Well, Roberto was right about the weather – I’m glad I went to the beach last Monday because, sure enough, Tuesday it was pouring! Luckily I had planned to go to the Biblioteca Nacional for a whole day of research. I was looking for historic written orchestrations of choro and found many, by Chinquinha Gonzaga, Ernesto Nazareth, Villa-Lobos, and hit the jackpot w/ Pixinguinha- many scores of his own orchestrations of his tunes, all on paper so brittle that no matter how careful I was the corners flaked in my hands. I left a lot (turned out to be 350 pages) to be copied by 
Friday and scurried home on the rush hour subway before heading out to the roda da choro at Trapiche. I arrived ahead of Romulo – turned out his bus was stuck in traffic – and who was setting up to play but Joel – again! Wow – 2 out of 3 sessions! Trapiche rocked, as usual, and it was fun to see Joel interacting w/ the band, as I’m so used to hearing him play alone at my lessons.
Wednesday I had lunch w/ Luiz & his wife Maria in Ipanema. He’s planning his next Brasil gigs, including a release concert for his awesome new CD “Cafun,” a Brazilian word that means to scratch someone’s head.
That evening was the “Brasileirinho” concert @ Canaco. The concert centered around the Trio Madeira, featuring Ronaldo on bandolim, and also included performances by the fabulous Rui (from Trapiche) on clarinet and bass clarinet; Celsinho on pandeiro, along w/ his father, the awesome Jorge do Pandeiro who played w/ Jacob do Bandolim in Epocha D’Oro; Yamandu Costa, the virtuoso 7-cordista; and the incredible Ze da Velha & Silverio Pontes on trombone and 
trumpet respectively. Rather than do a scripted show that followed the DVD, they played a mix of old and new tunes and the performances really had a live spark to them – a great event! Romulo brought me a book as a present – “How to Be A Carioca” (that’s the nickname for a resident of Rio) which is a hilariously funny look at Rio’s residents and their habits with, for instance, an entire chapter on “How to Pass in a Tunnel” along with a look at the food, dress, lifestyle. Too funny.
Thursday morning I met Paulo Sa downtown for an all-too-brief chat and his morning class at the Villa-Lobos Conservatory. His quartet has been invited to play in Italy – muito legal! We also discussed our planned joint writing project – a choro method for bandolim – that we hope to start in earnest at the beginning of 2008. Taxi-Paulo picked me up downtown for my lesson w/ Joel, but first I got to experience something I bet no other tourist in Rio has. I got to go to the auto inspection center while Taxi-Paulo waited w/ crossed fingers to see if his cab would pass the emission test, which it did. It wasn’t an experience without interest though, as the place was outdoors, there was a passable lunch cart, and it provided an excellent venue for people-watching, as everyone has to stay while their cars are inspected. The reason I was there was because the inspection site was close to Joel’s house and Taxi-Paulo’s appointment was a couple of hours before my lesson, and I didn’t want to take a chance on another taxi.
At my lesson I showed Joel the draft of my new method, which he was interested in. We played some of the exercises – Leone & Bach – that I thought he might like to hear. Then I showed him my transcription of his interpretation of the waltz “Sensivel” on Ze da Velha & Silverio Pontes’ CD, “So Pixinguinha,” that I was making for my rep class at Escola Portatil. Interestingly, he thought it was a far too personal a reading to be in print, that a more general version would be better, to leave room for individual playing style. I decided to wait to finish it until I had talked w/ my rep teacher to see if I really had the assignment right. When Taxi-Paulo showed up to pick me up at the end of my lesson, he had brought his flute and my choro, “Siga Em Frente” so we could play it together w/ Joel on guitar. A fun surprise and a nice end to my lesson series this trip.
Friday, today, was a mix of errands, laundry, email, a quick trip to Praia Vermelha, some pics of the neighborhood–especially the abandoned Urca Casino, that is being rebuilt as an art school (work just started yesterday), and shopping for thank-you presents for folks at home who helped me take care of things there while I was here. I also got to see the Adalton exhibit of circus figures at my favorite Edson Folk Museum. I thought I had missed it in May, but it turned out to be in an entirely separate building in the Catete 
Palace Park that I stumbled on while walking in the park today. And – oh so Brazilian – although the show closed July 1st, it was still up for me to enjoy. As I send this email there’s just 2 more days left, and I’ll write about them from home. Right now I just want to enjoy what’s left of this trip to Rio.
bjs.
m
