This was it. It was the best concert of the summer AND YOU MISSED IT OSCAR! YOU MISSED IT!
I'm new to Hermeto Pascoal, having heard only a smattering of his music. When I heard that he was giving a free concert as part of Lincoln Center's summer series at Damrosch Park Bandshell, it seemed like an opportunity I shouldn't miss.
I have a very hard time describing what happened on stage that night, but it was an incredible experience. The influence of jazz and brazilian samba and bossa nova music where evident, but to call the music a mere fusion of those two styles would be a great oversimplification. The music was thickly layered and polyrhythmic. As a listener, I could feel a pocket, but when I tried to count out time, or tell where one was, it became totally confusing. Every so often the band would settle down, and a clearly discernible meter would emerge. Only several seconds later they would depart again in a completely different direction.
The hour long set was played with very few pauses. The band would only stop playing for a few seconds at a time. The effect was overwhelming, like reading a novel in one sitting. Although I didn't have any time to think about what I was hearing, it was a really great effect. After the show I was left with incredible impression of the music I had heard, without being able to put together any of the smaller details in my head. Also, special recognition is due to Aline Morae, Hermeto's wife and vocalist in the group. She sang for an hour, while performing incredibly complex music with such intensity that the whole audience was awed.
I had come across some very cynical philosophies about this country and life in general this summer, for reasons I won't get into now. Basically, I was very frustrated with living in an increasingly conservative and consumer driven society. This concert really cleared my head out. After seeing Hermeto e Grupo on stage I was left with an important but very obvious revelation- "Right. That's why I am a musician."
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