Hermeto Pascoal tours in Europe
This has been a month full of gigs for song writer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal. From November 12 to 21, the artist toured Europe supported by Brasil Music Exchange — a Brazilian music fostering project carried out since 2002 by means of a partnership between Brasil, Música & Artes (BM&A) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil).
Hermeto went to the European continent for seven shows, including the cities of Geneva and Zurich in Switzerland and Bologna and Mantova in Italy, as well as London in the United Kingdom, where he performed at the EFG London Jazz. Such festival is in its 27th edition and is deemed as one of the largest in London, with over 2,000 artists performing in 70 places. Hermeto’s last show was in the city of Berlin, Germany.
Career and accomplishments
The singer born in Alagoas, a State in the Northeast region of Brazil, won the Latin Grammy Award 2019 in the Best Portuguese Language Roots Album category for his work “Hermeto Pascoal E Sua Visão Original Do Forró”, a record released in 2018. The award-giving ceremony took place last week in Las Vegas, in the United States.
From the beginning of his career, in 1965, to nowadays, the artist is seen as a Brazilian music icon – he has 20 albums released so far. In “Slave Masses”, his fifth record, from 1977, Hermeto plays virtually any kind of instrument: flute, sax, guitar, piano, Rhodes piano, clarinet, harmonica, and acoustic guitar, among others. The album consists of innovative rhythmic and stylish fusions that combine samba, baião, choro and jazz. Artists such as Airto Moreira, Ron Carter, Raul de Souza, Chester Thompson and Flora Purim, among others, featured the famous album.
At the age of 83, the Brazilian music wizard continues surprising his audience by showing folklore angles that have not been explored by other artists. From June 23, 1996 to June 22, 1997, he wrote one song per day, wherever he was. Such song writing work was transformed in the 414-page book entitled “Calendário do Som” (Music Calendar), published in 1999 by Editora Senac. The book is a tribute to people born in all the 365 days of the year, plus those born in leap years.
International career
Hermeto is known as “the wizard” or “the sorcerer” because of the magic in his songs. His international career started with the release of the classic album “Slaves Mass”, in 1976. After having made a name as a solo artist thanks to the quality of his work, his talent and creativity, he started performing with a group in several events, such as the 1st São Paulo International Jazz Festival, in 1978, which had the participation of Chick Corea, John McLaughlin and Stan Getz.
Listen the artist here:
His new album:
About BME
The Brasil Music Exchange (BME), a Brazilian music internationalization project carried out through a partnership between Brasil, Música & Artes (BM&A) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil), promotes the Brasil Music Summit.