What do Jimmy Cliff, Jimmy Page, and Dionne Warwick all have in common? For one thing, they've all lived in Bahia. And so have untold numbers of other wonderful artists whose work has never reached beyond very limited surroundings. That's why all this began...
In this matrix it's not which pill you take, it's which pathways you take, pathways originating in the sprawling cultural matrix of Brazil: Indigenous, African, Sephardic and then Ashkenazic, European, Asian... Ground Zero is the Recôncavo, delineated by the Bay of All Saints, earthly center of gravity for the disembarkation of enslaved human beings — and the sublimity they created — presided over by the ineffable Black Rome of Brazil: Salvador da Bahia.
("Black Rome" is an appellation per Caetano Veloso, son of the Recôncavo, via Mãe Aninha of Ilê Axé Opô Afonjá.)
Caetano Veloso
CURATION
-
from this page:
by Matrix
Network Node
-
Name:
J. Velloso
-
City/Place:
Salvador, Bahia
-
Country:
Brazil
Life & Work
-
Bio:
Joviniano José Velloso Barrêtto, mais conhecido como J. Velloso, é um renomado cantor, compositor e produtor de música popular brasileira. Nascido em 16 de janeiro em Santo Amaro da Purificação, cidade que também é o berço de sua família, logo se mudou para Salvador, onde se envolveu com capoeira e futebol. Em 1979, iniciou seus estudos em medicina veterinária na Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), graduando-se em 1983. Um ano após sua formatura, retornou a Santo Amaro, estabelecendo-se como médico veterinário em sua própria clínica.
Sua convivência com artistas locais despertou sua veia artística, levando-o a compor suas primeiras músicas. Após três anos em Santo Amaro, J. Velloso voltou a residir em Salvador, onde suas composições foram gravadas por renomados artistas do cenário nacional, como Maria Bethânia, Gal Costa, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Daniela Mercury, Beth Carvalho, Jorge Vercillo, Joana, Zezé Motta, Mariene de Castro, Vânia Abreu, Belô Velloso, Roberto Mendes, Alexandre Leão, Margareth Menezes, Jussara Silveira, entre outros.
Como produtor musical, J. Velloso deixou sua marca em vários discos de renome, incluindo "Diplomacia" de Batatinha, que recebeu o Prêmio Sharp em 1999, "Humanenochum" de Riachão, indicado ao Prêmio Grammy em 2002, e "Dona Edith do Prato e Vozes da Purificação", vencedor do Prêmio Tim de Música em 2004. Além disso, ele lançou três álbuns como artista solo: "Aboio para um Rinoceronte" em 2004, "J. Velloso e os Cavaleiros de Jorge" em 2009 e "Não Sei se te Contei" em 2018. J. Velloso também é autor do livro-CD "Santo Antônio e outros Cantos" lançado em 2010. Sua influência se estendeu além dos estúdios, atuando como diretor artístico em shows notáveis como "Ela Disse-me Assim" de Gal Costa e "Cláridária" de Daniela Mercury em Cabo Verde.
English:
Joviniano José Velloso Barrêtto, better known as J. Velloso, is a renowned singer, songwriter, and producer of Brazilian popular music. Born on January 16th in Santo Amaro da Purificação, a city that is also the birthplace of his family, he soon moved to Salvador, where he became involved in capoeira and soccer. In 1979, he began his studies in veterinary medicine at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), graduating in 1983. A year after his graduation, he returned to Santo Amaro, establishing himself as a veterinarian in his own clinic.
His interactions with local artists sparked his artistic vein, leading him to compose his first songs. After three years in Santo Amaro, J. Velloso returned to live in Salvador, where his compositions were recorded by renowned artists of the national scene, such as Maria Bethânia, Gal Costa, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Daniela Mercury, Beth Carvalho, Jorge Vercillo, Joana, Zezé Motta, Mariene de Castro, Vânia Abreu, Belô Velloso, Roberto Mendes, Alexandre Leão, Margareth Menezes, Jussara Silveira, among others.
As a music producer, J. Velloso made his mark on several acclaimed albums, including "Diplomacia" by Batatinha, which received the Sharp Award in 1999, "Humanenochum" by Riachão, nominated for the Grammy Award in 2002, and "Dona Edith do Prato e Vozes da Purificação", winner of the Tim Music Award in 2004. Additionally, he released three albums as a solo artist: "Aboio para um Rinoceronte" in 2004, "J. Velloso e os Cavaleiros de Jorge" in 2009, and "Não Sei se te Contei" in 2018. J. Velloso is also the author of the book-CD "Santo Antônio e outros Cantos" released in 2010. His influence extended beyond the studios, acting as artistic director in notable shows such as "Ela Disse-me Assim" by Gal Costa and "Cláridária" by Daniela Mercury in Cape Verde.
Clips (more may be added)
"Dear Sparrow: I am thrilled to receive your email! Thank you for including me in this wonderful matrix."
—Susan Rogers: Personal recording engineer for Prince, inc. "Purple Rain", "Sign o' the Times", "Around the World in a Day"... Director of the Berklee Music Perception and Cognition Laboratory
"Thanks! It looks great!....I didn't write 'Cantaloupe Island' though...Herbie Hancock did! Great Page though, well done! best, Randy"
"We appreciate you including Kamasi in the matrix, Sparrow."
—Banch Abegaze: manager, Kamasi Washington
"This is super impressive work ! Congratulations ! Thanks for including me :)))"
—Clarice Assad: Pianist and composer with works performed by Yo Yo Ma and orchestras around the world
"Dear Sparrow, Many thanks for this – I am touched!"
—Julian Lloyd-Webber: UK's premier cellist; brother of Andrew Lloyd Webber (Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, Phantom of the Opera...)
"Thanks, this is a brilliant idea!!"
—Alicia Svigals: World's premier klezmer violinist
Developed here in the Historic Center of Salvador da Bahia ↓ .
Bule Bule (Assis Valente)
"♫ The time has come for these bronzed people to show their value..."
Recommend somebody and you will appear on that person's page. Somebody recommends you and they will appear on your page.
Both pulled by the inexorable mathematical gravity of the small world phenomenon to within range of everybody inside.
And by logical extension, to within range of all humanity outside as well.
8 billion human beings tend to within six degrees of connection to each other.
In a small world great things are possible.
I'm Pardal here in Brazil (that's "Sparrow" in English). The deep roots of this project are in Manhattan, where Allen Klein (managed the Beatles and The Rolling Stones) called me about royalties for the estate of Sam Cooke... where Jerry Ragovoy (co-wrote Time is On My Side, sung by the Stones; Piece of My Heart, Janis Joplin of course; and Pata Pata, sung by the great Miriam Makeba) called me looking for unpaid royalties... where I did contract and licensing for Carlinhos Brown's participation on Bahia Black with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock...
...where I rescued unpaid royalties for Aretha Franklin (from Atlantic Records), Barbra Streisand (from CBS Records), Led Zeppelin, Mongo Santamaria, Gilberto Gil, Astrud Gilberto, Airto Moreira, Jim Hall, Wah Wah Watson (Melvin Ragin), Ray Barretto, Philip Glass, Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd for his interest in Bob Marley compositions, Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam and others...
...where I worked with Earl "Speedo" Carroll of the Cadillacs (who went from doo-wopping as a kid on Harlem streetcorners to top of the charts to working as a janitor at P.S. 87 in Manhattan without ever losing what it was that made him special in the first place), and with Jake and Zeke Carey of The Flamingos (I Only Have Eyes for You)... stuff like that.
Yeah this is Bob's first record contract, made with Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd of Studio One and co-signed by his aunt because he was under 21. I took it to Black Rock to argue with CBS' lawyers about the royalties they didn't want to pay (they paid).
I built the Matrix below (I'm below left, with David Dye & Kim Junod for U.S. National Public Radio) among some of the world's most powerfully moving music, some of it made by people barely known beyond village borders. Or in the case of Sodré, his anthem A MASSA — a paean to Brazil's poor ("our pain is the pain of a timid boy, a calf stepped on...") — having blasted from every radio between the Amazon and Brazil's industrial south, before he was silenced. The Matrix started with Sodré, with João do Boi, with Roberto Mendes, with Bule Bule, with Roque Ferreira... music rooted in the sugarcane plantations of Bahia. Hence our logo (a cane cutter).
Matrix founding creators are behind "one of 10 of the best (radios) around the world", per The Guardian. If you create too, join them in the Matrix.
This list is random, and incomplete. Reload the page for another list.