat back at this end to see what would happen. Three weeks later we received an email from Silvia with an MP3 attachment. She had taken Neil’s simple mandolin line and added her voice. Was this the sort of thing, did we think? (You can hear for yourself - see top of page.) We certainly thought it was! That was ‘Rio Logh’ – words by Silvia to a tune by Neil. Dalla fans may have recognised it as ‘The King Harry Ferry Furry’. 

So - now it's become a reality and Silvia arrives in Cornwall on the 19th of September. We play our first dates in Cornwall at The Mount Pleasant Ecological Park near Porthtowan on Saturday September 24th. For further details contact them via the link or on 01209 891500. The following night we are at Miss Peapod's Kitchen Cafe at Penryn (01326 374424). Then we'll be at The Exchange, Sturminster in Dorset (01258 475137) on Thursday 29th September.  We play another date in Dorset on Friday 14th October, when we're at the West Stafford Village Hall ( no details available yet). Then we return to Cornwall at Sterts Arts Centre at Upton Cross (phone 01579 362382) on Saturday October 15th.

For further information  see the following links:-

SILVIA NICOLATTO (A number of Silvia's recordings can be heard here)

NEIL DAVEY (Dalla)
PETE KUBRYK TOWNSEND
PETE TURNER (Voltarol)