29 September 2007

Kiko Loureiro at Expomusic 2007

As usual, one more time Kiko Loureiro has his workshops sold out at expomusic which happens every year in São Paulo.You can see two pictures of Kiko playing on Warm Music booth. Hug (Webmaster).

Kiko Loureiro won the respect all over the world

Cover for the october edition of brazillan Guitar Player, Kiko Loureiro has been recognized all over the world.Loureiro became famous as the guitartist for the heavy metal band named Angra and consolidated his sucess with his solo albums No Gravity and Universo Inverso, which explore the several influences of this musician, from rock to jazz, going through the brazilian music.

Kiko Loureiro’s talent was recognized by the american Guitar Player, which published on the issue of november an interview with the guitarist , showing the respect that Loureiro has been getting outside Brazil – a really great achievement, since it is very hard to get into the USA’s musical market.

The journalist , Matt Blackett, describes Universo Inverso like :’ Loureiro combines excellently intricate brazilian rhythms with rash melodic motives and great solos. Octaves in Wes Montgomery’s style exists with the lyrism in Jeff Beck’s style and pyrotechnics by Al Di Meola – everything with a dynamic tone”.

With his technical dominion of the instrument, opened minded person about music and full of talent to write songs, Loureiro is one of the biggest guitar players in Brazil.On its october edition, the brazilian Guitar Player published a great interview with Loureiro and special lesson about his style.The musician is going to be on the stand of the magazine at Expomusic for autograph session – 29th september (Saturday) on 04:00 P.M.; 30th september (Sunday), on 03:00 P.M. More information.
By: Webmaster

Kiko Loureiro special on Guitar Player magazine

The Ten Commandments of Kiko Loureiro

1) Devotion e perseverance
2) Open your mind:To want to learn more; musical greed
3) To love music: to breath and to live music
4) To be methodic and to organize time to study
5) To study with the metronome in different settings
6) To study harmony.
7) To know at the least the basic of musical reading
8) To have a good vocabulary of techniques
9) Always to look for musicality
10) To play with different people and to be ready for different musical styles
Technique, feeling and speed are some ingredients which made Kiko Loureiro to be admired in Brazil and out of Brazil, and he has been in a hurry for the last months. Angra celebrated 15 years of history with the album Aurora Consurges and went on tour.At the same time, Kiko Loureiro has done workshops and has published his second solo album.In some spare time Kiko Loureiro talked to Guitar Player.In the following lines, he talks about different times of his musical formation and give some precious tips for those who wants to
improve their guitar playing.

26 September 2007

Clinics Tour: ASIA-EUROPE

I am on my last day in Sinpagore. Not in Cingapura (famous vertical favela (poor village in Brazil) created by Maluf (Brazilian politician) to get some votes from the not informed people) and yes in the asian country in other time dominated by the japanese and after protected by the englands.Try to find this country on the map...It is a little point down Malaysia.

Actually this asian "clinic" tour started in Europe.Before going to the other side of the world, I played in two big festival of guitar in Europe to introduce to the audience the songs from Universo Inverso.The first one was in Fiorano, neighbour city of Modena ( Ferrari, Masseratti, Pavarotti...). I had the privilege of being the headline in one of the days of the festival which happens inside of a Renaissancist castle.The stage was built on the central central courtyard and I was backed by two italian musicians of high quality level (bass player and drummer) where we played songs from No Gravity and Universo Inverso.I landed in the city two days ago to do two "master-class". As you guys can see on this picture this event was inside the same room of the supposed king who used to live in the castle.Decorated with paintings on all the walls...After the italian festival we (me, the musicians and the producer) went to France in a city located in the frontier with Geneva (Swirtzeland) called Saint Julien. The French festival featured with some big starts of the french guitar as Patrick Rondat and Christophe Godin and bands like Gottard. I was really happy about playing in a super structure of festival "open-air" with my solo album.This is the kind of place where I usually play together with Angra.

After French, I took the flight of 25 hours Geneva-Paris-Singapore-Kuala Lumpur. Don't you know where is it on the map?It is Far!It is in Malaysia. Don't know yet?Ok....here they don't where Brazil is on the map.

Asked me if there was beach in Brazil...can you believe? I didn't even answer, I got desolated. Other one told me that wanted to know Brazil and after taking a walk through Turkey because he enjoyed this kind of culture!... I gave him a Brazil map that I had in my bag for this guy.I think he has learned...

On my "mode zombie:on",after all those hours of flight, delay time and etc I reached Kuala Lumpur totally deformed in the biggest Asia airport.

In this tropical country blessed by Budda... I saw a mixture of chinese with malay (in portuguese I don't know: malês, malasiano, malasiense... malês sounds better I think) with india language.It is very interesting the diversity.Hotel - food (only pepper! subject for next post) - soundcheck - hotel - workshop - food (almost sleeping over the dishe) hotel - airport at 4:00 a.m. Everything too fast, but it was possible to know a little of the atmosphere of the country. the presence of the brazilian ambassador in the workshop was cool. He took Brazil flag and he distributed flyers with Brazil map and explicative photos of our tupiniquins (brazillian) wonders.I thought it was really good.At least there, who was in the audience, nobody is going to ask if there is beach or if Brazil has a hot weather (they asked me this too! Do me a favor...) from there I went to Thailand.I have already been to the country where people speak as child and the only thing that I used to remember was the pepper of the food... I had to eat pure rice , because this was the only thing which for sure wouldn't have pepper.I landed in the airport of Asia. I thought abour our poor Guarulhos (city where there is a brazilian airport). Airport - hotel - sounde checl - workshop - food (rice) - hotel - airport at 03:00 a.m. (!!!!) Mode Zombie - max on.

It worths mentioning that the work had like 500 people in the audience , in hot weather- sauna - "amazonic" that I have never felt before.I asked for a towel and they brought me that little tissue like "baby wipes" smelling talc .Besides all that there was a interpreter who didn't speak english."Complete suffocation". But of course it is always good to play and to talk about music and guitar.Still more in a so distant country, I get happy when I see people with Angra cds, getting to know my songs and respecting brazilian music.

I reached Tawain after I don't how many hours of flight... the show producer looked at me with that face who looks to a dog on the street at a cold night.Laughing he asked me If I was tired.I got there around midday and around 03:00 p.m. I would have to do the soundcheck.Beatiful, for the first time I would have at least two hours to eat and to rest in the hotel.Of course for my misfortune the check-in in the Taiwan , only starts at 03:00 p.m...So, I ate and I stayed in the room for 10 minutes. Food - Hotel (10 minutes) - Soundcheck - hotel (2h!) - redbull - cafe - workshop - bed (I skipped dinner, the eyes won the stomach ) - and to end the airport at 6:00 a.m.. Now would be the tripe to Singapore.... 8 hours of flight! Looking at the map it seems to be so close...

I remember that in this flight I had a nightmare, like those really real, which only happens in a deep sleep.I dreamed that I had slept and I forgot to go down in Singapore and when I realized I was going to europe.Desperate I asked the stewardess where was I and she asked with that little forced and false smile, and sweet irritatively calm typical voice of the profession: It is going to be 12 hours of flight, you just have to wait four hours for the connection and after you return more 12 hours...so I woke Up desperate and I looked around to see if the chinese had the same face when I fell sleep.Even with the resembling traits of some billions of chineses , I realized that I was in the same flight. I kept myself awake to avoid this situation again.

Oh, I forgot to talk about the workshop itself. The Taiwan publish is really known by Angra. Angra has already played there in 3 three sold out concerts and I also have already passed by the island in other opportunities to do some workshops.You can be tired but in the time of work and to play of course I get well disposed and awake. Music is really a medicine for any disease. The theater was sold out.Around 400 people. A translator who was already my friend and really funny and entertaining questions took this to a great mood in that night..

I reached Singapore around 04:00 p.m. It was finally day! I went to eat to rehearsal with the musicians who were going to play with me in the event.We played Escaping.After a quicl rehearsal and the dinner I could finally sleep.The Hotel was mega modern with everything digital in the room.For my misfortune (Of course!) the hi-tech automatic curtain used to open to closed during all the night, what woke me up a lot of times.

The workshop in Singapore was really good too.Inside of a "boite" (kind of pub) ,super well organized, with moving lights, big screen and etc.I stayed in Singapore for more two days and I could know more about ths interesting country.Now it comes the CVC part... (CVC is a travel agency from Brazil) I did several tourism activities.To start by the breakstar in the zoo....that is right...eating a side orangoutang .As we see in the picture: "the complete monkeys".Some of them with more ,and others with more flues , and other with eyes almost like japanese eyes.

The other picture is the symbol of the country : Merlion (mermaid+lion), or Leão-Sereia(Portuguese).The legend tells that this animal was seen walking alone through those seas.It is more well known as the vomiting-lion by the resident of this land, after all he stays there vomiting 24/7 without stopping.

One of the most strange things that I did there was the ear massage. Said the girl with the eyes like japaneses in singlish ( strange way of speaking english in Singapore), that it was to improve my ear, so I agreed on doing that. You lay down and the chinese comes and put (with no mercy...) a candle inside you ear.After lighting this candle, she starts massaging your ear. A little strange, but in few seconds is possible to get used to the candle inside your ear orifice.After the ear gets really clear. It worths remember this was the only orifice explored by the masseur with japanese traits.

After this I was ready to face the trip from Singapore to Paris and to take a train straight to Nancy to play at MAI, biggest guitar school in France. That is it...now I am a little tired to face the maratone at Expo Music, but it is always funny the confusion of the booths anyway.

Lets talk about a little bit about the hard part of the trip to Asia: the food!!

I have some experience in this subject, because it is not the first time I go to Asia.By the way , one of the first posts here has the famous photo of little sharp-pointed sticks with chicken hear.That I still haven't found what is the please of sitting in a pew and to have a beer while you are chewing the beak of a chicken...

Who thinks Asia is japanese food is totally wrong, who thinks in Asia you eat like chinese restaurants in Brazil you are also wrong. Lig-Lig, China in the box and this kind of things, that are already bad, are the paradise if compared to what we can find there.

In the first day in Malasia, I told the event producer that I have some difficult to eat asian food.In that region besides the food to have an appearance at least stranger everything is plenty of pepper. This is something that I can't understand too. The pleasure of eating something which burns the mouth and you spend more time drinking water to relieve than eating, besides that the first pepper you don't fell the taste of anything.

Of course everything the guys told that wasn't pepper there was....maybe not that strong, but for me the enough to have two liters of water and to let the rice I ate (only safe thing without pepper) floating in my stomach.

Like the rice, all asia food comes floating.It is always a bowl of hot wate with "something" inside.In Singapore it came a little bowl with a wing of black chicken. Do not think it was a feathered-black chicken.The skin was black...I am sorry but as a resident of São Paulo where we buy the chicken already frozen and aseptically clean, I have never seen something like that.It looked like a chicken from Gana or Togo I don't know...other things are not recognized where swimming with the black wing. I had the soup and I did that face that it was good.The technique always is to have all the rice and to say that this is your favourite food and in Brazil we also have this a lot. So the rest you try and made a face that loved but comment that you are not starved and unfortantelly you are going to leave the rest in the dish.Question of education.It works.

In Singapore also the show producer came up with a gelatinous liquid and hot (please, no creative thoughts). And asked me to drink without telling me what it was.A delicate situation in this side of the planet.I had. It wasn't that bad, but with even the chinese was brave enough to tell me what it was, I was expecting something like monkey brain or crocodile sperm...but not, it was sparrow spit.In portuguese sounds really much worse :"cuspe de passarinho". I can explain better. Actually the sparrows spit their own food after chewing to build a cradle to their descendants .This way, the evil chineses go there and take this health and protetic spit. It worths commenting that the "sparrow spit" costs like 100 dollars. It is something really ellegant and aristocatic to have on the breakfast.

Kisses and Hugs!