On Sunday, July 19th, six hours before the Spanish national football team's triumphant match in New York, thousands of kilometers across the Atlantic, at the same latitude, on the 40th parallel north, a prodigious trio of musicians from here and there met to offer an intimate concert (for about one hundred people) on La Barrosa beach. But not the one in Chiclana. The one in the Galician paradise of Saint Vincent of the Sea.
Toninho HortaThe legendary guitarist and arranger from Belo Horizonte, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, joined together almost spontaneously with two greats of contemporary music, the Madrid native Jorge Pardo to the flute and the baian Rubem Dantas To the drawer. Toninho brought his Gibson Custom, and he tested the sound with it. But wouldn't you know it, on this remote beach appears none other than the maestro Felipe CondeWith a guitar made specifically for Toninho, he performed the entire concert without even a soundcheck, using his brand-new guitar. A real treat.
They performed a complete review of classics from the best Brazilian music, Milton Nascimento, Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de MoraesThey even remembered the Legend CamarónIn 1979, Jorge and Rubem participated. Rubem sang a lullaby from his native Salvador, and Jorge improvised on the flute with his characteristic mastery, launching into a I am a GypsyThe audience immediately joined in singing, a real treat.
The flamencoThese are musicians who understand each other perfectly, but not vice versa. But whatever the music, someone trained in flamenco culture always knows exactly where to begin, especially if you're a "doctor of Lucianism," like the two masters who shared the stage on Sunday with a hundred Galicians, another audience accustomed to the gathering.
"After a two-hour concert, we finished off the evening with a fish stew washed down with a chilled Godello wine. The concert by Toninho Horta, Rubem Dantas, and Jorge Pardo is one of those you'll remember decades from now. That midday when Brazil dreamed of the beautiful horizon of São Vicente do Mar."
Also present was Rubem Dantas, a key figure in the connection between Brazilian music and the flamenco For half a century. Who better than our Rubem to bring the ship safely to port? Since he arrived in Madrid in the mid-seventies, whom I met then in the basement of Orense Street before they built Azca, where guitarists would compete in speed (I was there too). Maurice SoteloRubem has always been dedicated to the mission of connecting music and musicians. He did so alongside the great Paco for over twenty years, giving us a way of measuring music that has influenced several generations of percussionists. Next year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the cajón's arrival, and we will celebrate it in style with Rubem at the helm. Stay tuned.
Jorge Pardo had to invent a syntax, grammar, and even a semantics of flamenco for wind instruments, and he's been doing it for almost sixty years. Generosity personified in music. Long live Madrid!
Toninho Horta's prestige in the musical world of Brazil speaks for itself. Words are unnecessary. On Sunday, he was truly at ease, and he transmitted that enthusiasm to the audience, who gratefully applauded every number with gusto.
After a two-hour concert, we finished off the evening with a fish stew washed down with a chilled Godello wine. After a well-deserved siesta, the match started, and that's history now. It's one of those concerts you'll remember decades from now, that midday when Brazil dreamed of the beautiful horizon of São Vicente do Mar. ♦
