Ken Vandermark, Paal Nilssen-Love and Yaw Tembe Report for Jazz.pt

It was last friday that Ken Vandermark, Paal Nilssen-Love and Yaw Tembe played in Lisbon. Bernardo Álvares was there to tell us about it, Nuno Martins to photograph and I was there to draw these amazing musicians live for Jazz.pt. 

Team work :)

See the full report, photos and all the drawings here. 

Mountain like you

Mountain like you 

Is her hair on the stings

and her mood as she swings

with time, all the things

with elegance of fine strings

raw curves are rings

and, a true palette brings

freedom with wings

it's a mountain that springs

For Érica Zíngano, a dear Brazilian poet from Fortaleza. 

Espaço APAV & Cultura Poster for Gabriel Godoi & Gonçalo Falcão Concert

This is the poster and painting I did for Espaço APAV & Cultura that is hosting this Gabriel Godoi and Gonçalo Falcão concert on the 18th of March at 19.30h.

The Brazilian guitarist Gabriel Godoi has prooved its crafts in Chorinho and Gonçalo Falcão is a Portuguese guitarist whose designer skills weren't enough to test his need to improvise. Is it that the trigger here is Experimenting Chorinho? You have to attend to find out!

I think I already mentioned Espaço APAV & Cultura is one of my favorite places in Lisbon for concerts. The space is very intimate, the walls are fool of books, and the acoustic is great. 
Also to mention the location is central and breezy with Jardim Constantino (Constantino José Marques de Sampaio e Melo was the king of the florists, back in the XIX century, also inspiring to know!) just in front. 

I made this painting thinking already to use it for this purpose. Before I started painting, I mentally saw the colors to use, how to mix them and their layer order since I wanted it to go from the lightest color to black. It was before I finished the painting that I pictured I wanted a full color poster with the letters as the only thing in white. Also I wanted to make something lively, that could represent the happy encounters provided by these initiatives in APAV. 

I'm sharing all these things because - and as someone said the other day in on LXII Conversa in our studio (Década) - I agree both the process and the result are important.

This concert was programmed by Nuno Catarino who told me he chose the musicians according to my painting!

If you want to know more about this event, please follow this link.

APAV is in Rua José Estevão, 135A (Lisbon) and the entrance for this concert is free.

Lume trombonists at Jazz.pt

This is my drawing of Luís Cunha, Eduardo Lála and Pedro Canhoto (the trombonists of LUME), grooving!

It was made live at the Hot Club where the band last played.

Check out the drawing at Jazz.pt, here.

If you don't know who this fantastic band is, take a look at the article where I wrote a bit about them and drew Marco Barroso for Jazz.pt.

Worth to check them live and search their videos too!

Irmãos Catita

Irmãos Catita claim to be five siblings of different parenthood, abandoned at birth, gathered by chance in life. Well... let's just say the Portuguese band formed in 1991, came to change the dullness of the days, to say the least!!

Their last concert in Lisbon at Teatro Villaret, preceded their third album, to be released soon. 

It had been about 17 years since I last saw them live - unforgivable!! 

The venue was packed and I was in the first row. Through smoke and plumes, it was fantastic to listen to their music again. 

Very graphic at all senses, was a pleasure to draw them. 

Here is a selection of what I made there:

This is my live drawing of Manuel João Vieira, the vocalist of the band. His shirt was a folding screen for his world to come: vivid, and ironically political. 

Frenetic, tropic-exotic and unpredictable, Manuel João Viera is a master of entertainment one can't get tired of. 

On my live drawing of Francisco Ferro,  thought of him as a percussion chess piece. Indeed, a fundamental piece, he is one of the pillars of the band. All the way, this music is a game to be played.

My live drawing of the guitarist João Leitão was a result of my encounter with Kermit during the concert. All I can say is that I travelled far!  

This one is the live drawing of the double bass player, João Custódio. The colours where his, that at all times engaged fun and elegance. Simple and great.

And then my live drawing of one of the guests: the guitarist Phil Mendrix. 

He is a legendary musician I wanted to draw live for a long time, since I saw him at Inner Urge documentary from Isabel Cardeira, where I quickly appeared too.

His presence in the band is irreplaceable and absolutely charismatic. It was like everybody wanted to see him, every time he'd show up on stage there was a silver glow around him. 

What a trip this gig was. Make no mistakes, this was no common concert (not to mention it lasted 3 hours) and I guess none of their concerts will ever be.

As in Paul Simon song, they are Still crazy after all those years and we're very happy it is so. 

See a bit of that night here on this video from Rogério Machado.

Thank you so much Void Agency for trusting my work. 

Yes, I can

My illustration-collage inspiration was woman emancipation, woman as a creative driving force, woman as a volcano about to burst, the red lipstick as a powerful shocking gossip; being red, the color with the power to paralyze, to call one's attention.  

This illustration relates to Visão's article, where they wrote something like: 

"Storm in Experimenta

Financial difficulties, two cases in the Labour Court, lit General Assemblies and internal wars shake Experimenta, the cultural association responsible for a mediatic design biennial held in Lisbon and which Guta Moura Guedes is the main face"

Since Visão Magazine came out with this article, the overtime efforts of keeping up the appearances of Experimentadesign (aka EXD) became pointless since some unpleasant parts of this engine are officially public. 

Created in 1998, it is of undeniable doubt that EXD has had over time a very important role catapulting some of our Portuguese Design talent, putting Portugal in the Design scene and bringing International important names of Design here. 

One didn't expect anything less that this biennial and its employees are properly paid on time. It's a shame for Portuguese Cultural scene that this isn't the case.

Starting with the profit disease, the economical crisis, the way we look towards what it was the instituted power, what we value now, how we perceive ourselves too as active agents of this whole context... it seems the world is changing.

May this episode of the EXD history be a wise lesson for all parts involved, with all good and bad that that might implicate.

Marco Barroso (LUME) at Jazz.pt

It was in 2006 that the pianist and composer Marco Barroso started Lisbon Underground Music Ensemble (LUME).

On a big band style, 14 musicians make LUME's music alive. In all its forms this music lives with surprise, suspense, irony, knowledge, humor, fun, sense of drama and density.
It is a patchwork of kaleidoscopic detail that, one could tell, took many hours of complex and thorough embroidery work.
In the end there is always a cinematic narrative feel of layers upon layers, because so many different types of sounds - not just music - participate on this knit. That was the trigger for this drawing background full of layers and colors.

The Hot Club was completely packed and the energy level was pretty high. Some saturday night fever was going on and I was just sorry it had to end after 8 tunes. Loved the way how the music swallowed the public on the first theme with a really well built crescent and how they called everyone's attention for the second part of the concert with a super scenic recording of glass breaking.
The music was elastic and technicolorful, reaching from Trash Metal to Funky Grooves. On the contrary of what Marco Barroso preached - that there is music to shake your ass or to headbang - we left the club knowing there is actually one where you can do both - this one.

With his very particular conducting and playing style, matching pieces in the right place and time, I thought of Marco as some sort of "Music all mighty".  On that night his hands where stretchable and he could reach anywhere for his music sake. Something like the special power Marvel's Mr. Fantastic - Reed Richards, of Fantastic Four - had. The only difference was that they where Fantastic Fourteen.

I'm glad Marco didn't proceed his engineering studies. Although, one could say something from the engineering type of thought remained, since his compositions seem to have a lot of understanding on how to make a very complete machine work with dozens of different mechanical parts with a certain tuning, only Marco Barroso can pitch. I guess some life twists happen for a reason.

And, of all things above, I believe the music scene needs him devolving us reality with his own special brand new sense.

Check out the drawing at Jazz.pt here.