James’ Blog

What happens when you take a small Jazz venue full of people, and you add an 80's Rock legend on stage? You get the makings of a very enjoyable evening.
Tonight's Paulo Ricardo's presentation, his last on this series began just like that.
 
For those who don't know him, Paulo Ricardo was the leader of one of Brazil's most influential rock bands of the 1980's, "Revolutions Per Minute", or as they are most widely known, simply "RPM".

The evening began with a couple of new ballads, and then started to gain momentum with songs from acclaimed Brazilian musicians like Raul Seixas and Legião Urbana, until he got to his 80's rock songs we were all waiting for.

And then, an amazing surprise. He introduced on stage a true Brazilian guitar legend. A man who was there in the 60's, at the beginning of Brazilian Rock: Luis Carlini.

This guy can play the guitar. If Americans knew him, he'd be included in one of those "top 100 guitar players of all time" things.
 
He came on stage, sat on a stool, and played a mean slide guitar to Paulo Ricardo's howling blues tune. My simple enjoyable evening had gone up a few notches, and now I was really having a blast.
 
Luis Carlini remained onstage for most of the remaining songs, and it couldn't get any better than this, or could it.
 
After just a little while, Paulo Ricardo said "I have the pleasure and the privilege of bringing up on stage, the guitar player of Brazil's most successful band in the USA…."
 
And I said, sarcastically, in an "as if" tone of voice: "Sepultura". And a second later Paulo Ricardo finished his sentence with "…..Andreas, from Sepultura"

I went nuts. He took the stage, all serious-like, and I could help but yell "WAR FOR TERRITORY!!!", to which he gave a big smile.
 
What followed next was pure Rock & Roll ecstasy. Song after song, melting into one another, with Andeas and Carlini guitar-dueling, Paulo Ricardo (we always say his full first name) leading the audience seamlessly and non-stop from Elvis to Beatles to Led Zep, and onwards. His love for music and the stage is evident and contagious, and he sings with talent, humor, and passion. You can't ask for more.
 
The night ended after two short hours with the staples Radio Pirata (Pirate Radio), Revoluções por Minuto (Revolutions per Minute), and Olhar 43 (Look 43).