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ElisaBandolim

Jacob do Bandolim's Love at First Sight

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I am very happy to announce that I will be sharing my love for Choro here on the Mandolin Cafe. I will do my best to tell you all a little bit of the history of Choro music, the bandolim, and bandolim players here. It couldn’t be a better day to begin, since we celebrate both Valentine's Day and Jacob do Bandolim's birthday this week!

With that in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to tell you a story about Jacob do Bandolim and his "love at first sight."

The year was 1931, and Jacob was thirteen years old. He had only just started to learn to play the mandolin. One day, when he was walking back home, he heard a piece of music that hypnotized him immediately. A clarinet was playing lead. The same album was played over and over (just two tracks because it was a 78 rpm), coming from an apartment in a building close to his street.

Jacob was transfixed. He sat down on the curb and stayed there listening carefully over and over to this piece, trying to learn it, to memorize it. This record was the first Choro Jacob had ever heard. The piece is called "É do que há," by Luiz Americano. The record was playing at Valentina Biosca's apartment, and she was one of the directors of the Victor recording label!

Listen to "É do que há," by Luiz Americano performed by himself below: I like to say Luiz Americano is the Brazilian Sidney Bechet or Sidney Bechet is the American Luiz Americano.



When the music stopped, Jacob rushed home to his mandolin, trying to remember and reproduce "É do que há." It took weeks until he was finally able to play his first choro.

So, who was Luiz Americano ?

His full name was Luiz Americano Rego, and he was born on February 27, 1900, in Aracajú, in northern Brazil. He was a pioneer in the music, one of the first to introduce the clarinet into choro. At the age of 13, he began taking clarinet lessons with his father (Jorge Americano) who was a band conductor. Later, he joined the army and started playing the clarinet in a military band. Some time later, he was transferred to Maceió, and later to Rio de Janeiro. When you hear a clarinet accompanist in a recording by Carmem Miranda, Francisco Alves, or Orlando Silva, it is usually Luiz Americano! He was also one of the first people to play on the first radio station in Brazil, Rádio Sociedade.

In 1927, Luiz recorded his first album titled at Odeon as composer and soloist. In 1928, he was invited to play for three months in Argentina. He played in the orchestra of the American drummer Gordon Stretton, and a little later in the orchestra of the Argentine Adolfo Carabelli. After this, he returned to Brazil. Here he started playing in various orchestras. From 1932 onwards, he began to play with masters Pixinguinha, Donga, Bonfíglio de Oliveira and João da Bahiana at Cabaré Assírio. Don't worry if you have no idea who these musicians are, I'm planning to tell you all more about them in future blog postings.

Now we return to Jacob. Many months after he heard "É do que há" for the first time, he went to a Music Store called "Casa Silva" to try out the mandolins they had for sale. He noticed a man looking at him while he was playing, paying attention very carefully to what he was doing. The man finally spoke to him, complimenting his playing. Jacob found out the man was a professional musician, a musician who played on the radio! This mysterious man said he would write a letter recommending Jacob as a potential performer on a show on Radio Philips. Jacob was even more thrilled when he read the signature, and realized the man was Luiz Americano.

Listen to the recording by Jacob of "É do que há" from 1961. The video here is for the full album "Chorinhos e chorões", but "É do que há" is the second track at 3:02):



What do you think Jacob did with the letter?? Do you think he took it to the radio station, or ripped it apart?? Until my next blog posting...

Um grande abraço,

Elisa Meyer Ferreira

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Comments

  1. Glassweb's Avatar
    Thank you Elisa... you're the best! By the way, are there any videos that show Jacob playing the mandolin "live"?

    I've never had any luck finding one...
  2. ElisaBandolim's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Glassweb
    Thank you Elisa... you're the best! By the way, are there any videos that show Jacob playing the mandolin "live"?

    I've never had any luck finding one...

    Thank you! About Jacob videos, unfortunately all the videos that show Jacob were destroyed at a fire in the tv archives. There’s only a couple of seconds that shows him playing but with no audio.
  3. Glassweb's Avatar
    Thanks for this information Elisa. So many of the greatest musicians... Jacob, Charlie Parker, Django Reinhardt... and almost no videos. Well, at least we have their recorded music! And, thankfully, there are plenty of videos of your amazing playing!
  4. ElisaBandolim's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Glassweb
    Thanks for this information Elisa. So many of the greatest musicians... Jacob, Charlie Parker, Django Reinhardt... and almost no videos. Well, at least we have their recorded music! And, thankfully, there are plenty of videos of your amazing playing!
    Yes, it’s very sad…we need a Time Machine to travel “everytime” we want 😊 thank you 🙏
  5. Don Stiernberg's Avatar
    What a great article!
    I liked the comparison to Bechet, in fact it sounds like Luiz is playing a soprano sax on this track. Whatever he's playing, it's so in tune and beautiful! And I was unaware of that chronology (almost wrote "choro-onology"), his impact on Jacob both musically and professionally.
    Thank you Elisa. Thank you Mandolin Cafe. So great!
  6. ElisaBandolim's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Don Stiernberg
    What a great article!
    I liked the comparison to Bechet, in fact it sounds like Luiz is playing a soprano sax on this track. Whatever he's playing, it's so in tune and beautiful! And I was unaware of that chronology (almost wrote "choro-onology"), his impact on Jacob both musically and professionally.
    Thank you Elisa. Thank you Mandolin Cafe. So great!
    Hi Don! It actually sounds like a sax for me too - and I know Luiz played sax also - but because the recording is so old with bad quality and because the bibliographic records I’ve seen say it’s a clarinet, I decided to write it’s a clarinet. I couldn’t find a picture of this disc specifically (I’ve found some by Luiz but very rarely they say if it’s a clarinet or not). So I think it will remain a mystery for now haha.
    Muito obrigada, Don! I’m glad you liked the “choronology” 😘😘😘
  7. Chris Fannin's Avatar
    Eu tenho que apprender Choro porque minha esposa é Brasilera.
  8. thumbknuckle's Avatar
    Wonderful!

    Thank you for this, and your smile too.
  9. Mandolin Deep Cuts's Avatar
    This was the best thing I saw on the internet all week!
  10. Mark Levesque's Avatar
    Thank you Elisa, it is wonderful to read such interesting stories of choro.
    I'm looking forward to your next post!

    I hope to hear Choro Das 3 again soon.
    Cheers,
    Mark
  11. ElisaBandolim's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Fannin
    Eu tenho que apprender Choro porque minha esposa é Brasilera.
    É isso aí!!!
  12. ElisaBandolim's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by thumbknuckle
    Wonderful!

    Thank you for this, and your smile too.

    You’re welcome!!! Thank you! Obrigada 🙏
  13. ElisaBandolim's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Mandolin Deep Cuts
    This was the best thing I saw on the internet all week!
    I loved to know that! It definitely encourages me to write more 😊😊😊
  14. Catuta's Avatar
    Elisa is simply the best mandolin player in Brazil today. We love this girl and the sound she can pull out of this instrument!
  15. Glassweb's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Catuta
    Elisa is simply the best mandolin player in Brazil today. We love this girl and the sound she can pull out of this instrument!
    Elisa is not only a virtuoso mandolin player... she is also a master clarinetist, a master pianist, a superb accordion player and a profound composer and teacher. Oh yes... she is also an incredibly skilled and imaginitive artist and illustrator and, as evidenced here, a master linguist as well as she can speak (and apparently write) in several languages fluently. Now where she has found the time to accomplish all this in a relatively short life is beyond me.

    Oh yes... she is also on of the nicest, ego-free people you could ever hope to meet. If you have never seen Elisa and her band Choro Das 3 live do yourself and your friends a big favor and GO!
  16. chuck3's Avatar
    Thank you Elisa - this is great. I love the first track on that 1961 album - really swings.
  17. ElisaBandolim's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Catuta
    Elisa is simply the best mandolin player in Brazil today. We love this girl and the sound she can pull out of this instrument!
    Thank you, dr.Catuta!!! 😘😘😘
  18. ElisaBandolim's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by chuck3
    Thank you Elisa - this is great. I love the first track on that 1961 album - really swings.
    I know, right? Jacob was the king of swing!
  19. Amy Burcham's Avatar
    Just discovering this series! What a great idea - I am so happy to see it. I love your writing style, and think Mandolin Cafe is a perfect way for choro lovers to experience these anecdotes, mixed in with excellent examples of the tunes as they are mentioned. Your integrity, not only as a player, but also as a broadly curious person who combines deep knowledge and high standards, shines in this forum. More please! Thanks Mandolin Cafe
  20. Reed Shield's Avatar
    I love listening to Elisa play the Mandolin. I love watching her too!! I can only dream of playing as good as she does. It's nice to read and hear of the people that influenced her. Much love Elisa!!
  21. asIsaidtomyfriend's Avatar
    Thanks for these great posts, Elisa. And for the wonderful interview on the Mandolins and Beer podcast last week. I loved listening to you explain your points by playing short pieces on your mandolins. Great stuff!
  22. Kinsho's Avatar
    An excellent set of blog articles.