For many years Far Out have dedicated themselves to unearthing the unheard Brazilian gems. Their latest release is a reissue of Edu Passeto & Gui Tavares’ Noite Que Brincou De Lua: a super rare and largely unheard masterwork of MPB, somewhere between psychedelic folk, soul jazz, bossa nova vibes and oblique pop, with stunning arrangements and lush vocal harmonies. Time to go back to this story with one of these two protagonists, Gui Tavares.

Which part of Brazil where you born in and what were your musical influences when you started as musicians?
Edu Passeto was born in Pindorama, a very small town in the countryside of Sao Paulo state, and I was born Campinas, the second largest city of the same state. Edu moved to Campinas, where we met and worked together as musicians. As a young boy, I loved listening to Jongo Trio and the album ‘Jequibau’ by Mario Albanese and Ciro Pereira. I listened a lot to the music of French impressionist composers such as Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel on the radio, as well as the music Milton Nascimento, Chico Buarque and Tom Jobim. Later as a teenager, I started to appreciate the music of composers such as Ivan Lins, Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso amongst other emergent composers. What influenced me the most when starting as a musician was the essence of the Clube da Esquina, Tropicália and Bossa Nova movements, mainly because of the sophisticated musical arrangements by Rogerio Duprat, Cesar Camargo Mariano and Wagner Tiso.

What is the story behind the ‘Noite que brincou de Lua’ record and more particularly the track “Sabia na palmeira”? Why is it so rare?
Edu and I composed around 250 songs together and played some of them at concerts and at many song contest festivals. After a couple of years on the road with our band, we decided it was about time to record an album, rather than only recording cassette tapes, which was common practice for independent musicians who didn’t have a lot of money to produce an album. With the help of the musicians from the band, we selected a few songs out of our vast repertoire. The track “Noite que Brincou de Lua” was an exception though, because it was composed only one month before we entered the recording studio.
We composed “Sabiá na Palmeira” in a moment of rare inspiration. It talks about the hope of seeing at dawn the ‘Sabiá’ bird (the song thrush) in the palm tree, which is a sign of a good day ahead. The song won and few song contest festivals we entered at that time and, because the original record was also sold abroad, this song gained international appreciation. This is a very dear song to me, so I recorded it again with a different arrangement in my 2001 album ‘Amigos & Friends’.

Sabia Na Palmeira


 

The record reached cult status among Brazilian collectors and is now being reissued by Far Out. How do you feel about it? Did you ever imagine this would happen?
When we released the album, we could never have imagined that in a distant future it would become such an appreciated record as it is today. Back in 1981, we suffered a lot because of the competition from big recording companies. We had to fight as independent musicians to find our space and earn a bit of projection and recognition as artists. In retrospect, I think the recognition among vinyl collectors worldwide and fans, is the best recompense one can have, so I feel very happy and grateful to them.

Does it offer you the opportunity to go back in studio?
It certainly does. I enjoy spending time going to studios to record my own compositions and of other artists. I’m currently working on an instrumental album with my own brand-new compositions and to me this is very exciting. What is even more exciting is that I kept a few cassette tapes from the time Edu Passeto and I were still working together. By remastering these records, where you can hear Edu’s voice, and by adding complementary instruments to the songs, we could potentially produce another Edu Passeto & Gui Tavares album.

After this record, how long did you continue to play together? When, why, did you stop this duet?
In 1986, Edu and I went our separate ways as I decided to move to Rio de Janeiro to seek new music adventures and to pursue my music career there. Edu preferred to remain close to his roots in Campinas where he lived with his new family. I was different to him in that respect as I’ve always been open to new experiences and opportunities. A few years later, we had a reunion and played together at a then traditional music venue called Mistura Fina in Rio de Janeiro. On that occasion, Edu played a few of his new songs and I played some of mine, and at the end of the show, we played songs from the album ‘Noite Que Brincou de Lua’. Then, we felt the enthusiasm of the audience and the musicians who played with us.
We continued with our individual careers, but we kept in touch whenever we could. We even tried to keep composing songs together, even though we were living in different places. Edu and I spoke on the phone several times and we created a second part for the song “Noite Que Brincou de Lua”, which is also featured in my second album. Sadly, Edu’s health deteriorated and he passed away in October 2008.

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Tell us more about your career as musician. What happened after that record?
After training as a classical guitarist, in 1986 I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Composition and Conducting from the University of Campinas. Then I moved to Rio de Janeiro, where I developed another way of life away from my family and old friends, a way different from the one I knew at my hometown, Campinas. There, I always worked with music and with independent and other music projects – I worked writing music for TV and theatre. I continued composing and forging new partnerships with other local musicians and having many opportunities for gigs and recording music.
It took a long time to record my second ‘Amigos & Friends’ as I was living between London and Rio. The album featured musicians such as Cláudio Nucci and Mauricio Maestro (Grupo Boca Livre), as well as of other special guests like Roberto Menescal, Jose Roberto Bertrami (Azymuth), Toninho Horta, Pedro Luís, and Sabá, a musician from Jongo Trio who also had participated and contributed in the recording of the album ‘Noite que Brincou de Lua’.

You decided to relocate in London in 2003. Why this choice? A brand new departure?
I lived in Rio de Janeiro for 17 years and I felt it was about time to create new horizons for myself. I think there are no borders to music and I chose to live in England because of its cultural diversity and openness to Brazilian music. Here I was able developed new projects and carry on working with the music of my country.

Are you still in touch with Brazilian scene? What do you think about all those new pop bands, as Dharma Lovers, or Rodrigo Campos?
I go to Brazil regularly to reconnect with my musician friends, to collaborate with them and to create new music themes and ideas. This makes me stronger. When some of these musicians come to London, I try meeting them and inviting them to play and record songs with me. In his recent visit to London, Filo Machado came to the studio with me to record one of the songs for my instrumental album, which I hope will be released soon.
About Dharma and Rodrigo: They are quite different from each other by nature, but they have an interesting musical language in my point of view. The Dharma Lovers have a characteristic that reminds groups with a strong rhythm of progressive rock, but with a spiritual language in their songs, while Rodrigo Campos has that tone of samba different from the traditions of Rio and reaches unexplored places in his songs. I had the opportunity to see him at the Barbican Center playing with Elza Soares. He is a modern and amazing artist.

Fifty years after, how do you look back the Tropicalism movement: was it the beginning of a new deal for Brazilian music, which permitted many musicians, as you, to record and spread their own views about pop culture?
The Tropicalism movement was very important for future generations as it represented a break with certain old music norms and barriers. This generated an outcry by the Brazilian purists and traditionalists. For musicians, however, new movements and their forms of expressions and ideas are always welcome. The ones that were able to sign record deals became famous and their songs big hits. There have always been independent artists that followed the same trends and directions of the new movements in Brazil.

In your record, there were some critics of social conditions. How do you look the recent political evolution of Brazil? Are we going back to 1970’s, in a certain way?
Both Edu and I had very strong political and social awareness and dreamed about the reconstruction of our country, with more social justice, distribution of income and opportunities and the desire for mutual understanding amongst people. The dictatorship started at a time when Edu and I were still young boys. That imposition affected us very much. In the lyrics of our songs, we spoke a lot about nature, Brazil’s indigenous people, about the urban way of living but also did a lot of social and political critique through our music.
I think Brazil is regressing back to 1964 in many ways unfortunately. It is a certain repetition of the process that triggered all the silence and censorship imposed on every Brazilian citizen and more specifically on artists in general, since they have the most impactful social language. We both expected it to be different. I hope it does not last as long as it did at that time. I try to preserve hope and perform actions aimed at consciousness and the future, which was our philosophy (mine and Edu’s).

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Each month, we are focusing on a record label founded by an active digger. This month, Frederic Thiphagne, the soul ((with Matthieu Hébrard) behind the Sao Paulo based Goma Gringa label which recently reissued the infamous Tribo Masahi LP but is also well-known for spreading the works of highly-acclaimed new acts such as Meta Meta and Thiago Franca.

When did you start digging records?
I first started buying cassettes and CDs as a kid/teenager around 1995. I was looking for French Hip Hop like IAM, NTM, Oxmo Puccino, etc… I now regret I did not buy those on vinyl from the start! Then I spent some time listening to UK Big Beat. I remember very well of those Future Sound of UK compilations, Freestylers, Lo-Fidelity All Stars, Propellerheads, Chemical Brothers, etc… I quickly got back to Hip Hop and started buying vinyl records. I guess it was in he early 2000s.

What Lps did you buy at first? Do you still listen to them?
I was buying almost exclusively Hip Hop or Hip Hop related stuff. Classic 90’s Hip Hop and Turntabilist/Electro like Quantum Projects, Ninja Tune releases, etc… I cannot really remember what was the very first LP I bought but I can remember very well of that trip I made to Amsterdam with my good friend Remy. I was doing BMX Flatland and there was a very important competition happening in Amsterdam. So we went there by bus and checked the record stores! I can still feel how exited I was when I first entered the Fat Beats shop! They had everything I was looking for! But the 2 LPs I still have and still listen to from time to time were ‘O.S.T.’ by People Under The Stairs and ‘Bombay The Hard Way’ by Dan the Automator and DJ Shadow.

Do you have a particular style or favourite period?
I try not to have any boundaries since I believe that every single musical style/period has great stuff to be listened to. Yet, I am currently very much into 50s and early 60s recordings, especially from the French West Indies and Brazil. I am digging a lot into 78rpm! I love them! I deeply love the way those recordings sound, the voices, the horns. It is the only music that really relaxes me at night, with a glass of wine or a fresh beer after a good day of work. Actually, It also works with Jazz and African music‚ but right now I am really into those 50’s sound!

Since you made a move to Sao Paulo, are you still digging, buying vinyl, visiting record shops?
Yes of course! I mean, when work gives me enough time to do so!

Why did you create Goma Gringa Discos? What was your first release?
Well, the point is that when I arrived in Sao Paulo, contemporary record labels like Jazzman, Soundway, Analog Africa were absolutely not represented here. You couldn’t find any releases from those labels. So I started importing them and created Goma Gringa. I quickly met Matthieu who told me of his wish to eventually enter the business. We became partners and created the label together. Then we realized that instead of racking our brains with import red tape (It is really complicate to import goods to Brazil), we should build a record label and press records here instead of importing them. Everything stemmed from that idea! Then we quickly wanted to make our own record instead of simple replicas of what was being released in Europe. Six months later we released our first LP, the extended version of Fela Kuti’s ‘Sorrow, Tears and Blood’!

Why did you choose this name : Goma Gringa Discos?
That name appeared while I was importing records. Goma laca is the name given to the material used for 78rpm records. So the word “Goma” refers to records. And “Gringo” is the “popular” word for foreigner. The combination of both words represented not only my character but also the records I was dealing with since they were being imported. The funny thing is that “Goma” in Brazilian Portuguese can also mean “Home” : “Vem pra goma!” means “Come home”! And I was selling my records mainly from home so it was still matching! When it turned into a label, we decided to keep that name.

What could be your editorial/aesthetic line?
We opened the label with 2 editorial lines. We now have 3 which are the African music from the 60’s/70’s, the Brazilian contemporary music and reissues of Brazilian music from the 60’s and 70’s.

How do you decide on the choice of reissues/issues? For instance The Fela and Poly-Rytmo LPs?
Well, we wanted to have as a first release an African LP. Since Fela is very-well considered here it was the best starting point we could have dreamt of! Then we made the Poly-Rythmo record which is actually a compilation of Analog Africa compilations. This project is the perfect illustration of what we intended to do in Brazil; Brazilian versions of European label releases.

Could you tell us more about the story behind Tribo Massahi : how did you discover it? Who are they? Are they still alive?
From what we have found until now, only one musician is still alive, the guitarist Ruy Barbosa. Embaixador has unfortunately passed away on the 27th of December 1996. They were a band like any other I would say. I mean, they have that very specific sound to them but apart from that, they were like any other band, playing and looking for more gigs! There was a lot of urban legends around this record, like for example that they were a band of Nigerian musicians that Embaixador would have met some night and that they would had gone to a studio and spent the night there, getting high and finally recording a one take record. None of those stories are true. If you want to know the truth, the easiest way is to grab a copy!

Where do you place them within your catalogue? In the middle, between your Afro Tropism and your Brazilian moods?
Yes, It’s an Afro-Brazilian record. It links both continents. So It was a perfect start to open that Brazilian reissue series!

What is the best deal/business: to make reissues or to produce/coproduce new records?
I think that there is no best deal when you talk about an independent record label. What moves us in the very first place is the love of music and some kind of necessity to make things happen! For us at Goma Gringa, every single penny won is reinvested in the label and in new projects. Mathieu is working as a teacher and myself as a Designer/Art Director.

How do you find brand new talents? On the internet? On stage? Through friends?
I guess like everyone, by being curious. But we have the chance to be surrounded by the amazing Sao Paulo music scene. The musicians are all friends and work with each other. Every single project is great and interesting! I am talking about Meta Meta (Kiko Dinucci, Juara Marcal and Thiago Franca), Rodrigo Campos, Romulo Fres, Marcelo Cabral, Gui Amabis, etc… They are all amazing musicians and singers! We sincerely feel blessed to evolve with them and release their records!

You have released records by Meta Meta and their saxophonist Thiago Franca. What do they represent within the Brazilian scene? How would you explain their success in Europe?
Well everyone calls them the new Sao Paulo Avant Garde scene. It is a bit pretentious, and I don’t think that they really like to be named like this. But that is what they actually are! I mean, a new scene, a new generation of musicians, connected to one another and producing their very own music, without copying what is happening here and there. And since they are all excellent musicians, singers, composers, etc, the result is a very unique sound, very genuine music. Their music! I mean, you cannot find the Meta Meta sound anywhere else. It is just them! And it is incredibly good, deep, beautiful and honest. They deeply are what they play. I guess that is why they are now finding success both in Brazil and in Europe.

Meta Meta trio: Kiko Dinucci, Juçara Marcal and Thiago Franca

What is the most exciting part when being given an artwork job? How do you go about it? What is your most accomplished project in that aspect?
To think of it along with the graphic production. Printing process, paper, finishing, etc… That is what excites me the most nowadays! And that is a space where I getting lot of satisfaction. I am a former photographer. I have always had one foot in music and the other in image, trying to make both meet. So all this graphic production part is a real pleasure to me! I am happy with all our projects, except maybe for Fela. It was nice but could have been better. It was our first project, no problem!
There are two things I am particularly proud of. First is to have been able to produce hard-cardboard paste-one covers here in Brazil. The first we did was Thiago Franca’s ‘Malagueta, Perus e Bacana’ LP. He really looks gorgeous and it is the first cover of that type to be produced in Brazil in 50 years! Now we even have several versions of that hard-cardboard cover!The other project is the Poly-Rythmo cover! That one was mad! 100% typographic print! Which means mounting letter by letter each word, each element of the cover using the exact same technics that were used in the 60s and 70s. We decided to do this for 2 reasons, first because I had just discovered those LetterPress techniques so I was eager to work with that and because I had as a graphic reference a Poly Rythmo 7 inch printed using that same technique. We did everything! Mounting the types, we made what we called a ‘cliché’ to print the picture and we even input the text on the back cover with Linotype! Probably the last machine still having a commercial activity in Sao Paulo… That was so great! This machine is like the very first Twitter. It produces lines of text. So, in the early 20th century, when it first appeared, it was a revolution within the newspaper world! From “line per hour” the speed moved to “line per minute”. So everything got way faster! It then allowed newspapers to have morning and evening editions. Back in those days, the New York Times had 400 of those machines! So, yes, this project was so great and so cool and the result is really quite unique!

What could be the label’s leitmotif?
Well, our logo is Goma Gringa Discos “musica com sotaque” which means “Music with accent”. So I guess this is quite our leitmotif since we are looking for good music with a special foreign touch, that special accent that make it unique.

Have you received many negative answers on some of the LPs you were trying to reissue?
Actually, we have the chance of living in Brazil, where none of those contemporary labels are available. So we do not represent any kind of competitive threat to anyone. This helped us a lot! That is basically why we were able to release the Fela or Poly-Rythmo LPs. Actually, the only negative answer we have received so far was for a record controlled by Universal who don’t license to anybody. A pity since they barely one third of the titles they control.

There are more and more reissues of old LPs, and more and more record labels (major or indie) now release their new artists on LP, or EP. Do you think that the LP reissue market could ever reach saturation point?
No, I don’t think so. There are more and more reissue and record labels also because there are more and more buyers. I think that there are several niches inside the niche market of vinyl records. I think It’s good and important that the music is being made available on vinyl again. And that goes from super classics to rare obscure and special records.

What are your next releases?
Many contemporary Brazilian records planned. The new Thiago Franca has just been released. Then we have Juçara Marçal’s ‘Encarnado’ and the new Rodrigo Campos planned! For the rest, you will have to stay tuned!

What is the LP you dream of reissuing?
Ahaha! I will let you know when I will have signed and ready to be re-issued! I don’t know, maybe a French West Indies compilation of the early recordings done there (late 50’s/60’s). That would be really cool…

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