"Questions, Questions..."
A series of interviews with the members of The Latin Jazz
Discussion List. All the questions were submitted by other members
of the group, their peers. Each artist was given a number of
questions with the option of answering as many as they wished.
Further discussion with the artist in this forum is invited...
Today's Subject:
Jovino Santos Neto
Jovino Santos Neto was born in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He worked as a
pianist, flutist and producer with Hermeto Pascoal from 1977
to 1992, and
moved to the United States in 1993 to pursue his own career as
a musician,
composer and educator. He has been actively involved in a wide
variety of
jazz, classical and world music projects since then, including
collaborations with Flora Purim, Airto Moreira, Andy Narell,
Richard Boukas,
Joyce, Dori Caymmi, Native Americans and South Indian musicians.
He has
received commissions to write for chamber ensembles and orchestras
in the US
and in Europe. Jovino is an Associate Professor of Music at Seattle's
Cornish College of the Arts, and has released 2 CDs as a leader
of his own
ensemble.
Website: www.jovisan.net
Most recent CD: "Ao Vivo em Olympia (Live in Olympia)",
"Bailao" (with
Richard Boukas)
Book: "Tudo é Som" - the music Hermeto Pascoal
Q: "Tell us a little about your childhood - where were
you born and raised?"
I was born in 1954 in Realengo, a suburb on the West Zone
of Rio de
Janeiro. I lived there for most of my life until I was 18.
Q: "Who was the most influential person in your life
that affected you,and
your decision to become an artist?"
Hermeto Pascoal. I was a biologist who played piano, and he
inspired me
to become a musician who loves nature.
Q: "When did you first fall in love with Latin music
- or - when did you
first choose Latin music as a career path? Can you remember which
band or
artist turned you on?"
I heard a lot of traditional music as I was growing up in
Brazil-
maxixes, chorinhos, boleros, bossa nova, old-style songs, but
when I was a
teenager all I listened to was blues and rock, eventually getting
into
progressive British rock and Jazz Fusion. That led me to hear
Miles, Return
to Forever, Flora Purim and Airto, Hermeto and then through him
back to the
Brazilian tradition. A very wide circle...
Q: "What piece or pieces of music made the most impact
on you and why?"
Culturally, everything I heard in my life made an impact,
but
musically, it was Hermeto's influence that made me listen to
all this stuff,
understand it without prejudices and then incorporate it into
my own style,
so I'd say that his music cracked my brain open.
Q: "Who's an artist you think more people should be aware
of..."
At the risk of being repetitive, I have to say again O Campeão
HP.
Q: "At what hour of the day are you most productive and
why?"
Music works in its own time frame. When music is flowing,
I am not even
aware of what time it is. I usually wake up early, but I can
work at any
time. This because of our rehearsal routine with Hermeto's group,
where for
15 years we rehearsed 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, rain or shine.
This
discipline builds stamina and readiness, so when inspiration,
strikes you
jump to it, and when it doesn't, you find ways to inspire yourself.
Q: "Are you a song writer?"
Yes.
Q: "What kinds of things do you do to inspire your writing?"
I live, I travel, I meet people. I am very inspired by these
things,
and often a visit or a tour is followed by a bunch of new music.
Q: "What things do you practice day to day?"
My own music, and Hermeto's music. In his writing you have
everything,
from the most complex technical exercises to deep harmonic insights.
It's
all there. Since I teach Brazilian music at Cornish College here
in Seattle,
I also have fun learning old pieces by Ernesto Nazareth, Radamés
Gnatalli,
Pixinguinha, Edu Lobo, Carlos Lyra and others to show to my students.
Q: "What are your priorities when you go to the stage?"
To be honest and true to my inspiration, to communicate with
my fellow
musicians, and to kick some serious ass.
Q: "How do you see yourself in relation to the 'tradition'?"
I come from a tradition that has always fused elements to
create new
colors. This is what Nazareth did, what Pixinguinha, Villa Lobos,
Jobim and
Hermeto all do. I feel that every time I play, their spirits
are guiding me
and also showing me that other traditions - jazz, blues, African,
Eastern -
are linking in and feeding their influences. This is a great
time to make
music.
Q: "What music do you listen to when you are relaxing?"
I listen to music when I am driving and when I am washing
the dishes,
otherwise I am making it. When I listen, I like to be surprised,
to not know
what's coming, so I keep my record collection randomly unorganized
and pick
with my eyes closed, or then I surf the radio waves.
Q: "Give us a mental image of your favorite view in the
world".
Restinga da Marambaia, a 30-mile long arm of sand that juts
out of the
West end of Rio and advances in the ocean. On one side, the Atlantic
is
roaring, on the other, just a few feet away, the green waters
are calm and
ahead is Ilha Grande, with mountains and forests. The monkeys
are howling
and the dolphins are jumping.
Q: "If you have children what kind of musical education
have you given them
or do you intend to give them?"
My 2 kids have always heard music, since they were in my wife's
belly.
I encourage them to develop their own taste and have never forced
to play an
instrument. I think of them as very musical, and they help me
in keeping up
with what's happening in the scene today.
Q: "What does the music you play do for you, emotionally,
spiritually,
socially, whichever-other-ly?
Everything. My whole life revolves around music. I try to
understand
the business side of it and not let it get in the way of the
true work. I
feel I have a mission, and a huge responsibility to my teacher
and to his
teachers,
and so every note I play has to be the best I can do, and I need
to share
that concept with my students as well.
Q: "What changes or landmarks in your life can you attribute
to the music
you play?"
It keeps me alive and it makes me feel that I am just beginning
to
learn it, always. It's a good feeling.
Q: "When the music is at it's best in your opinion, what
is it that's
happening (to make it the best) and what do you feel?
There is a point in music making when the flow between the
inspiration
and the execution is so immediate that you get this rush as if
you are
surfing this huge wave, and only the present moment exists. This
is the same
as samadhi, or the bliss that yogis feel when they focus on the
now. When
music gives you this individual experience in a collective context,
there
is nothing like it. I live for these moments...
Q: "What one CD of those you have recorded would you
keep if the others were
forever lost??!!"
"Zabumbê-bum-á", the first record I
made with Hermeto in 1978. For me,
it's a like a picture of me discovering a whole new world of
harmony, rhythm
and melody. Most of the stuff I played there I did not even understand
until
later, and then I loved it even more.
Q: "What one CD of someone else's would you keep if all
others were
lost??!!"
Hermeto's first CD recorded in New York in 1970 (originally
called
"Hermeto!", then re-released as "Brazilian Adventure"),
with some of the
best musicians in the world on horns, strings and rhythm playing
his
arrangements.
Q: "Name an all-star band of your favorite musicians
(and arrangers) or one
band for each genre (charanga, conjunto, big band, etc.)"
Hermeto on piano and flute, Airto on drums, Wayne Shorter
on sax, Dave
Holland on bass, Miles on trumpet, and me in the middle with
my eyes closed.
Q: "What musicians would you most like to play with,
now living on earth or
elsewhere?"
I have some 16-year old students that embrace music totally,
always
remembering that they are learning. All the great musicians of
the world,
living or not, that I admire, have that same attitude, regardless
of age or
fame. I want to play with all of them!
Q: "What band or musicians would you have wanted to play
with from the past
and why?"
Pixinguinha's "Os Oito Batutas". They were very
modern in 1920,
blending the mixed heritage of African, Indian and European blood
into our
music, and they created so much in terms of form, improvisation,
composition
that we have not yet fully assimilated.
Q: "Are critics important? Or do you rather see your
music reviewed in the
vanity press?Are you susceptible to bad reviews?".
I am friends with a few good music critics, and I understand
how they
try to get a honest snapshot of their reaction to a particular
musical
performance, and then capture that in writing. Of course, many
times their
reaction has nothing to do with the musician's original intention,
but when
you create music, you cannot control people's reactions to it.
I am happy
when I get a reaction. Of course, a good review is better than
a bad one,
but a bad one is better than indifference.
Q: "Do you believe in music as art, as opposed to a product
for
merchandising?"
The way I see it, when music is good, it can be sold and
commercialized, just like any art. I don't have to worry about
making my
music palatable to any one, I just have to make it the best I
can. I am
confident that if I succeed in doing that, someone will pay for
it. I don't
believe in the "starving misunderstood artist" syndrome,
just as I don't
believe in record company execs that think you have to make music
worse in
order to sell it.
Music is nourishment to the soul. I believe in making mine new
from fresh,
organic ingredients. If other people want to eat a frozen MacDonald's
burger, I still believe that they have a right to try my feijoada,
if they
want to, so I keep chopping the onions and soaking the black
beans...
Q: "Would you still be a musician even if that means
you´ll die of hunger?"
A good musician will only die of hunger if his mind wants
him to. Being
a musician is not an option, it's a mission. I would die if I
wouldn't be
one.
Q: "If you had to choose a short segment (a few bars)
from your work to
represent you, which would it be?"
In my first CD "Caboclo", on the title track, there
is a moment when
Hans Teuber's soprano sax solo morphs into the piano solo, and
it happened
so naturally and in a beautiful way, I still get chills when
I hear it
again.
Q: "What food would you most liken your music to?"
When you season black beans, you make this concentrated sautée
of
onions, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper. With this you season
a whole pot of
beans, and the more it sits there, the more flavor it releases
in to the
stew. That's how I like to think of my music.
Q: "Do you believe in aliens?"
I believe that the Universe is much bigger than we think,
and I believe
that Music is the language of all languages and of all worlds.
When we
compose and improvise, our inspiration and influences come from
a much wider
sphere than we normally admit, so it's easy to connect with other
frequencies, without worrying where they are from. Remember,
music is the
Real and Original Internet...
Q: "If it were up to you, what would the names of Hermeto's
pig and rooster
be?".
Knowing Hermeto, these would be plausible names:
Pig: Clin-Clâncoli
Rooster: Mavum-Vavum- Pefôco
Q: "One piece of advice for musicians"
Never, never think that you know everything-always think of
yourself as
a beginner, and go practice!
Q: "One piece of advice for listeners (or dancers)"
Listen without prejudice. Close your eyes and SEE the music!
Q: "One piece of advice for life"
I will quote from a Hermeto song:
Este canto vem de longe
"This song comes from far"
A distância não sei dizer
"I cannot tell the distance"
Salve,salve a toda a gente
"My salute to all the people"
Que vive e deixa viver
"Who live and let live"
Aqui vai o meu abraço
"Here goes my embrace"
Com o Som e o Saber
"With Sound and Wisdom"
Tirando da própria mente
"Bringing forth from one's own mind"
As palavras pra dizer
"The words to say"
A Música segura o Mundo
"Music holds the World together"
Enquanto a gente viver
"As long as we live"
Credits:
Allan Johnston - format questions
Eliseo Cardona - translations
Lea esta entrevista en Español visite
www.anapapaya.com
