Hermeto Pascoal

https://t.co/PmMavphhAQ https://t.co/n3n9gO8Tnu

— Dundee Music (@dundeemusic) March 25, 2017

#HermetoPascoal

Hermeto Pascoal: saw him live 2x a few years back in NYC, now listening 2 Slaves Mass cd. U shake your head w/amazement, then listen again!

— Jazzing (@JazzingNYC) September 30, 2016

No Cover: Hermeto Pascoal

Multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal, at 74-years young, is a legendary and wildly experimental jazz musician beloved throughout his native Brazil. He recently played Lincoln Center Out Of Doors.
Photo by Kevin Yatarola

Before You Press Play:
Hometown: Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
The Facts: Raised in Lagoa da Canoa, Alagoas, in Brazil’s rugged northeast, Hermeto Pascoal had no formal schooling, electricity or radio for the first 14 years of his life. Despite these supposed deprivations, he learned to play music from listening to nature and subsequently began to make homemade instruments such as "pumpkin flutes." In larger Brazilian cities—Recife, Rio and São Paolo—Pascoal began to hone his musical chops on accordion, piano, flute and other instruments. He performed with the groups the Fafá Lemos Band, Quarteto Novo and Mundo Verde Esperança, among others.

In the late '60s, Pascoal met Miles Davis, and impressed the American trumpeter and bandleader so much that he recorded two songs with him, “Nem Um Talvez” (“Not Even a Maybe”) and “Igrejinha” (“Little Church”), which appeared on Davis’s Live/Evil album. He has also worked closely with Ron Carter, Sergio Mendes and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Pascoal's long list of classic recordings include the 1977 “Slaves Mass,” the 1980 Cérebro Magnético (Magnetic Brain) and the 1986 “Brasiz Universo” (Brazil Universe). In 1999, he published Calendario Do Som (Calendar of Sounds), which offers up a song a day; Pascoal composed one song a day for an entire year between 1996 and 1997. His tunes have been covered by such luminaries as Gil Evans and John McLaughlin.

The Sound: Hermeto Pascoal is so determinedly experimental in his approach to jazz that he could make music out of a tea kettle. On a recent beautiful summer evening at Lincoln Center Out of Doors, O Bruxo (the Sorcerer) did just that, by transforming that well-known kitchen staple into a veritable kazoo. Wooden cups, pans, an animal’s horn, the human body (which was used for percussion) and a half a dozen other things received similar alchemic applications. The Hermeto Pascoal e Grupo septet includes his wife Aline Moreno (who scatted wildly throughout), his son Fabio Pascoal, as well as Itibere Zwang, Andre Marques, Vinicius Dorin, and Marcio Bahia. Whimsical, hip-shaking, dissonant or dirge-like, Pascoal and company consistently keep the music dynamic and on edge.

Latest Release:  Bodas de Latão, Tratore (2010)
He Said, She Said: “Brazilian jazz” hardly sums up Mr. Pascoal’s music. His compositions are full of demanding, musicianly convolutions: leaping melodies, meter shifts, mutating chromatic harmonies and dissonances. Aline Morena, his wife, scat-sang along with Vinicius Dorin’s soprano saxophone at such breakneck speed, and in such long and twisty phrases, that even a listener could feel breathless."—Jon Pareles, New York Times, August, 2010

"It is difficult to overstate the excitement I felt upon hearing and seeing this "wild albino" (a term used by Miles Davis) and marveling over his astounding originality. After this wild incursion, Pascoal disappeared into his mystical existence unperturbed by his virtual anonymity and continually inspired to pursue his quest for musical idiosyncrasy."—Nick Catalano, All About Jazz, November, 2004


http://culture.wnyc.org/articles/music-hub/2010/oct/11/no-cover-hermeto-pascoal/

Weekly Latin Jazz Video Fix: Hall Of Fame Nominees

When creating the guidelines for the Best of 2009 Awards, many of the parameters seem self-evident. Since the awards deal with the past year, all of the music needs to be created during the course of the calendar year. It’s a time sensitive event that allows us to reflect upon the year and highlight the outstanding work from select musicians. Latin Jazz fans around the world need to have the possibility to fairly assess the entries - since performances are generally localized, the only logical way to do this is through recordings.

While everyone may not hear every possible option, at least they can track it down if they choose. The nominated musicians need to contribute to the albums in a significant and meaningful way. While guest artists may add spice to a musical experience at times, it’s the musicians that form the core experience that make an album special. Everything seems cut and dry in the bulk of the awards; when it comes down to nominee selection, musicians either qualify or they don’t. The tough part arrives when lists need to be narrowed or when readers need to make the actual voting choices.

All categories are not created equally though - the Hall Of Fame category seems more difficult to define and the parameters appear less concrete for the nominees. This is the one category that steps out of the present day; in fact, nominees should ideally come from the past. These musicians may be alive or they may have died, but their legacies need to survive into the present day. Hall of Fame nominees need to contribute to the Latin Jazz world over the course of many years and in many cases, their impact lasts over several decades.

Their nomination isn’t strictly confined to their performance on a single album, but rather a large body of work. A lengthier career allows these musicians the opportunity to create a number of recordings and document every stage of their musical growth. Time and recorded output can’t be the only factor that makes them significant though; it’s totally possible for a musician to perform for decades and only make superficial recordings. These musicians need to leave a meaningful mark upon the Latin Jazz world either through their performance techniques, compositions, or band leader skills. They need to offer new ideas and convince the world that their artistic concepts merit further study and mastery by a new generation. The truly legendary figures actually complete this mission and their music lives through performance by future generations.
In reality, these names come quickly - they are they musicians that we’ve studied, heard, and followed throughout our musical journeys. I’m dedicating today’s Weekly Latin Jazz Video Fix to three of our Hall Of Fame nominees - three of those names that just pop to the front of the list when considering the greater spectrum of Latin Jazz. The first video features the great Cuban bassist Israel “Cachao” Lopez who gave us the mambo and the descarga. The second clip highlights the Argentinean master composer and bandoneon player Astor Piazzolla, performing his classic piece “Adiós Nonino.” The last film finds revolutionary Brazilian musician Hermeto Pascoal performing his piece “Rebuliço.” These are three masters currently in the running for the Hall Of Fame Award - check them out and make your vote! Enjoy!

Hermeto Paschoal, solo piano