Monday, December 17, 2007

JC Celmer and Brazil, continued...


I have been remiss in not mentioning JC Celmer's name and for that I am sorry. If it weren't for JC receiving my CD, Birds in Flight, from Kate Smith (my radio promoter) I would have not gone to Brazil to perform. JC has a radio show in la cidade de Rio Grande that supports jazz music. Jazz isn't the most popular music in Rio Grande, but JC has taken it upon himself to keep the music alive in hopes of gaining a stronger following for people like me. For the past three years he has single-handedly brought musicians from all over the world to his part of the world in order to expose more people to the different sounds that jazz encompasses. He is doing a great service to not only the people of Rio Grande, but also to independent musicians such as myself. So, thank you JC, for understanding the beauty jazz music has to offer in its many forms.

I also want to record here what a fantastic host JC was along with his friends, in particular, Clara and Dr. Laura Ayres. They were all incredibly warm-hearted during our stay in Rio Grande that allowed us to experience a truly Brazilian experience.

So, on to Porto Alegre!! We awoke the day after our concert in Rio Grande and drove for 5 hours northward to the city of Porto Alegre. We arrived by 3pm, in time to get set up and do a sound check before the 6pm concert. It turns out we were to perform in the vault of Santander Bank!! This is a Spanish bank that is a strong supporter of the arts and have converted a part of their vault into a performance space. It is a beautiful space and we later found out a prestigious concert, but the sound was very difficult to control as we were surrounded by glass and high ceilings. No matter, we were able to find a happy medium and had another fantastic concert in Porto Alegre. One woman even approached me and told me I made her cry--the ultimate compliment for me. It's nice to know that I have touched at least one person in the audience. :)

After the concert we went out to dinner with the drummer, Eduardo, and his girlfriend, Amanda. Everyone else loaded up in the car and drove the 5 hours back to Rio Grande! Eduardo, Amanda, Murray and I all had a wonderful dinner at the cultural center in Porto Alegre. This is a beautiful city and I hope to return there someday soon in order to explore it a little more. We only had the next morning before we were to fly to Sao Paolo to continue in our journey. We had no gigs booked in Sao Paolo and so were going to have to be there for 3 full days on our own. We were a little nervous about going there since so many people were warning us of how dangerous and crime-ridden it is, but we came to find out that it is just another large city. I think both Murray an I are seasoned enough travelers to know how to behave in a large city in order to assure we don't get attacked.

The next blog will talk more about our adventures in Sao Paolo -- the largest city in South America and by far the largest city I have ever seen,

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks Kat, for your words. You were able to convey to words the aim of my project and the feeling I have about jazz music and its rainbow colors. I am definitely a jazz lover, much more after having been lucky enough to meet the true jazz supporters: the musicians, like you, Murray and everyone who have come to my town, this distant, almost lost, corner of the world. I just hope God bless us with the amount of His blessings enough to keep us on going with this project, me with my purpose and you, musicians, with your strenght and good will of coming under the conditions I am able to offer. Brazilian hugs to you all. JC CELMER

Kat Parra said...

Your welcome, JC. You deserve all the support you can get! And I really appreciate all that you have done for our music.
Kat