A smooth bossa nova track introduced Las Positas to a taste of authentic Brazilian music. A cover of “Triste” by Antônio Jobim, transformed the Main Stage Theater into an intimate, dimly lit dive bar in Rio de Janeiro. The Edu Ribeiro Trio seemed transported to that bar’s warm candlelight, swaying in the calm. But apart from a few head bobs, most of the audience struggled to lose themselves in the jazzy vibe.
The crowd of the Brazilian Concert and Workshop, held on March 16, contorted its speckled faces with squints and furrowed brows. Not skeptical, but concentrated — intently note-taking like scientists analyzing a rare specimen. The noise of pens scribbling and pages flipping contributed to the Edu Ribeiro Trio’s improvisational symphony.
The lead of the trio, drummer and composer Edu Ribeiro, won a Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album in 2014. The renowned ensemble, also consisting of guitarist Vinicius Gomes and bassist Noah Garabedian, stopped at LPC in the middle of their U.S. tour. The audience knew they were witnessing a master class in musical synergy. So they eagerly studied the talent, searching for what strumming technique or subtle cue held the magic.
The Brazilian Concert and Workshop became the newest edition to LPC’s Theory Colloquium Series, which fills gaps in the education of music students. Last month, Indonesian musicians covered gamelan music. Before that, a music therapist demonstrated that music can be medicine. Exploring each niche diversifies the sonic arsenal of attendees.
For LPC’s young musicians, at a formative stage in their training, this experimentation could shape the trajectory of their careers.
“Music from Brazil is its own massive tradition,” said Dan Marschak, music department co-coordinator, “and it’s not just bossa nova. Our jazz program here, they do play certain Brazilian music, but that’s a tiny fraction of what there is. Edu was starting to teach us other rhythms that go into it, and also how to authentically play bossa nova, samba.”
Ribeiro made the event interactive from the start. He encouraged the crowd to clap in different two-measure patterns, acting as the clave, or rhythmic anchor that the trio improvised over. While the keystone of Afro-Cuban music, the Brazilian clave is often more fluid.
The beauty was in the vision of how they “I think that the cool thing of having us who are from Brazil playing this music,” Gomes said, “is showing you how we play there. One thing that is cool is that the downbeat of the samba clave actually is anticipated … the clave is still always there in your mind, even if you’re not doing it literally.”
The performances were interspersed with question-and-answer segments, giving aspiring musicians the floor to talk shop with professionals. One audience member asked Gomes four questions in a row before giving him space to answer. A near 10 minute discussion ensued over the superior leg to rest a guitar on. Gomes refocused the conversation, which seemed set on technicalities. He encouraged connection with the childlike wonder at the heart of music.
“It’s really important that we don’t forget that this has to be playful,” Gomes said. “And you have to use your ears. The technique that is right, is the one that is right for you. It’s the one that gets you where your imagination is.”
The crowd nerded out with the experts about playing techniques, and learned firsthand about Brazilian styles they may have never been exposed to. Attendees now have an idea of how to diversify their pieces, accurately stamping them with the multicultural sounds of Brazil.
Along with the technical education, the audience also learned about what it’s like to be a professional musician, including what the trio wished they knew sooner.
“I think I spent a lot of time trying to be another musician,” Ribeiro said, “If I was more confident when starting I would do more things. Especially composing.”
Garabedian encouraged the audience to practice as much as time allows. The schedule of a musician can be tight.
“We’ve been traveling for less than two weeks. I’ve probably practiced five minutes each day, just in warm-up,” he said.
Andrea Ibanez, a music industry major at LPC, attended for that understanding of the logistics: what it takes to be a professional in the field.
“I wanted to know how things work in general for them, their perspective as musicians,” Ibanez said, “I feel like they are prepared for everything.”
While the trio opened their performance with Brazil’s most internationally famous genre, which Ribeiro referred to as “kind of like the export version of samba for the U.S.,” they closed with a breakdown of ijexa, a lesser known syncopated rhythm that came from Afro-Brazilian music of the African diaspora.
As the lessons deepened sonically and historically, they also did philosophically. In the advice portion, the crowd was left on a note of encouragement:
“At the end of the day,” Gomes said, “I think the priority is also, don’t fall into all the pressure about success. This is a lifetime.”
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TOP PHOTO: From left to right, Vinicius Gomes, Noah Garabedian and Grammy-winner Edu Ribeiro improvise a jam as the crowd set the rhythm at LPC’s Brazilian Concert and Workshop on March 16. The trio hosted a master class on improvisation within Brazilian subgenres, which Gomes described as “a conversation” between musicians. (Photo by Milo Jones/ The Express)
Jaxyn Good is the Managing Editor of The Express. Follow her on Instagram @jaxyngood
