Скачать или смотреть Lamentos by Pixinguinha • Receita de Samba

The title of the choro, "Lamentos", by Pixinguinha has a curious origin, according to another famous flute player and composer, Altamiro Carrillo (in the book "Os sorrisos do Choro by Julie Koidin, 2011). In the 1920s the group "Os 8 batutas" had just returned to Brazil after a successful season in France. Journalist Assis Chateaubriand invited the group to a hotel in Rio de Janeiro to pay homage to them. At the entrance, the doorman informed Pixinguinha that he regretted communicating that he should enter through the service door (the order was that nigros could not use the main entrance.) The musician, resigned, excused the doorman saying: "[Lamento] I regret it, but I know you are carrying out orders." They entered through the kitchen and one of the the musicians, Donga, said that the situation was an embarrassment and an absurdity, to which Pixinguinha replied: "[Eu Lamento] I regret it, but we are not going to comment further on the matter." Before receiving the journalist's tribute, someone made reference to the topic again and Pixinguinha replied: "I regret it, everyone regrets it too, but we are going to avoid comments." Donga finally commented to Pixinguinha: "You have used the word "Lamento" three times, why don't you write a choro with that name?"

The anecdote can be completed with the ridiculous side that is usually represented by the "evaluators" of art: critics and the like. "Lamentos" appeared in a 1928 record and music critic Cruz Cordeiro, for many a pioneer in music criticism, wrote in the Phono-Art magazine: "The fourth album contains two choros: one from Pixinguinha, "Lamentos", and another from Donga, "Amigo do pogo". We cannot fail to notice the absence of perfectly typical character. The influence of North American melodies and rhythms is, in those choros, very evident. […] That is why that we judge this album as the worst of the four by the Pixinguinha-Donga orchestra." I can only imagine Pixinguinha smiling when reading the sterile comments of the "critic pioneer".

The passage of time consolidates what has some value and discards what is irrelevant: no one remembers Cruz Cordeiro and "Lamentos" continues to entertain and amaze musicians and listeners. Pixinguinha has a very special gift that most likely had to do with his tolerant and open personality, present in his music with exquisite elegance, depth, wit and good humor.

The present recording was made during a concert at the Palencia Jazz Festival, along with David Merlin on piano and Sebastian Merlin and Fernando Marconi on percussion.