" I am trying to keep an open mind now as to what direction the project will take - though I have many ideas! Scotland has an incredibly rich music scene; however it is also quite a small country and my contacts are quite wide in most of the different areas of music. I am bringing a lot of samples of music to Brazil and I'm very much looking forward to my visit and to meeting you all and to seeing a selection of music being produced in Brazil. I would like to combine both ancient and modern themes into this project. Both of our countries have a rich oral and aural heritage which speak of the history and represent the cultural 'make-up' of our countries and it would be wonderful to explore this in someway within the project."

In August 2002, Tamsin Austin visited Brazil to get to know a little more about music and popular Brazilian culture, to help her in the choice of the right Scottish musicians. Travelling with Helder Aragão (DJ Dolores) - who set up her programme of visits to Brazilian musicians - Patricia Souza from the British Council and a digital video crew, Tamsin visited Recife, Olinda, Nazaré da Mata, Belém, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

Maracatu rural	Maciel	Mestre Salustiano

In Recife, Tamsin watched a rehearsal by the quartet Areia Projeto ,which includes double-bass, violin, cavaquinho and bandola - www.areiaprojeto.hpg.com.br In Olinda she was welcomed by Maciel Salustiano, a rabeca player from the Orquestra Santa Massa who also plays in the group Chão e Chinelo. She also visited Maciel`s ´Rabeca Centre` , where she danced forró (a dance from the North East) the whole night. She went on to visit the traditional singer Dona Cila do Coco at her home. In Nazaré da Mata, she had the chance to try the typical dish ´feijoada` - and the local rum ´cachaça` - at the home of the rabeca player, singer and composer Siba. His band, Maracatu Rural, was having the final rehearsal before recording their new CD Fuloresta do Samba.

Mestre Vieira	Mestre Curica	Maracatu rural

The flight to Belém from Recife, with stops at Fortaleza and São Luiz, gave Tamsin the chance to learn a bit more about Brazilian culture. During the stop at Fortaleza, half the passengers got out of the aircraft, to be replaced by a new group who were travelling to Belém. First to board were three young girls dressed in blue and white - and screaming. They were followed by another four girls, in the same costumes but screaming more loudly. They were carrying a large silver cup and were accompanied by a TV crew. Last to board was the entire football team Paissandú de Belém, which had just won the Brazil Cup. The arrival in Belém was even more impressive than the flight ( no-one got any sleep on board). It looked as if the whole city of Belém had turned out to meet the team at the airport. It took two hours to get out of the airport and get to the hotel.

Tamsin`s programme in Belém was organised by the guitarist Pio Lobato and the journalist Elielton Amador, who accompanied her on visits to musicians. Having dumped their bags in the hotel, the team piled into a minibus and headed out of town. Crossing one of the wide Amazonian river outlets by ferry, they arrived at the town of Barcarena, to visit Mestre Viera, one of the originators of the Brazilian lambada and the ´guitarada` style, played on the electric guitar. Gathering some musical collaborators together on the porch of his simple house, Mestre Viera showed exactly what the guitarada style is. The following day, Tamsin met another important local musician, Mestre Curica, who generously introduced her to various Brazilian musical genders, such as chorinho and lambada, playing them on his small electric guitar or on the banjo. Tamsin also met the guitarist Aldo Sena, a very well known musician in the region, who has had to abandon the profession for economic reasons and now works in a cobblers in Belém. He did, however, show that he has not lost his musical skills.

In São Paulo, Tamsin got to know Simone Soul and Fernando Catatau, in one of the studios of the Trama label, where the two musicians improvised on keyboard and percussion. She also met Rica Mabia, the Tejo do Selo Instituto and was impressed by the energy of Gaspar, Tadeu and Dico, of the rap group Zafrica Brasil. She was able to chat to the pianist and arranger Benjamin Taubkin and listen to his group, the excellent Orchestra Popular de Câmera. At the music school Faculdade Santa Marcelina, Tamsin watched a rehearsal by the instrumental group Armazém, lead by the composer Sérgio Cardoso.

In Rio, Tamsin met the rapper B Negão and went to watch a samba show in Lapa, accompanied by DJ Dolores.


Scottish Rehearsal
Tamsin had this to say about the first big rehearsal in Glasgow:
"Today we had our first practical rehearsal here in Glasgow. It went very very well. It was very interesting as our musicians are from very different backgrounds and most of them have never played together before. The results were very very promising. All of the musicians here are working on themes and ideas for development with both Scottish and Brazilian members of the group. During the rehearsal the musicians here worked on three different pieces from Chris Stout, Alyth and Chris Mack. David has gone away to write a new piece for the group. We have now scheduled rehearsals every Sunday until we come to Brazil so we will keep you posted on the developments"
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