Sturminster Exchange gig...

Tomorrow night (Thursday 28th) we are at The Exchange, Sturminster. Normally I would insert a link to the venue at this point but their website seems to be down at the moment, so here instead is a link to the appropriate page of Arts Reach, Dorset, who are the organisers of the event.

There seems to be some uncertainty as to what time tonight's gig at Miss Peapod's starts so to clarify - according to our contract it's 9.pm!

Rehearsals...

I collected Silvia and Rodrigo from the airport on Monday night and on Tuesday morning the first rehearsal got under way. Up to that point, none of us had been in the same hemisphere together before, let alone the same room and yet here we are , with our first public performance on Friday morning when we play live on Radio Cornwall at around 11 to !1.30 am! Fortunately, the chemistry between the musicians is extremely strong and the first results as they emerged were incredibly pleasing. The way in which Neil integrates the Cornish/Celtic flavour into the music makes it seem so natural that you would think that it had always been part of Brazilian music. Silvia's enthusiasm for our re-interpretation of her songs is extremely heartening and she happily adapts to accommodate our new input. Pete K's attention to detail and grasp of the grooves is second to none and Rodrigo, Silvia's partner, who is also a fine musician as well as being a prominent recording engineer in Brazil, has been invaluable in pin-pointing fine detail and making harmonic suggestions. I sit there on my cajon (that sounds like a bit of a euphemism) and bash, shake and rattle my way through the proceedings, scribbling frequent illegible notes to myself about the individual songs...

As I type this I can hear the sound of Silvia warming up her voice. We are off to Penryn in a short while, where we will have our last full rehearsal before tomorrow's radio show. Then Saturday and Sunday we will be performing our first gigs - Saturday at The Eco Park, Mount Pleasant and Sunday at Miss Peapod's, Penryn. I can't wait - I haven't been involved in a project this exciting for many years. Something really special is happening here and there is now a strong possibility that this project will go to Brazil!

The Brazil - Cornwall connection

Paul Doble

Yesterday I had the opportunity to interview Paul Doble, a Cornishman living in West Tolgus who spent the first ten years of his life in the town of  Nova Lima in Minas Gerais, Brazil, where his father worked at the Morro Velho mine. His was one of about thirty Cornish families that were still resident in Brazil. In its heyday  the mine  was actually owned by an English company - the St John del Rey Mining Company and worked by a predominantly Cornish work force, the first of which had arrived there in the mid eighteen hundreds. A report in The West Briton from August 1922 reported that  '...twenty five miners from Redruth and district left the town yesterday morning for Brazil, where they have been engaged to work the St John del Rey Gold Mining Company's famous property at Morro Velho. The company at present employs a considerable number of Cornishmen'. I shall be posting more of the interview soon and will upload the recording to make it available to any one that is interested, but for the moment will simply announce that we thought it fitting that Paul and his wife are invited to be our special guests at The Mount Pleasant Eco Park concert on Saturday 24th September.

Nova Lima circa mid 1950's
(from Paul Doble's private collection)

Paul's parents at their house in Nova Lima
(from Paul Doble's private collection)

A new song...

Some twelve or so years ago I wrote a tune called 'Brigadeiro', which was a musical picture of my wife and I as we strolled down Avenida Brigadeiro Luis Antonio, which is a street which intersects Avenida Paulista in São Paulo. In 2001 I made a recording of it with my then band -'Into The Red' and I sent a copy of the track to Silvia a couple of weeks ago. My main intention was just to see if she liked it and whether it had any resonance for a person that was now living in São Paulo,having previously lived in Rio de Janeiro.

Once again, I underestimated Silvia's enthusiasm for our project and within a week I had received a video of her singing a beautiful lyric to my tune. The original recording was played in the key of E, which is not her key, but the professional recording skills of her partner, Rodrigo, proved easily equal to the task of digitally changing the key of the recording to G  and mixing in Silvia's vocal. The result is extremely pleasing to us and we hope it will be to you. The original Into The Red recording was made at 'The Bunker' studio at Coverack in early 2001. The musicians were: me (Pete Turner) - guitar, Max Turnbull - piano, Claudia Colmer - double bass and Pip Harbon - drums. It was engineered by Jess Carter and Dave Lucas, mixed by Jess, Dave and me and the producer was also me. Anyway, here's the new version. I shall post the lyric as soon as we've finished translating it!

 


Lyrics added 17th September 2011

Brigadeiro  (Peter Turner/ Silvia Nicolatto)

Tinta rubra nas pilastras

Red paint on the pillars

Um museu vaidoso

A vain museum

Na calçada gente caminha

On the pavement people walk

Um céu multicor derrama(desenha) raios largos

A multi-coloured Sky casts broad sunbeams

Sol reflete a luz no vidro espelhado

Sun reflects the light on the mirrored glass

Na calçada gente  passa sem poder parar

On the pavement walk people, unable to stop

ritmo  veloz   quer ter voz inspiração

fast pace wanting of a voice, of inspiration

uma flor renasce  na calçada  asfalto frio

a flower reborn on the cold asphalt pavement

 vida continua fim do dia  passa o cartão

life goes on, end of the day, punch the clock

Ando na avenida meu amor me dá a mão sem medo sem ter  preocupação

I walk along the avenue, my Love takes my hand, without fear, without worries

Brinco de encontrar luises prá poder te dar

I look for things “luis” to amuse you

Sem rumo  sem direção

 No special place to go, no special direction

andar sobre pedras

walking  on cobbles

desliza o asfalto  rio sobre os pés

the asphalt flows, a river over (under) my feet

meu amor me acompanha andando juntos vem me dar a mão

my Love strolls with me and comes to take my hand

os carros  se aquietam o dia vai

the cars calm down, the day draws to an end

meu amor   me espera  

my Love,  wait for me

contar as histórias

tell ing the histories

revela  o olhar um  paradeiro novo

revealing  to the eye a new place to stop

meu amor me acompanha andando juntos vem me dar a mão

my Love strolls with me and comes to take my hand

os carros  se aquietam a noite cai

the cars calm down, night falls

meu amor me espera

my Love, wait for me

da janela inventa  a retina registrando

from window the retina invents and records

Brigadeiro de colher na esquina

Brigadeiro in a spoon on the corner

Ando a rua inteira em um dia

I walk the entire street in a day

Só colhendo imagens

Simply gathering images

prédios casas poucas cafés

buildings, houses, a few coffee shops

horário apertado

tight schedule

ônibus metrô lotado

bus and subway crowded

gente motos  ruas cheias multidão

people, motorcycles, full and crowded streets

uma flor renasce  na calçada  asfalto frio

 a flower reborn on the cold asphalt pavement

 vida continua fim do dia  passa o cartão

life goes on, end of the day, punch the clock

Ando na avenida meu amor me dá a mão sem medo sem ter  preocupação

I walk along the avenue, my Love takes my hand, without fear, without worries

Brinco de encontrar luises prá poder te dar

I look for things “luis” to amuse you

Sem rumo  sem direção

 No special place to go, no special direction

TRANSLATION BY PHIL TURNER