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Cama de Gato gave a fantastic performance at the Malta Jazz Festival last Saturday at Ta’ Liesse. The Maltese crowd found plenty of resonance with their playful Brazilian jazz-rock tunes. Erika Brincat got the chance to meet up with all five of them after a workshop held at the School of Music in Valletta, and on their way for sound check before performance night.
I was expecting to have a quiet chat in the Phoenicia’s lobby with Cama de Gato’s drummer Pascoal Mereilles, when suddenly I found myself surrounded by all the members of the band which included: Mauro Senise the flute and sax player, Mingo Aravjo on percussion, Jota Moraes on keyboards, and Andre Neiva the base player. Pascoal acted as the main spokesperson and interpreter for the group, however the questions traveled around each member of the band.
What are the origins of the band, and how did you get together?
“We started to play and develop our material around 1985-86. We needed to have a face, our own identity and repertoire, so the people would recognize us because we had our own tunes. We were very lucky at the time when we started – our first record sold 90,000 copies. The group’s second idea was to develop original Brazilian tunes, and compose tunes with a lot of material from Brazil.”
Using material from the past?
“No. We improvise for everything. We have such a big country and each region has its particular essence and that affects our music. We are influenced by the whole of Brazil.”
What are some of the Brazilian names of the instruments you use?
“We use all the normal instruments, and then we also have special ones from different regions in Brazil. For example, Mingo our percussionist uses several particular instruments from the North East of Brazil, and other areas. They are called the Zabumba, Caxixi, Triangulo, Gongue and Xequere’.”
Brazilian music is definitely gaining in popularity worldwide. Why do you think this is happening?
“Every kind of groove from Brazil makes you want to dance, they make you want to move and they make you feel happy. It is good for listening and it appeals to the body too. Brazilian music makes you participate and celebrate.”
How would you describe the essence of your music?
“We discovered the Brazilian way to do jazz. You can say this is Brazilian jazz.” Mauro the flute and sax player adds that “Brazilian jazz is very ‘rich’ – perhaps the most rich in melody in the world.”
What was your experience of the workshop here at the School of Music in Valletta?
Mauro: “Fantastic! We performed and they really seemed to enjoy it – something new, something different. Jota explained to them about the composition and his construction of the music. Our music composition is very interesting for foreign people.”
Jota: “We have a lot of poor people in our country, and they feel an obligation to be happy. If you don’t have money, you’ve got to be happy and the music is a reflection of that.”
Do you enjoy mixing with other musicians during such Jazz Festivals and is it important to keep the vibrancy of your music alive and add some new influences to your performance?
“We play at a lot of Jazz festivals. But the idea is to go there and play our own identity. It is beautiful to be with other jazz musicians, but we play what we are. That’s why we prefer to play our tunes and keep our identity on stage” says Pascoal and they all agree. Andre adamantly says that he prefers the term Music Festival to Jazz Festival, and Mauro emphasizes that “yes of course, we learn from the other musicians too, but when we play we keep our own identity.”
What kind of music do you like listening to?
“We love Brazilian music, but we also listen to all types of Jazz and Classical music.”
Is nature – water, rain, and the sounds of the Brazilian forest also an important influence in your music?
I am told this is a good question for the music composer Jota who is Brazilian Indian. He explains that when he composes music he thinks of Brazilian nature, especially the Amazon forest that sadly is being destroyed without the Brazilians’ permission, by big multinational companies. Partly joking, partly serious, he says he’s afraid that after the next ten years there will be no nature to compose about!
Greatest social concern about Brazil and its people you wish the world at large was more aware of?
Pascoal translates: “Every time Jota composes a tune he goes into the feeling of what’s going on for the Brazilian people, and what are they feeling as a nation. He apologizes for speaking about such a sad subject but says that his community, the Brazilian Indians are starting to commit suicide because they have nowhere to go, no work and no food.” The other band members also remind me that the Amazon forest that is being destroyed, is the size of Europe and is necessary for oxygen in the whole world.
Who are the people you admire the most?
The answers steer clear from the expected! Andre insists: “my family and Jesus Christ”, Jota says: “every person who works”, Mauro: “Miles Davis, Fellini and Wayne Shorter an American composer and sax player”, Mingo says: “good men in general”, and for Pascoal it depends on their “character” – “a good character, for example Charles Gatt, known as City Gatt,” whom he considers a man of great character.
And who is your favorite Brazilian author?
Erico Verissimo, they agree, who wrote “O Tempo e o Vento” – “The Time and the Wind”. Jota tells me that the group tonight is going to play in such a way as “to put children to sleep and make men wake up”, quoting a Brazilian poet called Carlos Drummond.
I wish them a good performance and they are on their way for sound check. They invite me to the festival and jokingly add: “only then you can verify if what we said was true!” Those of you who attended can second that.
Cama de Gato were talking to Erika Brincat
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