Rio das Ostras Jazz and Blues Festival – 2014

This has a special meaning. The literal translation is “river of the oysters”. Yuck! Ok I know my name is French and I should be eating clams and oysters on the half shell like folks in Paris and New Orleans, but…yuck! I hope you’re laughing with me here. It was delicious in this city. There’s so much to say I don’t know where to begin. I pray it all comes out in bits and pieces along the way here as we continue this journey.

Rio das Ostras is a small, out of the way, less traveled and visited, “mom-and-pop shops and restaurant” town barely on the map. Locals love the story of Brigitte Bardot, gorgeous and famous French film starlet of the Hollywood silver screen who apparently came to visit and loved it so much she stayed and would not leave. She came back with so much love for the town that they claim her as one of their own.

Every year for two nights tens of thousands of people descend upon this little town with their kids, carriages, motorcycles and mopeds, and have a “resort” experience. And the focal point of it all is a free Jazz and Blues festival.

What a brilliant concept. We all know that Brazil is not a rich country. The people from most parts live on the margins and live in thrown together tin and cardboard shacks on the side of the hill called favelas. And they eat feijoada (beans and rice). But they are known for “carnival” — the original good time– and are as warm and romantic and loving as it’s ever been on this planet. And that’s their most important export. It’s in their music and dance.

So, give them a chance to hear some good music and have a good time. And that’s what’s happening here. There’s a guitar maker who makes acoustic and classical guitars. Expensive too. And he cannot keep up with the orders and purchases.

But the whole phenomenon began with the idea of free music and fun for the people from a guy named Stenio. He convinced local government and local business people that this was a brilliant and magnanimous gesture that would spread such joy and good will with a result that has been a boom for them politically and economically.

You still with me? Please hang in there just a little bit longer. Music pulls us like a magnet because it tells about our joys, our loves, our hopes, our sadness’s, our fears, and all the other important human emotions that we feel. Instantaneous kinds of snapshots of our deepest thoughts and notions. People have and always will come to the music.

This was a really big outdoor venue but somehow it didn’t seem so big and expansive as 60,000 people would suggest. Somehow the most distant spots seemed not so far away because mostly everyone was standing. The staff here said that there’s always a huge turnout of kids in flip-flops and short shorts. That being the case, what a brilliant opportunity for these millennial’s to hear this other kind of really valuable music.

We have four barnburner tunes right out of the starting gate. Folks are happy when we get to something cool like “I will be here for you”. We all take a deep breadth. But not for long because I asked them to sing in Swahili and excite their little minds. Etc, etc, etc. I’ve described many times over the summer the workings of this set. Well this Brazilian audience was seeing it brand new.

Joe Turano and Larry decide to make their special duo moment a reach into classic jazz heaven with “Stella by starlight” easing us nonstop right into “Teach Me Tonight”. I know that’s fresh. We needed a longer program, because from time to time I looked up and I’d see someone would hold up a sign with a song request. And I think, “oh yes, they’ve never heard me do that.” I need to be here a lot more often. And so that’s the promise we make to each other again: the audience and I and these promoters. But now, Rio das Ostras is high on the list of extendedly interesting venues. They are not only doing free concerts but have great support for the arts from local businesses. They have a youth orchestra that does 12 concerts a year. I’d love to do a Q/A with them. Now more recently Stenio and his group, because they saw an immediate need, jumped in with a random act of love and helped start up programs to help homeless children.

After the show, I hurried back stage with over an hour of well wishes, photos, and signatures, and lots of aching grin. It was wonderful.

See you in LA after the official celebration for the new record on Tuesday, August 19^th!

Love,

Al