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Interviews
Vinicius Cantuaria: Brazilian Soul
Nenad Georgievski
For as long I can remember music has been a focal point in my life.VC: All these musicians fascinate me, and we exchange our music and ideas! Maybe you won't believe me, but I think that Ryuichi Sakamoto is the best Brazilian musician today, as he really knows how to capture those emotions and sensibility typical for Brazilian music. An example are his works Casa and A Day In New York.
I worked together with Bill Frisell in a band called Intercontinentals with whom we performed music influenced by different musics around the world — Brazilian, Balkans, Arabic, American. He also plays on some of my records. Marc Ribot is another brilliant musician with whom this year I performed few duets. I dedicated a song to him on the new album, "Cubanos Postizos." I enjoy playing with Marc and Bill as they are so different.
Arto is a great friend and was of great help for my recognition here. I worked with him on several of his albums ( Mundo Civilizado , Salt , Subtle Body , Invoke ) and he played on and produced my records ( Sol Na Cara ). I met him for the first time in 1982 when Caetano and I were recording in NY. I love his unusual approach to sounds as it is far from the traditional.
As I said before, all these musicians fascinate me and there is a constant exchange of ideas among us.
AAJ: Is there a particular musician with whom you would like to collaborate?
VC: Too many of them! I really like to collaborate with other musicians! The reason I can't give you any name is because I have thousands on my mind.
AAJ: You released solo albums, and been a sideman and collaborator. Which aspect of your career has been the best experience?
VC: Every thing I do in music is important to me. It really doesn't matter if it's collaboration or a solo project.
AAJ: Apart from many collaborations and configurations tell me what happens when it's just you and the guitar?
VC: Sexy, hot and lovely! The guitar is an instrument that I spend a lot of time with, as this instrument is part of my philosophy! Very nice things happen when you make the guitar sing. With it I make music that is a reflection of my soul.
AAJ: You have a new record, Horse and Fish . How would you describe the new record? What does the title refer to?
VC: This is my first live album! I brought to it years of experience working with my band! The title reflects the contrast in the world: black - white, jazz - samba and everything living! And it makes a contrast for myself as a musician - I play both samba and jazz.
AAJ: The album features covers by Antonio Jobim and Gilberto Gil. What made you decide to do that?
VC: Gilberto Gil is an old friend of mine and I love his songs. As for Jobim, I have always tried to cover at least one of his songs on my albums. To me he represents everything Brazilian, i.e. his name is a synonym for Brazilian music. One day I hope to do a whole album with his songs and the songs that are present on the new disc are actually songs that I usually perform live.
AAJ: How do you look back at older recordings such as Tucuma or Sol Na Cara ?
VC: I love those records as they had different approach to making things. Tucuma had a different and fresh approach to things like melodies, arrangements, orchestration and I invited a lot of friends with whom I worked with before, people like Frisell, Laurie Anderson, Arto Lindsay, Sean Lennon, Erik Friedlander. These people helped the music to move in another direction. I feel the music is very much like jazz as it has no limits to it and the attitude is similar (no boundaries).
AAJ: What do you think about today's scene in New York and Brazil?
VC: The music scene is the same all over the world unfortunately! Computers, TVs and radios stations, media in general make it this way. It is very cheap to make music these days because of computers. There are lot of bedroom musicians who can make all sort of music. The quality of it is sometimes scary and all of this is supported by mass media, which creates more confusion.
AAJ: What are some of your upcoming projects?
VC: My upcoming projects include music and albums like Tucuma and Sol Na Cara ! I'm also on tour to promote Horse and Fish , and after that I'll start working on something new.
Visit Vinicius Cantuaria on the web at www.vinicius.com .
