Re: [Harp-L] Brazil Harp - Obrigado!

["Fernando Bresslau" <fernando@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 6/22/07, Bill Hines <billhines4@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Wow, just got back from Brazil and wanted to report since so many folks
> helped me out to get hooked up there (with music that is, the rest stays
> in Brazil..). Madcat, Fernando, everyone THANKS. I went to Bourbon
> Street Music Club Weds night to catch Sun Walk & Dog Brothers. I'd seen
> their youtube videos and they looked like a great Brazilian blues band,
> but alas no harp player. But that wasn't going to stop me from going.
>
> So Weds night at the club, beautiful place, big stage, got a table right
> up close with my guest/host/companion for the evening. A warmup band,
> good blues band with a very attractive tiny female singer with a voice
> as big and strong as Big Mama herself, crazy Alvin Lee looking young
> longhair lead guitar player who was excellent if not just for his facial
> contortions and SOUL he put into his playing. After a few songs up comes
> a GUEST HARP PLAYER. Nice! Didn't catch the name, local guy I assume.
> Good chops, bullet, Fender-type amp.

Glad that you enjoyed it. The first harmonica player was probably
Paulo Gazela, from Campinas, with long hair.
http://www.paulogazela.com.br/cont/paulo-gazela/

> Break, up comes Sun Walk. After a few songs, GUEST HARP PLAYER. Now for
> a seemingly endless parade of songs, GUEST HARP PLAYER, a different one
> on each song! They were all very good. I'm thinking, what the hell, is
> this a whole country of harp players here, all of whom way better than
> me? One guy just came up and played acoustically but to me he was the
> best. Killer tone, effects, electric technique through the acoustic mic
> - octaves, trills, vibrato, he had the whole package and great style. I
> did ask what his name was but now I forgot it. Young guy, black hair.

Yeah, the organizer is a harmonica fan, and we do have many harmonica
player in São Paulo. It is so much easier to ask a different harmonica
player to sit in in each song, they all use the same mike and amp
setup. Try calling a different guitar player each song, doesn't work
that well.
I would guess, if the last guy played Little Walter style, that it
would have been Melk Rocha:
http://paginas.terra.com.br/arte/sobesom/melk_renata.jpg

> Anyway, just a note for anyone in or traveling to Brazil - at least in
> Sao Paulo there seems to be many excellent harp players! I'm supposed to
> go back, but I asked that my next trip be to Rio since the beach and
> diving are closer :^)

And in Rio we have also several extremely good harmonica players, also
on chromatic and outside of blues. Names to look for are:

Flávio Guimarães
Rodrigo Eberienos
José Staneck
Rildo Hora
Maurício Einhorn
Otavio Castro
Gabriel Grossi
Jefferson Gonçalves

just to name a few in no particular order.

Cheers,
Fernando