Afro Sambas

Album Notes

It is not easy to identify innovative music. The Afro-Sambas of Baden and Vinícius really were innovative in the ’60s when, according to Beth Carvalho, they mixed the Bossa Nova with a more African sound. Edu Lobo told me that the influence of this sound was definitive in his own work. Francis Hime said the same thing, as we spent hours talking about this.

When I heard Mônica Salmaso for the first time, I felt these Afro-Sambas should be recorded with her voice. Surely Baden would like this. I thought of Paulo Bellinati for the arrangements. My friend Paulo went further, as is his custom. He has recreated and shared this work with Mônica, placing his perfect guitar at the disposition of Baden’s musical universe, as only a guitarist could understand it, just as he did with the works of Maestro Garoto. Vinícius used to refer to Baden as “an enchanted spirit” of the Afro-Brazilian forest. Paulo Bellinati and Mônica Salmaso invite you on a never ending journey through this forest.

— Eduardo Gudin

In 1962, when Vinícius de Moraes met Baden Powell, one of the greatest partnerships in the history of Brazilian popular music was formed. From this fruitful collaboration a major work emerged; a kind of opera based on Afro-Brazilian mythology where the legends and rites of the orixás (gods) are recounted through the sambas de roda, pontos de candomblé, and berimbau patterns.

During this era, Baden spent some time in Bahia where he heard the candomblé singers and visited terreiros (places of ritual). Upon his return to Rio de Janeiro, filled with the magical sounds of the berimbaus, he was eager to rejoin Vinícius. Captivated by the charm of this mysterious religion, the two began to compose, night and day; The Afro-Sambas were born.

The challenge of this project was to reveal the musical language of Baden and Vinícius in a contemporary style, without losing the character of the original work. The guitar assumes the role of the piano, transcending the limits of accompaniment, interacting with the voice in counterpoint, and by itself could stand as an instrumental composition. The result is a recording which captures the essence, translucent, without resorting to overdubbing—pure voice and guitar—a duo in recital.

— Paulo Bellinati

ABOUT PAULO BELLINATI

Born in São Paulo in 1950, Paulo Bellinati is recognized as one of Brazil’s top contemporary artists. After graduating from the Conservatory “Dramatico e Musical” of São Paulo, where he studied classical guitar with Isaias Savio, he lived for six years in Switzerland, continuing his musical studies at the Conservatory of Geneva and teaching at the Conservatory of Lausanne.

He has recorded and performed with many important Brazilian musicians including Gal Costa, Leila Pinheiro, Caetano Veloso, Vania Bastos, Edu Lobo, Chico Buarque, and his group Paul Brasil. He won Brazil’s equivalent of a Grammy, the 1994 “Premio Sharp,” for his arranging of Gal Costa’s CD O Sorriso do Gato de Alice.

In 1988, Paulo Bellinati won the first prize for composition with his solo guitar piece Jongo, at the “8th Carrefour Mondial de La Guitare” in Martinique. His arrangements and compositions are published and distributed worldwide by Guitar Solo Publications (GSP) of San Francisco and are being recorded and performed by many guitarists including John Williams, Timothy Kain, Eduardo Isaac, Cristina Azuma, Sergio and Odair Assad, and Carlos Barbosa-Lima.

The Guitar Works of Garoto (GSP/1991), a CD and two volumes of printed music, the result of many years of Bellinati’s research on the brilliant Brazilian guitarist/composer Anibal Augusto Sardinha (Garoto), has been acknowledged as a work of great historical significance and received a 5-star rating from CD Review magazine.

Other GSP Recordings by Paulo Bellinati include Lira Brasileira, The Guitar Works of Garoto, A Felicidade, and Serenata. Printed editions of Paulo's music are also available from GSP.