[Dixielandjazz] MARCELO CEGO TUBA

[Tito Martino]

Hi Dave, howyouredoing?

I look very seldom to DJML lately, but that title called to my attention.

Yes I know very well Marcelo Cego (in portuguese/brazilian Cego means Blind)
of course he's blind. His name is Marcelo Sotti Troni (yes, Italian family)
lives in Arujá,
small town 50 Km from São Paulo where I live.

He played in my Band the Tito Martino Jazz Band in some
few gigs. He's a very nice guy, he plays professionally with dance bands and

sometimes with dixieland bands (there are very few of this kind around here
in Brazil !

He's a very strict follower of a Christian Evangelic church,
and has somewhat limited degree of autonomy due to strict church's rules.
He is always guided and accompanied by his efficient and charming wife,
who takes good care of him.    The tunes played in the links you send are
improvisations over Hymns from his church book.  He has absolute ears,
perfect timing,
good harmonic knewledge and great imagination to improvise, but he 's
not attached to OKOM and I wouldn't  say he's a jazzman because he
can't swing in the way Duke Ellington means, the way real jazzmen do;
I mean, like a Cyrus St. Clair, or a Wilbert Tillman.  He could if he had
studied
these tuba masters.

The rolling tempo you refer is nothing more than the very traditional
popular
brazilian rhythm called "Maxixe", which I consider one of the very important

authentic hard-core brazilian folk rhythm.
Certainly it's a stint of african rhythms, (but not a jazz "swing")  because
the same
 Yoruba ethny who entered Louisiana as slaves or as freepersons of color,
coming from Cuba, those same Yorubas went to Brasil;  to Bahia state and Rio
de Janeiro state, bringin their soul-food red-beans-and-rice,   their
animistic religion - Umbanda
 (same as Santeria, Vodoo) and what matters for music, their tribal drumming
which in N.O influenced directly Baby Dodds drumming after Congo Square, and
in Brasil influenced the heavy drummings of "Escolas de Samba" in Carnival,
and influenced the other
important rhythmic and stylistic Brazilian musical contribution that is the
"Chorinho".
 Our listmate Hans Koert has a whole fantastic blog about choro or chorinho,
that I strongly reccomend for you all to visit
http://choro-music.blogspot.com/

Go there and listen and see youtubes with examples of the REAL brazilian
music, not commercial, played by some musical geniuses at level with
jazzgreats.

(shameless plug: he put a page about my 50 years playing Traditional Jazz,
in his extraordinary jazz site, at
http://keepswinging.blogspot.com/2007/12/tito-martino.html   )

that's all. Enjoy!

and keep on swingin'

Tito Martino


Tito Martino Jazz Band
www.titomartinojazzband.com.br
titomartino at gmail.com

Message: 10
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2010 01:52:57 -0700
From: David M Richoux <tubaman at tubatoast.com>
To: DJML Jazz <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Slightly OT - Anybody know anything about
       "Marcelo        Cego?"
Message-ID: <6B51601C-AC6D-4323-9B64-88B357AFECA7 at tubatoast.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes

Hi all - there are a bunch of Youtubes with various brass & accordion
ensembles, mostly with a Marcelo Cego on tuba, helicon or Sousaphone.
There is very little information attached to the videos, but some seem
to written in Portuguese or have Brazilian URLs associated. Some list
the tuba a Baixo, which is Portuguese for Bass.

Google is not turning up much info on the musician, nor the musical
style they are playing - lots of  improvised bass lines and a sort of
rolling tempo.

A few examples:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlLw169nk_c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6pKKZMsaPs

Some approach New Orleans traditional jazz in feeling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJv6FJJkbss

any ideas?

Dave RIchoux