Brazilian Rhapsody From Sao Paulo Brazil – SOLD OUT! ">Email us to get on the cancellation list. The Fall Concert Series will be announced mid August.
Siskiyou Music Project presents an evening of Brazilian music with pianist Amilton Godoy, flautist Léa Freire and multi reeds player Harvey Wainapel on Saturday, August 25 at the Old Siskiyou Barn.
São Paulo pianist/composer/arranger AMILTON GODOY founded the iconic Zimbo Trio atage 23. Combining the rhythms of samba and bossa nova with jazz, this became one of the most influential Brazilian instrumental groups in the second half of the 20th Century, making 51 recordings and playing in 40 countries over the years. In 1973 he founded the CLAM school of music in São Paulo (Centro Livre de Aprendizagem Musical), which has nurtured generations of Brazilian musicians to this day. At age 77, Godoy is still playing with the energy and enthusiasm of a teenager (a very experienced one)!
One of the first students at CLAM was flutist/pianist/composer LÉA FREIRE, also from São Paulo, who began her studies there at age 16. Although Amilton was not one of Léa’s teachers there, the two met when the Zimbo Trio held regular open rehearsals at the school. Over the following years, Léa has evolved into a major force in creative Brazilian music, as a performer, composer, and producer. In 2011 she invited Amilton to record a solo CD of her compositions, an invitation he accepted with pleasure. When it came time to release the CD, Amilton suggested forming a duo, which went on to record a CD called “A Mil Tons” (2017), consisiting of Godoy’s compositions and arrangements.
This unique duo has toured throughout Brazil, Argentina, and the US, combining the freedom of popular music and improvisation with the elegance of chamber music, all performed with that great rhythmical, lyrical, and charming Brazilian “accent.”
In 2000, Bay Area saxophonist/clarinetist HARVEY WAINAPEL, who has toured internationally with Airto Moreira & Flora Purim, Joe Lovano, Ray Charles, and Jovino Santos Neto, visited Brazil for the first time. He spent two months there researching, meeting great musicians, performing and recording, and has returned every year since then. On his very first night there, he met Léa Freire, and a deep friendship developed over the years. Although many informal musical encounters followed, it was the Duo’s first visit to California in 2017 that resulted in this three-way collaboration, with Bay Area performances followed by a two week tour of the Pacific Northwest.
