Interview with the guitarrist Luciano Magno

Here I present an interview that I conducted with the guitarist and music producer Luciano Magno. Luciano Magno is a great artist. He is also a creative composer and conducts workshops on the guitar. He has produced and recorded several CDs and performs many tours in America and Europe. In this video I found him on an artistic tour in Lisbon, Portugal.

Poem Agreste Mulher

It is the poem Agreste Mulher by João Araújo, recited by Aldemar Paiva and with the musical arrangement of the guitarist Henrique Annes.

AGRESTE MULHER

Texto: João Araújo

Voz: Aldemar Paiva

Violão: Henrique Annes

Agreste chão, nasce a poeira...

O graveto seco, antes esverdeado

E molhado da seiva vinda da terra

Agora é dor solitária em mormaço...

Agreste solo é cenário roxo

Do barro pisado pela menina-azulão...

A força assaz de uma onça escarlate

Pintando calor e suando afobada...

Agreste assanhada dança da fêmea

Na cidade pequena demais para ela...

A réstia exalada de uma lua amarela,

Montada na Terra, rodopiando forró...

Agreste cigana sobre a rústica pedra,

Que guarda ligeira um pouco de Sol,

Derramando o sumo doce da fruta

Imantada na mente do homem perdido...

Agreste cupido, matuto sem razão,

Tocando a zabumba do peito aflito

E escutando o triângulo da vida noturna,

Virada na densa quentura do lençol...

Agreste caatinga, o cio da moça

Tomou os ares laçando o tempo,

Mandacaru imenso lutando inútil,

E sendo abafado pela jovem mulher.

Agreste espírito confuso da dama,

Que dança na serra, assim, desvairada,

Onde antes já fora dona de olhares

Ébrios e loucos, sem tino e cuidados...

Agreste felina: dinâmica agonia...

Morena feita de aroma e seresta,

Boêmia vermelha de carne e de sonho,

Cravando na noite sua existência singela...

Agreste terra, a garota ardente

Se espalha no açude vazio da tarde

E monta seu alazão alado e selvagem

Na procura liberta de algo abstrato...

Agreste ama, pequena senhora...

Quão fraca andorinha com ares de águia,

Flertando o peito de presas exatas

No meio da palha crocante e sozinha...

Agreste mulher... a força da fêmea

Tomou o peito nordestino do homem

E o galho seco assistiu o rebuliço

Da poeira que a menina agreste criou...

Um Bloco em Poesia - Part 2

Here I present another part of the Post Um Bloco em Poesia - Part 1. It is the photographic record of many moments when I performed shows on stage, street parades and another events together with the group Um Bloco em Poesia (city of Recife, Brazil).

Homage to four great cultural Radio journalist:
Renato Phaelante, Mirian Leite, Ivan Ferraz and Hugo Martins

João Araújo

Women in carnival costumes (Um Bloco em Poesia)

Stage of the Marco Zero (city of the Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil)

Preparation time for the street parade:
orchestra Um Bloco em Poesia

Preparation time for the street parade:
orchestra Um Bloco em Poesia

Samba-Enredo

Ladies and gentlemen, I have the pleasure to introduce you to a Samba-Enredo.

IMENSOS CORDÉIS

by João Araújo

Recife,

O Capibaribe molhando teus pés

Traz na correnteza imensos cordéis,

Os guizos da história dos teus carnavais...

Nos Blocos,

A linda pastora das evoluções

E o frevo da rua, senhor de ilusões,

Erguendo a poeira que o tempo acalmou...

Recife

Caboclo de Holanda, africano guri,

Tua mãe portuguesa vem dos pastoris,

Cirandas e côcos e maracatus...

Nos becos,

Sonoros lampejos de agremiações

E a troça, carroça de tantas canções,

Traz humanidade em festejos de amor

Vem Carnaval,

Pierrô da manifestação popular,

Meu Carnaval,

Alvorada de minh'alma tão secular,

Quero brincar

No subúrbio dessa eufórica emoção

Nesse cordão de arrecifes,

Guardião do mar que insiste

Em clarear meu coração

A Very Exciting Event

It was a very exciting time of my artistic career. I had the opportunity to honor the writer and playwright Ariano Suassuna, a very important person for the Brazilian culture. This happened at a place called Marco Zero (in the city of Recife, Brazil). I was together with my friends from the group Um Bloco em Poesia. We were before an audience of over 30.000 people. Our group played a song that I and my musical partner Adalberto Cavalcanti have created especially for this event (the song is called Monumento Armorial and can be listened here). On the stage, I recited a poem and offered it to the master Ariano Suassuna.

Wilhelmshöhe Park, Heracles and Frevo!

In this video I am in the Wilhelmshöhe Park, located in the city of Kassel, Germany. In this park there is a statue of the divine hero Heracles. Hercules is known for his many adventures, which took him to the far reaches of the Greco-Roman world. A list of his labours is as follows:

1. Slay the Nemean Lion.
2. Slay the nine-headed Lernaean Hydra.
3. Capture the Golden Hind of Artemis.
4. Capture the Erymanthian Boar.
5. Clean the Augean stables in a single day.
6. Slay the Stymphalian Birds.
7. Capture the Cretan Bull.
8. Steal the Mares of Diomedes.
9. Obtain the girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons.
10. Obtain the cattle of the monster Geryon.
11. Steal the apples of the Hesperides.
12. Capture and bring back Cerberus.

In the video I tell a little about this history and make a parallel with a Brazilian musical genre: the Frevo.

Um Bloco em Poesia - Part 1

In Brazil I have helped to establish a cultural and musical group called Um Bloco em Poesia. We have organized several shows and events. The group has a band with 22 musicians, a choir with 10 singers and a group of 50 people with carnival costumes. In our presentations in clubs we have organized musical performances and recitals of poetry. In addition, we have made parades through the streets playing music for the people. Below I show some photos that record a few moments of the group Um Bloco em Poesia.

In Recife city (Pernambuco, Brazil) there are several places where we can listen and enjoy a good live music. People meet to play music together and to recite poetry. Ideas, dreams, music and poetry are shared. Everyone can experience an atmosphere of fraternity. Many of these places are public markets. We can visit several places in one night, making a musical journey to enjoy the original Brazilian culture and the music of the region, unlike as tourist places that usually disclose a superficial and a wrong culture.

The song "Recife Amanheceu em Mim" (literal translation: "Recife dawned on me") reports some of these itineraries, that means, some of these musical dreams. The song was composed by João Araújo and Luciano Magno and sung by Valéria Moraes. Enjoy and share it!

Recife Amanheceu em Mim

A Jazz Composer

In the Brazil there is a jazz composer and musical producer called Luiz Guimarães. He is responsible for the musical production of more than 50 compact discs. In the following song we tell a little about his artistic trajectory.

Voa, meu Colibri

(by João Araújo and Luciano Magno)

I want more

If we like something, we say "I want more". This is the translation of the title for the song "Frevo, Eu Quero Mais". The text of the song talks about the joy, the desire to celebrate the beauty of the blue sky, among other good things in the life. 

• Authors: João Araújo and Luciano Magno
• Musical Arrangement and singer: Luciano Magno

 Frevo, Eu Quero Mais

A Liga dos Blocos

Frevo-de-bloco is a music style performed by orchestra with instruments from wood and strings (usually consisting of guitars, banjos, mandolins, violins, percussion instruments, for example). There are many groups that make parade through the streets and they are called "Blocos Carnavalescos Líricos". This cultural movement emerged in the first decades of the twentieth century.

In this context we have composed the song "A Liga dos Blocos" (by João Araújo and Luciano Magno). The song was recorded with the voice of the singer André Rio. This song is a tribute to these groups, to this musical culture and to all persons that work to the maintenance of this Brazilian culture. 

A Liga dos Blocos

** enjoy and share it! **

A return journey from the Europa to the Brazil

In the text of the song Carta para Romero Amorim I have imagined and related my return journey from the Europa to the brazilian coast on a barge across the Atlantic Ocean. 

The song was a tribute to the friend and poet Romero Amorim and I have made references to some titles of his songs and poems. The voice on the recording is from the singer Dalva Torres.

Enjoy and share it!

Celestial

The creativity is a term very important to many knowledge areas like Science and Art. On the other hand, the term creation is also used to refer our world and universe.

Based in these ideas I wrote the text of the song Celestial. My musical partners, i. e., Francisco Fidelis and Adalberto Cavalcanti have composed the melody and Kelly Rosa sung our composition in the recording below.

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People with turbines on their feet

I would like to show you a song that I have composed. This musical genre come from the Recife city (brazilian northeast) and is called frevo-canção. 

In general it is a music style with a lot of energy. For this reason I have put the title of my song as Turbina no Tendão which means something like persons who put a turbine on their feet and are dancing frenetically. The text of the song speaks also about this power and energy. This is a tribute to the Frevo.

The beautiful musical arrangement of the song was produced by the guitarist Luciano Magno who also plays the guitar magnificently in the recording. The singer is called Benil.

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A little bit about the Forró: Part 1

A little bit about the Forró: it is a musical genre (originated in northeastern Brazil). In fact it consists of a collection of several different rhythms. Here I would like to introduce you to one of these rhythms, that is called Xote. 

In the Video below you can listen the song Verso e Canção composed by João Araújo and Adalberto Cavalcanti. The song was sung by Maciel Melo. 

Enjoy and share it!