"Cascais was' artificial oasis' of Jazz"

The news agency did LUSA today echo the statements made by Joao Moreira dos Santos (author of JNPDI) the purpose of his latest book, Jazz in Cascais: A History of 80 Years.



Lisbon, 08 Ago (Lusa) - The municipality of Cascais was an oasis [of jazz] with the rest country "where the strength of the cultural elite did not differ from the rest of Europe, called in statements to Lusa, the investigator Joao Moreira dos Santos .
Author of "Jazz in Cascais. A history of 80 years," Moreira dos Santos said that "in Cascais Jazz enjoyed an artificial oasis. The country does not sweat Jazz, had some havens as Cascais, some clubs in Lisbon and Porto and the casinos to Espinho and Figueira da Foz.
"The Jazz do not breathe out here and it was exactly because of this that the [dictatorial] him, especially since it was heard by elites who were in favor of the situation and the music is difficult to take as subversive act," he argued.
However, the author pointed out, "the Jazz is the symbol of the affirmation of a people, equality, freedom, tolerance, dialogue, and can not be desenquadrar of socio-political discovered. The Jazz was the cry of revolt of a people oppressed. "

In Portugal where he begins to emerge in the 1920s, although tolerated politically, "the Jazz was not very visible. The Issuing National António Ferro, a man who appreciated by Jazz, call for it was Portuguese". "The social, political and cultural environment in Canada was very similar to what was happening in Europe but lower in quantity and quality, particularly London and Paris, the main broadcasters," said Moreira dos Santos, according to which " the great names in Jazz started to act only in Portugal in the 1950s. "

The Portuguese cultural elites criticized the jazz, and Moreira dos Santos said the cases Ferreira de Castro of the writer and journalist Artur Portela (father).
"The Jazz was seen as a piece of hell that would collapse the boundaries between white and black races, which was the letter of enfranchisement of the black race, the European cultural elites, including the Portuguese, considered barbaric, uncivilized, and would dethrone white civilization, "contended. Artur Portela - says researcher - "said that from the moment the black culture they were buried the boundaries that divided uncivilized to civilized."

Happened but "strange phenomena as the invitation of the Presidency for the Jazz Orchestra of Romeu Silva of Brazil playing in the gardens of the Palace of Belém, ran the year of 1926, after having performed at the Teatro da Trindade initiative of Erico Braga. The book summarizes 80 years of history of Jazz in the municipality of Cascais where the author tried to "be as thorough as possible, trying not to forget or lose leave nothing". "You can not, nor is wasting no source. If you do not, I think it is a part of history that is lost and therefore I will not demand that the Conxichina," said the author.

For Moreira dos Santos, "the music is made by people, is the story of a technique and gender, but is primarily the story of people that have and are living must be heard because the music that ,(...) made is the result of their experiments and experiences". The researcher considers "fundamental" the "human dimension and experience of life that is at the same time, a tribute to these people so dediacarm to a cause that is the Jazz". The intersection of sources "was also highlighted by the author, using documentary sources, iconographic and oral testimonies.

Another concern of the essayist that sheet "over 100,000 pages of newspapers" and devoted two years to this research was the "objectivity". I had always the desire to be objective, it does not talk much about this (last) decade, when I did a lot, not to be judge in its own cause", he stressed. "Jazz in Cascais," edited by Sassetti home has preface of Charles Lloyd and a Postscript by Jorge Costa Pinto, totaling 175 pages.

NL. NL.

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