ABOUT THE FILM…€¦ · Choro is sometimes called a cousin of jazz with its complex musical...
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Transcript of ABOUT THE FILM…€¦ · Choro is sometimes called a cousin of jazz with its complex musical...
Port Townsend Washington… for the past 10 years, every spring this cold and wind-blown sea town hosts a week long revival of sorts. It is here that some of the world’s best Brazilian musicians travel to share their love and passion for a form of music called Choro. Their followers represent a diverse mix of master musicians from around the country. Though these students come out of wide variety of styles and specialties, such as classical and jazz, they all share a true passion and dedication to this intriguing form of music.
This uniquely Brazilian musical style represents the coming together of European melodic and harmonic traditions with African rhythms and sensibilities. Emerging in Brazil in the middle of the nineteenth century, Choro is sometimes called a cousin of jazz with its complex musical structures, polyrhythms and improvisation. Though Choro is an extremely difficult musical form to master, there is no exclusivity or pretense to be seen in its presentation. In fact, the opposite is the rule – whether it is to play, listen, or dance, all are welcome. The word choro in Portuguese means "to cry," which could seem ironic considering it is a musical style that’s rarely described without using the word “joy”.
This film will explore the roots of Choro, where it finds its heart and joy, and how this complex and beautiful form of music found its way into theheart of so many musicians who have taken on the challenge to understand it. We will also capture brilliant performances both rehearsed and impromptu by teachers and students.
ABOUT THE FILM…
FEATURING:Centrum: This Port Townsend arts organization is a key player in bringing Choro music to the US and has presented this Choro workshop for the past 10 years. Centrum, in partnership with Fort Worden State Park, has created a unique gathering place for artists and creative thinkers from around the world, students of all ages and backgrounds, and audiences seeking extraordinary cultural enrichment.
Dudu Maia: A virtuoso of the bandolim (Portuguese for “mandolin”), Dudu Maia served for five years as the bandolim professor of Brazil’s most respected Choro school, the Escola Brasileira de Choro Raphael Rabello. Considered to be one of Brazil’s finest mandolin players, Dudu brings to his work a lifetime of research and study of Brazil’s greatest musical traditions. Dudu has lead Centrum Foundation's Annual Choro Workshop in Port Townsend, WA, since 2011. He is also an experienced music producer and has recorded and produced for many artists as well as writing original film soundtracks.
Dudu is a member of Trio Brasileiro which also includes the celebrated guitarist and full time member of the award-winning Brasil Guitar Duo, Douglas Lora and the master of Brazilian percussion and Hand Pan virtuoso, Alexandre Lora. Among the many accolades, their 2017 recording with Anat Cohen, Rosa Dos Ventos, has been nominated for "Best World Music Album" at the 60th Grammy Awards.
Douglas Lora: 7-string guitar; Composer and guitarist Douglas Lora moves with versatility between classical and popular music, and has been established as one of the most prominent Choro artists of his generation. A member of the Brasil Guitar Duo (with Joao Luiz) for more than fifteen years, and seven-string guitarist of the choro and samba band Caraivana, Douglas Lora has a full touring schedule worldwide, and has collaborated with artists including Paquito d’Rivera, Marco Pereira, Jovino Santos Neto, Ney Rosauro, Marina Piccinini, and many others.
In 2011 he joined his brother, percussionist Alexandre Lora, and mandolin virtuoso, Dudu Maia, to form an ensemble dedicated to Brazilian traditional music, Trio Brasileiro. He has been Lora was a winner of the Concerts Artists Guild Award in 2006 with the Brasil Guitar Duo, and has eight recordings and five original film soundtracks to his credit.
Alexandre Lora: Alexandre Lora is an award winning percussionist and moves easily within different styles of Brazilian popular music and World music, performing as a percussionist and Hand Pan/Pantam soloist. Since 2012, Lora has been a faculty member at Centrum Choro Workshop (Port Townsend-USA) and has performed with his Trio Brasileiro in major US cities such as New York, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, Miami and Portland. Alexandre has collaborated with accomplished musicians such as AnatCohen, Jovino Santos Neto, Mestrinho, Ramón Valle, Mariana Aydar and Brazil Guitar Duo. In 2015 he has released his first solo CD, with all original compositions, entitled “Oriente". He was nominated for a 2018 Grammy: Best World Music Album for “Rosa dos Ventos” playing with Anat Cohen as part of Trio Brasileiro.
FEATURING:
Daniela Spielmann: Daniela Spielmann has been part of the Brazilian choro scene since 1998 as a saxophonist, flutist, composer and arranger. Her music is current and at the same time respectful of the great Brazilian composers of the past. Her first CD as a member of the choro ensemble Rabo de Lagartixa (Gecko´s Tail) was given a critics’ the best instrumental CD of the year and in 2002 her first solo album, Brazilian Breath, was nominated for a Latin Grammy. Since then she released seven CD’s, the newest of which, Sopros Brasileiros will be out in 2017.
About her choro playing she says “I try to express the love I feel for life and for people through my playing. The vibrant rhythms, harmonies and melodic structures of this music can be heard in pubs, street festivals and our jam sessions called “Roda de choro.” It’s the expression of our popular culture. I want the whole world to hear it.”
Jovino Santos Neto: Three-time Latin Grammy nominee Jovino Santos Neto, a master pianist, composer and arranger, is among the top Brazilian musicians working today. Currently based in Seattle, Washington, he has throughout his career been closely affiliated with the Brazilian master Hermeto Pascoal. Jovino’s personal style is a creative blend of energetic grooves, deep harmonies, telepathic improvisation, lyrical melodies and great ensemble playing, always inspired and informed by the colorful richness of Brazilian music. His compositions include samba, choro, baião, xote, forró, marcha and many more styles, rooted in centuries-old musical tradition while pointing to new and adventurous harmonic languages. hez, Joe Locke, Marco Granados and many more.
FEATURING:
Alexandre Ribeiro: One of the brightest Brazilian instrumentalists of the new generation, clarinetist and composer Alexandre Ribeiro has joined the lineage of great Brazlianclarinetists such as Krista Helfenberger Munhoz, Luiz Afonso Montanha, Sergio Burgani, Nailor Proveta and Stanley Carvalho. He has shared the stage with Guinga, QuintetoSujeito a Guincho, Antônio Nóbrega, and many others. He has performed and taught internationally at numerous workshops and festivals, and is a member of “Panorama do Choro Paulistano Contemporâneo,” Grupo Luceros & Toninho Ferragutti, Grupo Rodade Choro and Grupo Ó do Borogodó.
Al Bergstein: Al is a key player in bringing Choro to Port Townsend. Al was an actor and DJ in his early years, followed by photography, a decade of extensive sailing the Puget Sound region, filmmaking and music. A serious amateur musician, he enjoys playing Brazilian music and jazz, and serves on the board of Centrum in Port Townsend. He's an avid filmmaker and has acquired the skills and equipment to create high quality projects, such as the Voices of the Strait production that documents life on the Strait of Juan de Fuca over the last 80 years.
Students:Gwen Franz, Shannon Dowling, Karen Iglitzin, David Chelimsky, Susanne OrtnerLisa Seifert, Serena Eades
FEATURING:
The high school assignment included an old slide projector, our choice of found images from a stack of magazines and any music track we choose. Pretty low tech stuff but it would change my life. It was the simple yet powerful dance of image and music that captured my imagination as a student and ultimately led me to be a director. As a director I have been working closely with musicians for years creating soundtracks for my projects and though I’m not a musician myself I have a huge amount of respect for the craft and the immense power music has in moving its audience.
Recently, I had a chance to visit a Choro workshop in Port Townsend, Washington. It was an evening performance by some of its instructors and students. The uniquely Brazilian music was beautiful and full of life and though I was struck by the high level of musicianship in teachers and students alike it was really the sense that I was in the midst of a revival meeting of sorts that intrigued me most. There was a palpable sense of love and joy that I have never seen in a musical setting like this before. I saw a vibrant and infectious type of communication – a true fellowship between the musicians as they played - complex and nuanced directions communicated with simple nods and knowingsmiles.
The music went late into the night – spilling into the officer houses on the Fort Ward property. Throughout the evening I couldn’t help think that this was too beautiful and too amazing not to be shared! As I talked with some of the students and teachers I was struck by how profound and lasting the effect Choro had and continues to have on them. I was a fly on the wall who wished he had brought his camera and sound equipment! I’m so excited to share these stories and the amazing music of Choro.
A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTORSam McJunkin is a film director, producer and writer who helps companies like Microsoft, Dell and Starbucks tell their customer’s stories in ways that are compelling and authentic. Spending nearly twenty years traveling the world finding and capturing a huge array of unique and diverse human stories, Sam has honed not just his interviewing and storytelling skills but also his eye for real and captivating moments – moments that add a distinct sense of heart and humanity his work has become known for.
RACHEL NOLL JAMES | Producer
Rachel lived and worked in Los Angeles for over 10 years as a writer, director, producer and actor. She is the award winning screenwriter and producer of feature films THE STORYTELLER and DON'T PASS ME BY and the horror short PARAMNESIA. She was the recipient of the Silver Prize in the PAGE Screenwriting Awards 2015 and Best Feature Writer at LA Femme Festival 2014. Rachel wrote and directed the short film HALF LIGHT, and the award winning short Western FOLLOW THE RIVER. Rachel is an active member of WIF Seattle and sits on the board of the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY).
SHANNON DOWLING | Producer
Shannon Dowling has been living and working on Bainbridge Island for the last 9 years as a business owner (BISA Vocal Studio), producer (13 THE MUSICAL), director (THE LAST 5 YEARS), vocal director (THE FULL MONTY), instructor, and community outreach coordinator (SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS). She is an award winning actor (BroadwayWorld Seattle's 2014 Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Local)) represented by MAM Artists. Shannon brought Jim Anderson’s CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE to InDTheater as a passion project, which became their inaugural production in 2018, and she can be seen in WRITE IN, a short film screening at the Women Making a Scene International Film Project. She is currently producing UNMASKED, a teen cabaret to raise awareness and funds for local suicide prevention resources
THE PRODUCTION TEAM
