musical genre with an identity of its own, amongthem Cochichando, and 1 x 0 = Um a Zero.
AQUARELA DO BRASILARY BARROSO (1903-1964)
He was born Ary Evangelista Barroso in Ubá,Minas Gerais and his father Joáo Evangelista wasknown as a poet, guitar player, singer Bohemianand lawyer. However, both parents died whenAry was nine years old; raised by aunt Rita shemade him take three daily hours of piano lessonswhich in spite of being painful at the time, laterhelped him to get a job accompanying films onthe piano at a cinema in Ubá when he was twelveyears old. His poor childhood gave way to theextravagances in his elder life. At seventeen hewent to Rio to study law and spent a small fortuneleft by his uncle. In 1929 he finished law school,but never practised, and married Ivone; his firsthit came out entitled Vamos Deixar recorded byMario Reis. By 1934 Ary had experimented andfound his innovative style and continued to writemusic while Noel Rosa wrote the lyrics andtogether they made more than a dozen master-pieces. His passion was not only music he wasequally a fervent football follower of theFlamengo Club and as a sport commentator wasthe first one to interview the player who scored agoal. As a member of the Council Committee hecontributed with his work to build up the dreamstadium Maracaná.
But Ary’s peak was reached when GetúlioVargas decided to stay as President by his ownchoice and used nationalism as the government’sfoundation, it was 1935 and of course, thePresident destined funds to promote culture,therefore, bought Radio Nacional which becamethe largest in the country with unlimited power;but to regulate the broadcasting he founded theDepartment of Press and Propaganda (DIP).When all this was happening Aquarela Do Brasilwon first prize in a popular music contest spon-sored by DIP and a new era was inaugurated in
Brazilian popular music. The truth is that thelyrics of Aquarela had problems with censorshipbut this was overcome by other verses sung aboutthe beautiful things of Brazil in a melancholicway. What contributed to the piece’s success wasthat it was recorded by the hottest Braziliansinger Francisco Alves, the King of song, and witha promising orchestra conducted neither morenor less than by Radamés Gnatalli and until todayAquarela is the most well known song in Braziland abroad. There can be no doubt that Ary is thefirst name exported by Brazil in the field of pop-ular music for he has written the 20 most record-ed songs in the world.
ONE NOTE SAMBA*ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM (1927-1994)
Jobim belonged to a family of musicians with twouncles playing guitar: one cultivated the populargenre specially samba and the other interpretedBach, Albéniz, Sor and Tárrega. Jobim’s earlytraning was strictly classical on the piano. Hisearly influence was Villa-Lobos as well as Frenchimpressionist composers. On his opinion, popularand classical should not be constructed as two sep-arate kinds of music. He has written guitar pieceswith Luiz Bonfá, Joâo Gilberto and Oscar CastroNeves. He covered a whole range from the classi-cal to the popular genres in a most innovativemanner. His name is synonym with bossa nova. Heblended samba with jazz with the whispering voiceof Joâo Gilberto with hits such as, Chega deSaudade, Corcovado, The Girl from Ipanema,Desafinado and One Note Samba, the two lastpieces were his early hits. He contributed to a newvocal repertoire equal only to the songs of ColePorter and George Gershwin.
© Copyright, J Sylvester, LACCS 2005:All Rights Reserved
GUSTAVO COLINAHe is the recipient of the Order José FélixRibas presented to him by formerPresident of Venezuela, Doctor RafaelCaldera. Later he was pronounced HijoIlustre and patrimonio Cultural Viviente ofthe State of Falcon in Santa Ana de Coro,and is the Director of Culture of theMaracaibo Mayoralty. His first CD theVenezuelan Cuatro was taken by theBoston Ballet for a choreographic montagein 1996. At the moment he is recording twonew CDs El Cuatro en Tres Movimentosand Gustavo Colina y sus Amigos.
