domingo, 31 de dezembro de 2023

MUSICAL CHAPTERS VI

EXPENSIVE SOUL

     Os Expensive Soul cultivam uma música de fusão que combina diversos géneros: jazz, blues, soul, rock, pop... Nos últimos anos, voltaram-se mais para o hip hop e o rap, que continua ainda assim mesclado de outras cores mais antigas e substanciais. A primeira fase foi a mais interessante. Esperemos que a ânsia de mudar e fazer sempre coisas novas não os faça perder aquela vibe irresistível.

     Os Expensive Soul também fazem trabalhos colaborativos com outros artistas. Um dos trabalhos mais interessantes foi o que resultou da parceria com o Rui Veloso no tema Mr. Dow Jones. Em palco, esta nova atitude resulta muito bem entre os mais jovens, que exigem ritmos e batidas fortes, mesmo que sejam demasiadamente repetitivos. Em disco, os temas mais antigos continuam a ser aqueles que, provavelmente, continuarão a ouvir-se com prazer daqui a algumas décadas.  

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Expensive Soul Live, 25-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.



sábado, 31 de dezembro de 2022

LEGENDS, MYTHS & FABLES II

The Philosophical Spider and the Empirical Fly

Spider Good morning, my beauty!

The spider said to the fly that landed just in front of her eyes, waving her shiny wings. The more she waved her wings, the more her little feet went down in the smooth threads of the web.

Fly What do you mean, good morning?

My morning and probably my life just ended right now...

Spider Don’t be a fatalist, my dear, what is life without surprises?

A red berry without flavour, an acid drop of rain that kills the soul but not the thirst...

If you fell in my web, that must have some kind of purpose and meaning. From my humble point of view, everything has a purpose, even the most absurd things. Let me give you a simple example...

 (Meanwhile the fly kept sinking in the silk like shiny threads, looking around for something to save her.)

 Spider ... Yesterday, the wind took my best hat away... it was my best hat because it was the one that allowed me to have the best ideas to create my art. You must know that my lineage is a succession of extremely gifted artists... My grandfather designed the contours of the first plot in history. All the authors that came after him only had to make some adjustments here and there, change a character, the scenery, some pieces of the dialogue and eventually an open ending since my grandfather invented all the closed endings there is... And my grandmother, as you surely know, was the first to paint the sky in shades of blue and the clouds in white… some ignorant, afterwards, decided to paint them in every colour… And what was the result? Now everybody says the weather is crazy and the clouds are treacherous! But they are wrong! The only thing that is mad and treacherous is the false artists and the iconoclasts that are trying to extinguish my lineage. It´s all in vain… my philosophy is undefeatable… and probably also my luck… Otherwise, how would you explain that you’ve fallen in my web precisely when I was yearning for something tasty like you?! 

     Well, my dear, what do you think that happened to me after losing my hat?  Did I despair? Did I think that was the end of the world or the end of my life? No, my dear! Since I cannot fly, I didn’t even try to catch it in the wind. I know it would be impossible for me. So, I fabricated a completely new hat, putting inside all the ideas that I remembered to be inside my prodigious hat and... here lies the master trick... I left a big empty space... Why? 

 (This was in fact the question poseed by the fly, but her voice could hardly be heard because now the threads were getting into her mouth. In spite of that, the fly didn’t have in her eyes the look of fear or of surrender. Her little brain was following a more modest thought thread. Making simple and objective questions like: What lies below the web? How resistant are the threads? Do any enemies of the spider live around? Is there a secret passage to escape, freedom... a secret passage that even the spider-builder ignores?... Meanwhile, the spider goes on with her long speech...)

Spider Let me tell you why! My brain is unstoppable, once I put this new half empty hat on my head I’m sure that my brain will burst with new and prodigious ideas… It is almost finished, I can’t wait to try it! Do you want to see it? Probably you’d prefer to try it yourself… but I can’t allow you that, surely you understand. A total new experience may have completely unexpected consequences. Though I’m fundamentally an adventurer, my philosophical background doesn’t allow me to take as sure something that depends on the most unpredictable thing there is, EXPERIENCE itself!

 Fly Mmmm… hmmm…. Uhmmm… goshhh…

 (The fly answered imperceptibly… the spider smiling with her most lascivious, gluttonous,   mellifluous smile… anticipating the pleasure of the taste mixed with the pleasure of proving again (not to the world) but to herself the unbeatable supremacy of her brain and ancient lineage).

 Spider But I’m also the most generous being there is… so, I will put my precious hat over your head, just for a second, a luminous second before the end… I will allow you a tiny glimpse of the fabulous world that you would never understand any way, and now are losing any hope of understanding it any day…

     And so, the spider rather than putting the hat over the fly’s little head knocked her with her prodigious hat. But, oh prodigy of prodigies, golden destiny of the unbreakable logic, hope of the desperate and belief of the blind, at that moment one of those fatal surprises of life opened a hole in the web below the tiny feet of the fly. In seconds, she freed her tiny hands, grabbed the hat with all her residual strength and let herself fall into the unknown void below… taking with her the avid spider who would never give up of her precious philosophical hat.

     «And what was below, my dearest friends (yes, I’m talking to you, leaves of this tree where I inhabit)? No, not the void, not a protection net, not a monster from the swamps, not a flying carpet… no, no, no… There was only a calm little puddle of rain water where there lived a most peaceful frog, an animal of few words and decisive actions. Almost all his decisive actions usually began with him opening his big mouth and waiting that the fatidic game of fortune and un-fortune would bring him the reward for his natural and un-ambitious simplicity… under the form of a moth in the late noon, an un-cautious fly or a philosophical spider…

    Will you please make some silence, my dearest friends… the story is not over and all your guesses have the eternal flaw of the moralists that spend their time hearing stories instead of living or creating them… No, no, no… The spider didn’t fall directly into the mouth of the frog, neither did the fly escape immediately away… though I recognize that is a most common and predictable ending. However, here the moral isn’t the one which is based on a certain idea of justice, that ramshackle equilibrium between acts and consequences. Here the moral comes from beyond, it lies on the belief that life is always better than death, the belief that a lesson can only be learned if one is alive to learn it, the belief that generosity is better than revenge, the belief that the light and shiny memory of a moment of salvation can illuminate the following path than the past rage, pain or agony… Are you following me, my dearest friends? Because if you don’t follow me, this story doesn’t have a meaning and it wasn’t worth to tell it or hear it…»

    While the narrator was speaking this way to the leaves of the tree, a flower bloomed in the branch right on the side of the storyteller. Though she was just a newborn, she opened her big curious eyes and said: «Dear storyteller, I think I know how this story ended… may I say it out loud?»

— If you please! — The storyteller replied.

— I guess the fly freed herself from the web threads before falling into the frog’s mouth… then, instead of flying away to a safe place, she flew in the direction of the spider which was just touching the frog’s tongue. The fly grabbed the spider by one of her eight legs and then, yes, she flew away with the spider to a safe place… I suppose this is an open ending but I just can’t figure clearly what happened afterwards…

      «That, my dearest flower, is not the most important in this story… If life has any meaning, that action of generosity probably generated other actions of generosity, a chain of generosity that ultimately led to the birth of a new world………» 

São Ludovino, 12/4/2013 

Tai Chi, photography by São Ludovino.

Sharing the Spirit I, photography by São Ludovino.



MUSICAL CHAPTERS V

LENA D’ÁGUA

 

     For more than 35 years Lena d’Água has been composing and singing. Time didn’t pass by her. Her voice is still expressive and limpid. Last summer she performed in open air before an audience composed mainly of young people. It was refreshing to see that many of them, though they didn’t know who Lena d’Água was (she began to sing when most of them weren’t even born), paid attention  and seemed surprised. Surprised with the music and the energy of the artist, but also surprised because older people, like me, were singing along as if the songs were the latest new hits. Some of those songs are timeless and some of her new songs will be timeless too. In fact, the young ones were there for the next concert, but not me.

Lena d'Água Live, 23-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Lena d'Água Live, 23-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.


Lena d'Água Live, 23-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Lena d'Água Live, 23-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.

Lena d'Água Live, 23-6-2022, photography by São Ludovino.




 

sexta-feira, 31 de dezembro de 2021

WOUNDED WORDS FROM A FORGOTTEN LAND

Wounded Words From A Forgotten Land

I was born in Bamyan
I was born in Kabul
I was born in Panjshir
I was born everywhere…

You don’t know me

But I know who you are.
You’re the one who came to kill me
And you will kill me
With all your evil skills
Just because I am who I am
Just because I dare to look
Into the abyss of your devil soulless eyes.

You may think that you killed me before

And you did, thousands of times
You may think you killed me forever
But you didn’t and you won’t.
You just shot the reflection of your evil mind.
My innocence, my strength and my hope
Will go on to haunt you and defeat you.

While I sit and sing

(I know you forbade me to do it
And that’s one more reason to do it)
I look at the clouds and touch the ground
Always for the first and the last time.

I can hear the roar coming

I know you are just around the corner.
Before you take me and rape me
You’ll kill all my family and all my sheep.
Yet, I don’t move
I sing, I wait, I persist.  

As you pass through the hidden valleys and plains

Through the ancient gorges and the peaceful mountains
All there is loses its natural joy and innocence.
My childhood escapes to the distance
My youth vanishes as I breathe
My old age is a useless wise ragged book
1400 years is the age of my fears and my pain
You’re the inventor and executioner
Of all my nightmares.

The only paradise that you’ll meet

Is the hell you have created
Since you were born.
No 72 virgins to rape
No honey and berries to taste
No glory or reward for your inhuman deeds.
Only emptiness, evil and death
Only you, alone, with yourself
And your endless darkness.

What I see

Is not what is before me anymore.
With your creed and your gun
With your blindness and cruelty
You shut my eyes to all there is.
Yet, here I am
I sing, I wait, I persist…  

In your eyes I see only

The nothing you will be…

São Ludovino, 17/10/2021

Wounded Words From A Forgotten Land, poem & video by São Ludovino


LIFE AS A MIRAGE

Initial excerpt of the text I wrote for the video Life as a Mirage:  

There are places in the world
where life seems always
incomplete

Too many times, to live
means only to survive
against all odds

One of those places

is Afghanistan,
again,
mainly to women, children
and minorities

After centuries of endless wars
After the fall of empires and kings
After ten years of guerrilla against
the soviet occupation (1979-1989)

After years of pseudo-communism
and anti-communism
autocracy and theocracy
And a civil war that was more
a religious and ethnical war
like all wars in Islamic countries…

After Afghanistan became the nest

of terrorist groups
like Al-Qaeda.

After a partial occupation by USA and allies (2001-2021)

that brought more war, guerrilla and terror attacks
perpetrated by Islamic extremists
like the Taliban

But also freedom and rights for the majority,

mainly women, children
and ethnical minorities...

Along with the constant

tribal and religious conflicts
and the constant collusion of Pakistan,
Qatar, and other Islamic countries
with terrorists and Islamic extremists…

On August 15, 2021, the Taliban,
an Islamic extremist group,
took over the power again
and brought fear, death
and oppression again...
after a first long bloody nightmare
1996-2001


Life as a Mirage - Afghanistan, text & video by São Ludovino


quinta-feira, 31 de dezembro de 2020

MUSICAL CHAPTERS IV

 MAIS DO QUE DANÇÁVEL

     Os ouvidos delicados de uma ínfima minoria sentem-se ofendidos com o ruído dos concertos de rua. São gratuitos e só vai quem quer. E o cartaz regra geral é muito variado, há sons para todos os gostos, todos igualmente respeitáveis, mesmo que eu não goste. Normalmente vai muita gente a qualquer destes concertos. Eu só vou de vez em quando porque a enchente é de facto grande e o risco de ver sobretudo cabeças e ouvir mais o ruído dos espectadores do que a música também é frequente. Fui ver os HMB e não me arrependi, pelo contrário. Além do que já era expectável, trouxeram músicos convidados, entre eles, um saxofonista (Zé Maria) e um trompetista (Diogo Duque). A combinação foi excelente. Aos ritmos soul e funky juntou-se a toada jazz dos instrumentos de sopro. E improvisar daquela maneira não é para todos.

     O recinto estava cheio e pulsava de entusiasmo. Meio mundo sabe as letras das canções e canta em uníssono, alguns batem palmas e a maioria regista o momento nos seus smartphones para depois inundar as redes dizendo “Eu estive aqui!” em vez de dizerem “Os HMB estiveram aqui e valeu mesmo a pena vir ouvi-los!” Claro que aqui e ali os decibéis subiram um pouco de mais como acontece em quase todos os concertos ao vivo. Há gente lá bem ao fundo e todos querem ouvir, cantar e dançar.

     Quase todos os temas dos HMB são muitíssimo dançáveis, têm uma cadência bem ritmada que faz o corpo mexer-se espontaneamente. É quase impossível não dançar, bambolear o corpo e deixar os braços voar. Mas os HMB vão mais além: brincam com as palavras e os sons. As palavras são elas mesmas música, a forma como são entoadas torna-as parte da melodia, da harmonia e do ritmo. Se alguém tentar cantar alguns daqueles temas a capella verifica isso mesmo. A música não vem só dos instrumentos, vem também das palavras e da forma como são segmentadas, prolongadas, cortadas, repetidas com uma respiração própria. Muito provavelmente, o background de gospel de alguns dos intérpretes tem muito a ver com isto. Nos segmentos em que ficam apenas as palmas e a voz essa afinidade torna-se mais evidente. E já alguém viu um cantor de gospel ficar imóvel? O ritmo vem da alma e contagia o corpo e alma soa cá fora nos movimentos cadenciados e na voz.

     No panorama da música portuguesa da última década, os HMB foram e são criativos, fizeram a diferença e têm um som próprio. As parcerias com outros artistas, os trabalhos a solo do próprio Héber Marques e a fusão de estilos mostra que são versáteis, inovadores e que ainda têm muito para dar.

*********************************************************

HMB Live in Benfica, photography by São Ludovino.


HMB Live - photography & video by São Ludovino.


HMB Live in Benfica, photography by São Ludovino.

HMB Live in Benfica, photography by São Ludovino.

HMB Live in Benfica, photography by São Ludovino.

HMB Live in Benfica, photography by São Ludovino.


******************************************************

HMB


Héber Marques (vocals)
Fred Martinho (Frederico Martinho) (guitar)
Daniel Lima (keyboard)
Joel Silva (drums)
Joel Xavier (bass guitar)
Diogo Duque (trumpet)
Zé Maria (Gonçalves Pereira) (sax)
Hulda Marques (chorus)
Enoque Silva (chorus)
Guest: Matay (Rúben Matay Leal de Sousa)

HMB ao vivo nas Festas de Benfica, Lisboa, 23 de Junho de 2019.

Fotografia & vídeo: São Ludovino.

HMB – YouTube Channel

HMB – Contact


MUSICAL CHAPTERS III

 Lords of Doom – Sounds & Vibes Again

     O revivalismo não é enfadonho. Volta a viver o que já estava destinado a perdurar. Os clássicos de qualquer género de música, e há clássicos de géneros muito diferentes, são clássicos precisamente porque se continuam a ouvir com gosto ao longo do tempo. Mesmo quando nos esquecemos deles no meio da enxurrada de sons que vêm e vão, lembramos tudo de novo ao primeiro acorde. E nos acordes seguintes, o clássico já é um novo clássico, porque o tempo passou, porque envelhecemos ou rejuvenescemos, porque ouvimos de maneira diferente ou porque quem interpreta fá-lo de maneira diferente.

    Os Lords of Doom, com este nome tão tenebroso, trouxeram-nos de novo as colheitas e as castas musicais destinadas a não morrer. O tempo nada lhes rouba, só acrescenta ou faz mudar a forma como se ouve. Provavelmente, não há ninguém que não tenha a sua playlist de clássicos; uns podem ser os clássicos consagrados pelo tempo e/ou pela crítica, outros provavelmente são aqueles que as idiossincrasias de cada um elegeu, às vezes sem saber bem porquê, apenas porque sabe bem ouvir muitas vezes ou de vez em quando. Às vezes até podem ser arrumados no fundo da gaveta, mas mal se reencontram, reconhecem-se de imediato – “Ah, estavas aqui! Há quanto tempo te não ouvia!”

     Que passe, pois, o tempo, porque tem mesmo de passar, queiramos ou não; e que fiquem os clássicos, que entre muitos dons têm o de fazer parar o tempo ou fluir na direcção e ritmo desejados. Se a música, de um modo geral, nos faz “respirar pelos ouvidos” (parafraseando David Gilmour), ouvir os clássicos faz-nos respirar com todos os sentidos, físicos e metafísicos.

     Desta vez, os Lords of Doom trouxeram mais um amigo, um pianista / saxofonista que veio dar mais colorido e vivacidade a algumas interpretações. Estão todos de parabéns. Voltem sempre! O revivalismo não é enfadonho e os Lords of Doom também não, sobretudo assim, tal como são, com naturalidade, sem pretensiosismos, apenas revelam o gosto pela música.

     Parabéns a todos pelo excelente trabalho!

Lords of Doom, photography by São Ludovino.

Lords of Doom, photography by São Ludovino.

Lords of Doom, photography by São Ludovino.

Lords of Doom, photography by São Ludovino.

Lords of Doom, photography by São Ludovino.


Sounds & Vibes Again with Lords of Doom, photography & video by São Ludovino.


********************************************      

     Já depois de ter escrito este pequeno artigo, soube que os Lord of Doom tinham mudado de formação e tinham adoptado um novo nome: são agora os DevEmpire. Que mania de adoptar nomes sinistros que podem induzir em erro os incautos… mas tem a sua piada, precisamente porque induz em erro mas não engana.

Contacto dos DevEmpire

Alexandre Rodrigues – Guitar Passion