Day 6: Sao Paulo Part 2!

We are still soaking up the Brazilian culture, music, and of course, food, as we continue our stay here in the enormous city of Sao Paulo. Our day began with breakfast on the top floor of our hotel, where we also just had a group supper together. It was gostoso (delicious!)

Though religion within a church is important in this country, there is also an inevitable religion that is practiced within a stadium. This religion is soccer, or fútbol as the Brazilians call it. We took a comfortable bus ride to the Museo do Fútbol which was very entertaining; perhaps we would have learned more from the museum if we spoke more Portuguese...haha

Nevertheless, the time spent at the museum further emphasized the importance of soccer in this country and the rich history that it has here. In the afternoon, we experienced first-hand another important aspect of Brazilian culture, this aspect being kind of the main reason we came here: music!

The members of the JO were pleasantly surprised to find out that our "meeting" in the conference room this afternoon was actually a performance by four talented Brazilian women who call themselves the "Choronas." They performed for us sambas, bossa novas, and choros, among other genres that I can't spell very well :) It was beautiful and relaxing music to listen to. The ensemble consisted of a flute (and piccolo), 7-stringed guitar, an instrument similar to a ukelele, and a pandiero. All there music was memorized and performed with great poise and musicality. This definitely was a real treat for us, especially for Sarah who played "Um-a-Zero" with the group. The music of these talented ladies will continue to ring in our ears...especially for those who bought one of their CD's today ;)

The rest of the hours of the day were filled with a trip to the mall, grabbing some food at the market, swimming on the roof of our hotel, or sneaking in a cat nap. It has been a memorable trip so far and this group has been outstanding to travel with. Stay tuned for yet another synopsis from us tomorrow! This is Kristina signing off from the saxophone section- peace and love to all our family and friends (and "Hi Mom and Dad!")

Day 5: Oi, Sao Paulo!

We have arrived safely in Sao Paulo! Sure enough, getting up at at 4:45am to catch the flight was fairly brutal (though we still pushed our 7:30 flight, meeting the bleary-eyed looks of other Brazilians as we were the last to board in our matching blue LC JO/VJ polos), but Sao Paulo seems, from first impressions, excellent! It'll definitely be something of a shift, falling asleep last night to the slow metronomic crash of ocean waves and tonight to the helicopters and traffic, but that's definitely not enough to quell our excitement.

I think I speak for everyone when I say that this afternoon's activities were the highlight of the trip so far. Pausing only for an hour in the hotel for a quick nap, we departed for the Escola do Auditório, without any idea of what we'd be doing. After a delicious lunch (which included, for many of us, a by-the-gram build-your-own-sundae bar, and for me, accidental squid) we headed into the architecturally breathtaking arts center and set up for the gig. We discovered we'd be playing opposite a Brazilian ensemble composed of people around our age. We weren't playing on a stage; on one side of a long rectangular room, our band was set up, and on the other end there were chairs for the Orquestra Furiosa, and between us were an array of chairs and benches. The room was quickly filled, and many of us were particularly nervous not only because there were other musicians there, but mainly because two excellent arrangers of pieces we're playing -- Aza, who arranged Asa Branca and Aquarela do Brasil, and Proveta, who arranged Um a Zero -- were about to hear us play their arrangements!

It ended up being a really fun time. The audience was really energetic, and the Orquestra Furiosa (a cross between a jazz/samba group and a true orchestra, complete with french horns and tuba) was FANTASTIC. After we both finished playing our own stuff, we got to read a chart arranged by Proveta together, and then had a brief jam session before being shut down. Following that, we stayed in the school for free (!) food and conversation with some delightful students. Some of them spoke fairly good English, many of them did not-- but it was a great way to meet people our age and connect with other musicians!

Day 4: Ocean In Sight!

Well, I'm currently blogging from my second floor hotel room with a beach front view. Outside the open French doors, I can hear the waves crashing against the beach and members of the Jazz Orchestra talking to each other from their balconies, making plans to go for a walk on the beach before we hit the hay. Tomorrow morning comes early with a 4:45am wake up call so we can make a 7:30 fight to Sao Paulo. I'm getting ahead of myself, though. A view like the one we have tonight looks a little something like this:

Before we arrived at the port city of Itajaí, we spent an hour back in Curitiba at the local flea market. Lots of crafty goodies made by the locals - everything from scarfs and sweaters to leather bags to beautiful artwork and food.

Our second show was this evening at the Teatro Municipal de Itajaí. We had a great crowd, standing ovations, two encores, and a fun atmosphere to play in. Tom Bourcier and the Luther College Jazz Quartet laid down a fantastic chart this evening, and it was another incredible experience to hear the audience sing along with us when we played our last piece, Aquarela do Brasil. I'm fortunate enough to be in a position on stage where I can watch the audience while I play, and their faces always light up when we get to that number. The patriotism and love for their country is inspiring, and we've seen it so far in two different cities. I know I am looking forward to experiencing the crowds in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro later this week. What energetic atmospheres to play in and passionate crowds to play for.

Looking forward to our workshops in Sao Paulo tomorrow afternoon!

Day 3: Parks and Rec and Blues

Another lovely day in Curitiba!
After such a fantastic night, we were able to sleep in an extra hour this morning, and then hopped on the bus for round 2 of the city tour. Tour Guide Nancy showed us multiple parks this morning, including a few that were created out of what was once "unusable" land. The first park featured fountains and an extraordinary view of the Curitiba residential area.  Check out this picture!:

Another park started as a boardwalk through lush vegetation that ended up at a small lake with a black swan, buzzards, and a high-rise theater that gave us another fantastic hidden view of Curitiba.
I would add more pictures, but alas, the Internet is stubborn. Check Pat's Facebook for more photos of our park adventures.

Nancy took us to the heart of Curitiba, the historic district. Fabulous architecture, neo-gothic churches, and libraries on every corner, almost. One of my favorite parts of Curitiba so far has been driving by all of the small libraries - Curitiba places public libraries all over the city, many of them in the shape of lighthouses, that encourage the citizens to read, be educated, and take part in Curitiba life.
We ended up at a mall stop for lunch - biggest food court I've ever seen in a mall. So many choices! A few of us tried out what they claimed to be "the best burger in the world" at Madero Bar and Grill. Wouldn't say it was the best burger in the world, but still quality eating.

Nap time followed our day on the bus. Some of us went shopping at the mall across from our hotel, some went to the market and bought wine, cheese, and bread for dinner, and some of us passed out for a few hours in order to rest up for the night ahead. The jazz organist that was featured in our show last night had is own blues quartet performance tonight at the Theatro Bom Jesus, so we attended his fabulous show at 8:30pm. It was a great show - a giant jam session with incredible blues playing from all members of the quartet. And now, some of us are headed out to a samba bar to finish out our time in Curitiba! Caipirnhas, food, and dancing are on the menu for our last few hours in this fantastic city!
Obrigado, Curitiba!

Day 2.5: The First Show!

Oi!

It's been one heck of a day. We started out with an excellent breakfast at our hotel-- can you say, papaya? The fresh fruits and juices are really outstanding ways to start the day, and if that doesn't do it, the coffee is superb! But that's just the beginning.

Next up was a tour of Curatiba. We had a delightful little tour guide -- Nancy. Having heard that we are from Luther College, she assumed for much of the morning that we were German, and made frequent references to our "thousand-year-old castles" and occasionally spoke to us in broken German: oops! It's a beautiful city, though. It was actually used in my textbook last semester as an example of urban planning that maintains commerce while preserving natural space, and it was really neat to see that in person. Nancy built on that, explaining how the city wanted to get rid of polluting factories and return to its organic roots.

For lunch, we stopped at a fancy restaurant, where we were lucky to have an all-you-can-eat meal. The waiters kept bringing out plate after plate after plate: pastas, meats, salads, sodas... It was splendiferous. But the best of all came after the meal. In the same room, a group of students from an international school were having lunch, and treated us to a cappella renditions of I'm Glad You Came, by The Wanted, and I'm Yours by Jason Mraz. I'm not usually one with a penchant for platitudes, but these kids were exceptionally adorable. And after that we had espresso with whipped cream... I have no words for how wonderful that was. Then gelato? It just kept building.

But most importantly: our first show was tonight! We played at Theatro Bom Jesus for the Festival no Improviso Jazz e Blues. It was really an excellent way to start our tour circuit. As always, we started with a processional through the theatre, but we had to wait outside while the rhythm section started and received a lot of gawks from Brazilians. Fortunately, we took the time to learn an an important phrase: "I don't speak Portuguese!" (No fahlo portuguese). That'll definitely come in handy.

The show went swimmingly. We got a double encore, and I lost track of the standing ovations we received. On top of that, one of show's organizers, a jazz organist, played a couple of charts with us. It was a ton of fun.

After the show (which lasted about an hour longer than we had previously planned) the school took us out to dinner. Although it was pretty late (some people didn't get their food until close to one in the morning) it was fantastic dining, and a great way to unwind after our first full day.

With that, I will leave you until the next blog -- Boa Noite!

Finally Made It

And 32 hours later, we are in Brazil. Curitiba, to be exact. The Hotel Bristol in the heart of the city - fantastic views from the balconies of our rooms, and right next to fabulous shopping and restaurants. Tomorrow we have a tour of the city in the morning, a sound check at the theater at 2pm, and our first concert tomorrow evening at the Teatro Bom Jesus.
Earlier this afternoon we met Clausi, Tony's Brazilian love, and our Brazil tour coordinator, Eduardo, at the Sao Paulo airport. It was a treat to finally meet them and they have been extremely helpful so far when it comes to tipping at meals, checking in luggage, and finding places to eat. Looking forward to getting to know them better in the next couple weeks!

I tried to upload a few pictures, but the Internet is slow in this hotel. Patrick has uploaded some on Facebook, though, so be sure to check his page for photos!

Stay tuned for Jake Debacher's take on the trip in tomorrow's post!

Prepping and Packing

Tomorrow we leave for tour, but today... Today is Prep Day.
As you can see here, it's a day for music packing, pizza eating, and all sorts of serious, focused preparation for our two-week tour to Brazil.

See you in Brazil!

Up and Away

Check back in the next two weeks for info, stories, concert updates, and more about the Luther College Jazz Orchestra's tour to Brazil!