This original production presents the SMF debuts of 80-year old composer/multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal, one of the most beloved musical figures in the history of Brazilian music, alongside virtuosic choro mandolinist Danilo Brito. The music of Brazil is as diverse as that of any nation, with influences ranging from European dance forms to indigenous folk styles and African rhythms, classical music and jazz. Known throughout his country as o Bruxo (“the Sorcerer”), Pascoal is one of the most renowned musicians in post-Bossa Brazilian jazz. His performances are known to be exhilarating, interactive experiences for musicians and audience members and he brings his septet to the US for only three concerts. The Guardian said of a recent Hermeto Pascoal performance that “his creativity is as sharp as ever… a triumph.” Miles Davis, with whom Pascoal began performing and recording in the early ‘70s, once called him “the most impressive musician in the world.”

 

Brazilian mandolinist and composer Danilo Brito has devoted his life to the tradition of choro music since the age of three, and is known for an ability far beyond technical skill that can only be defined as true art, feeling and transcendence. About Danilo and his remarkable quintet that will join him on this engagement, a Brazilian music critic recently stated, “In the 1950s and ‘60s there was a dispute between the virtuosity of Luperce Miranda and the unrivaled technique of Jacob (do Bandolim). It seems that the two are in Danilo, who became their perfect synthesis.”