Pascoal Meirelles Trio Concert at Usmar Ismail Jakarta
I’d say one of the milestone for Indonesian jazz world happened on a beautiful night at March 11, 2009 . Why? Because at that night, located at Usmar Ismail Concert Hall, Kuningan, Jakarta, Pascoal Meirelles Trio had a wonderful concert that was attended by two Indonesian Jazz industry giants, Peter F Gontha and Ireng Maulana, also Rully Mangunsong from Jazz Jakarta Community. The concert that was made by Brazilian Embassy in Jakarta was one of the set of Pascoal’s performance on his visit to Indonesia. The ambassador of Italy and Korea were also invited and attended the concert.
You may ask, who is Pascoal Meirelles Trio? This is a trio led by Pascoal Meirelles that consistantly represent the magical Brazilian samba-jazz. Three amazing musicians combined together here in this trio. Pascoal Meirelles on drums, Nelson Faria on guitar, and Augusto Matosso on bass. Imagine what would happen when three great musicians joined their forces together. And that’s what happened on stage. It was stunning. Pascoal Meirelles Trio delivered such beautiful music with a deep taste of latin sound. Eventhough this band led by a drummer, their music wasn’t dominated by just the drums. It was a beautiful collaboration in harmonious melodies, it was fun.
In between their performance, Pascoal Meirelles said that he was really excited playing at Java Jazz Festival 2009. He even made up a song dedicated to Java Jazz Festival 2009. The song called “Maracajava”, a twist of name from his song originally entitled as “Maracatu”. Pascoal also said that he was the first drummer of Ivan Lins. He was there when Ivan Lins made his first hit “Madalena”. In the middle of their performance, Pascoal called a Brazilian sax player Marcello to come on stage and joined them. And the audience loved it.
After the gigs of Pascoal Meirelles Trio reached the end, Peter F Gontha, as the Chairman of South East Asian Jazz Festival gave a speech. He said that he just ran away from the hospital because he didn’t want to miss Pascoal Meirelles Trio’s show. In the end, Peter Gontha handed a memoir book of 4 years Java Jazz Festival.
Have I said that Ivan Lins also attended the show? Yes, he was there, and he even sang one song, his first hit that he made while Pascoal Meirelles was still his drummer. Yes, he sang “Madalena”. It was awesome. His smooth and exceptional voice together with his beautiful piano playing showed why he is listed among the living legend of bossa. What a special show on a special night. Two thumbs up for Pascoal Meirelles Trio and Ivan Lins, and special thanks to Brazilian Embassy. It was great!
Reporter: Novan Yahya Renatal
Photographer: Mark Swapo, Bayu Perwira Wajiyo
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This is a rare coverage of Brazilian jazz in Indonesia. My thumbs up. I would just add some corrections. The bassist with Pascoal’s trio was not Alberto Kontinentino, but it was Augusto Matosso instead. The correct title of the song Pascoal made is “Maracajava” based on “Maracatu”.
Thanks for the correction.