Canto – André Mehmari

André Mehmari

Pianist, arranger, composer and multinstrumentalist, winner of the 98 VISA MPB Award (Best instrumentalist), André Mehmari plays 14 different instruments: guitar, violin, country guitar, flute, clarinet, bass, cavaquinho, piano and others. This album presents his own compositions and brings special guest Tiago Pinheiro.

 

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Tracks

1- Prelúdio (Esperança) (André Mehmari) 3:13
2- Canto Primeiro (André Mehmari) 4:34
3- Cais (Milton Nascimento e Ronaldo Bastos) 9:26
4- Valsa Romântica (André Mehmari / Manuel Bandeira) 7:42
5- Choro da Contínua Amizade (André Mehmari) 6:05
6- Canção sem Palavras (André Mehmari) 5:42
7- Mulher Rendera (Zé do Norte) 4:02
8- Miniatura (André Mehmari) 0:50
9- Canto das Geraes (André Mehmari) 4:37
10- Choro Turco (André Mehmari) 5:53
11- Farewell (André Mehmari) 3:44

Musician

André Mehmari
André Mehmari’s activities as pianist, composer, and arranger are highly regarded in both popular and classical music. As his compositions have been performed by leading Brazilian orchestras (OSESP) and chamber ensembles (São Paulo String Quartet), his career in jazz and Brazilian popular music has attained wide attention amongst Brazilians. Born in 1977 in Niteroi (RJ), he began to study music with his mother at the age of five, and completed an organ course in the Conservatory of Ribeirao Preto (SP). At age ten, introduced to jazz improvisation, he wrote his first compositions; and, at 15, while teaching organ in the Conservatory, he was invited to compose a method for keyboard beginners. The result was a 20-piece collection, a work greatly appreciated by young musicians and their teachers. In 1995, he began study at São Paulo State University (USP) and, in the same year, won the University’s competition for original Brazilian popular music (MPB). Two years later, the same honor was awarded to him for classical music. In 1997, after developing an active piano performance schedule, he started writing orchestral arrangements for major musical events in Sao Paulo. In the following year, he won the first national Prêmio VISA da MPB competition, the most important award for popular music in Brazil. The competition’s prize is the recording of a new CD, which became Mehmari’s first release, and introduced him to concert opportunities across Brazil. Four more CDs have followed, including the 2004 release of Lachrimae on the audiophile label CAVI. Two different piano trios are at the center of this recording with special guests Mônica Salmaso (voice), Dimos Goudaroulis (cello) and Luca Raele (clarinet). The combination of Brazilian MPB classics, in new arrangements, and Mehmari’s own compositions create a portrait of the pianist’s style and language. He has an active performing schedule with his trio, solo piano, and duets with singers Mônica Salmaso and Ná Ozzetti. He made his U.S. premiere at the 2005 edition of Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina. The critically acclaimed voice and piano duet with singer Ná Ozzetti was released on both CD and DVD. In 2006 Mehmari won the Carlos Gomes award for classical music revelation of the year and was appointed resident composer for the Sao Paulo State Wind Band. Recently, wrote orchestral music for the PANAMERICAN GAMES ceremony that took place in Rio de Janeiro. Also recently released the ‘Continuous Friendship’ album, in duet with mandolin-virtuoso Hamilton de Holanda. Planned for 2008 is a new album entirely dedicated to his own compositions: ‘About waltzes and trees’. In 2008 toured the northeast of Brazil with Ivan Lins, playing both Ivan’s and his own compositions at the traditional Pixinguinha Project.

Technique

André Mehmari toca: piano, sinth, órgão, acordeon, viola, escaleta, piano Rhodes, violino, violoncelo, rabecas, clarinete, flautas, viola caipira, violão, violão de aço, violão baixo, baixo acústico, baixo elétrico, guitarra, bateria, cavaquinho, kalimba, percussão e voz.
Tiago Pinheiro: voz (faixa 4).Produzido por André Mehmari.
Arranjos: André Mehmari.
Lançado pela Gravadora Núcleo Contemporâneo em outubro de 2002.
 

Press

“Mehmari is one of Brazils best-kept secrets. While most Brazilian musicians paint in bold primary colours of hot rhythms, Mehmari holds you in a spell with otherworldly, cool pastels, azure sonic washes and poetry. A classically-trained wunderkind barely into his twenties, Mehmari is a cross between Metheny, Shorter and Gismonti, playing reeds, strings, percussion and other instruments with an astonishing fluency. On Canto, classical elements collide with samba, jazz and drumnbass”.

John Stevenson, www.ejazznews.com

“Fluidly moving from classical to jazz to drum n bass, André Mehmari stands as a vibrant example of Brazils artistic eclecticismMehmaris compositions and arrangements have been performed by Banda Mantiqueira, the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (São Paulo State Orchestra), São Paulos Jazz Sinfônica, and the Quarteto de Cordas da Cidade de São Paulo (São Paulo String Quartet).

Mauro Dias, in O Estado de S. Paulo says, “Pianist André Mehmari is a precocious genius, an extraordinary talent of vibrating and generous imagination. He uses his classical training to approach popular music as great pianists, such as Luis Eça and even Egberto (Gismonti), have before him, in a rich and creative way, making the formality of one language work for the enrichment of the other.” Even as Mehmari tours as an orchestral soloist and has his works performed by classical ensembles, his scores for ballet and film continue to bring him additional accolades. At last count, Mehmari had written soundtracks for over 500 television commercials and lists among his clients Varig, Nestle, Peugeot, Guaraná Antarctica, Volkswagen, General Motors, and Banco do Brasil.Although his classical training colors all his work, Mehmaris career in jazz and Brazilian popular music has also attained wide recognition through his work with producer Rodolfo Stroeter, singer/songwriter Joyce, Grammy-nominated arranger and woodwind virtuoso Nailor “Proveta” Azevedo, and percussionist Tutty Moreno.
Says, Moreno, “André Mehmari is a great up-and-coming talent. I met him during a concert that I was playing with the Filarmônica Brasileira. He was the piano soloist, and he impressed me from his first notes. When the chance came to record my Forças dAlma album, I didnt hesitate to call him. He was only 20-years-old then, and my instincts were exactly right. Since that time, he has written arrangements for some of the most celebrated artists in Brazilian popular music, including Joyce and Milton Nascimento. To me, his work sounds fresh, free from the usual clichés.”
Born in 1977, in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Mehmari began studying music with his mother at the age of five. By twelve, he had taught himself to improvise, written his firstcompositions, and completed an organ course at the Conservatory of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo. While he was still in his early teens, he was interviewed and had his musical prowess touted by both Veja and Revide magazines.
Beginning his professional career as pianist and organist at social events, Mehmari decided to hone his talent by forming a jazz trio and performing at Ribeirão Pretos only jazz club. “It was fun,” says Mehmari, “but the club closed after a few months. I guess the music was too weird for such a small city.” Shorty afterward, Mehmari moved to the city of São Paulo to study at the State University (USP), where in his first year he won the universitys popular music composition contest. Two years later, with an active performing and arranging network already in place, Mehmari won the universitys classical music composition competition with his piece for five clarinets and piano. The following year, he won the first Prêmio Visa de MPB—the most important and respected competition in Brazilian popular music—which allowed him to record a CD with double bass player Célio Barros with whom he shared the award.
In 1999, Mehmari was invited to teach at the Campos do Jordão Winter Festival, and his second CD, Canto, was recorded in his home studio. Mehmaris arrangements and compositions on the CD show a sophistication for musical texture and color that is remarkable in so young a composer. Within this CDs plastic jewel case, there is such a wealth and variety of expression embraced that one feels, at the end, that a lifetime of experience has been exposed in a little over an hour. A simplicity born of sophistication is apparent on every track. “André Mehmari is the most phenomenal young talent to appear on Brazils music scene in recent years,” says guitar virtuoso Paulo Bellinati. “Besides his amazing technical fluidity, he is also a mature pianist, arranger, and composer who has a complete grasp of the contemporary music universe, from jazz to classical. I had the pleasure of playing with him only once, and I can say that it is very rare to find all those qualities together in such a young musician.”
Mehmari made his debut as a conductor in May 2000, when his “Enigmas” for solo double-bass, winds, and percussion (commissioned by the São Paulo State Wind Symphony) was premiered. He has recently received a commission from the Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra to compose a work celebrating the life of Johann Sebastian Bach. Truly a rising star, Mehmari is a young man with style and intensity who can help guide Brazilian music through the dark and crooked passages of musical mediocrity and the current “funk” delirium that seems to increase each day, persuading listeners that banalities have meaning.
Sound Excursions – by Bruce Gilman