by Rebecca Kleinmann
Rebeca Had Time to Relax in the Exuberance of Jericoacoara
Some people visit new places each time they travel. I definitely enjoy endless exploration, but when I find an event that combines music I love in a place of spectacular beauty, I find it enriching to return over and over again. The Choro Jazz Fest in Ceará has become a repeated destination for me and the people, like family. Recently, I attended the 15th edition of Choro Jazz, my personal 7th time at the same festival and my 12th visit to Brazil. I’m proud that I even ended up in a poem written by production manager and artist, Luã Amat. I’m definitely earning my reputation as a “Quasileira!”
The annual Choro Jazz Festival in Ceará, produced by Antonio Ivan Capucho, known simply as “Capucho” is held in late November and early December. It has three parts: Fortaleza, Jericoacoara and Sambaíba. The Fortaleza portion of the festival has musical workshops and concerts in Fortaleza’s marvelous outdoor venue Centro Dragão do Mar de Arte e Cultura. In 2024 it featured local Fortaleza talents including guitarist Samuel Rocha and singer/ guitarist Teresa Raquel, along with virtuoso group “O Trio,” formed in 1987 by 7-string guitarist Maurício Carrilho, clarinetist Paulo Sérgio Santos and mandolinist Pedro Amorim. Even though I was unable to attend these events, as I have in the past, I was able to watch the concerts from North Carolina in real time via the festival’s live YouTube stream where the shows are still available for viewing .
The journey to Jericoacoara is not the easiest trek. (Hard earned traveler’s hack: there are a couple weekly direct flights from Miami to Fortaleza, vastly reducing the time it takes via flights routing through São Paulo). Fortunately this year I was able to stop and visit a friend, flutist Marie Saintonge, in Icaraí at her Casa Mangará Musical, splitting up the 4+ hour drive from Fortaleza to Jericoacoara. The last part of the journey has to be done in a dune buggy or 4 wheel drive, as you cross the vast beautiful sand dune preserve that surrounds Jericoacoara. This once quiet fishing village by the sea was discovered to have the perfect conditions for windsurfing and has increasingly become a tourist town in the last decades. The waters are filled with Italian windsurfers, but if you are a swimmer, like me, there are still plenty of places to enjoy splashing around in the water. Jericoacoara’s natural beauty and long stretches of dune-lined beaches are in a word, glorious.
Jazz Rebecca with Brazilian Musician João Bosco
Speaking of the Jericoacora festival itself, the week featured daytime classes taught by top musicians including Maurício Carrilho, François de Lima, Nelson Faria, Kiko Freitas and more. Then comes my favorite part: Each day just before sunset, usually at a restaurant by the ocean, we gather for a great “roda de choro” (choro circle). We play until it is almost time for the evening concerts to begin. Every day I was able to some of play my favorite music with masters for more than 3 hours while surrounded by happy beach culture and watching colorful sunsets. This is heaven for me! Around a table of cerveja and appetizers we all take turns choosing tunes and leading melodies. It’s a chance for me to play chorinhos I know and hear new ones to put on my list to learn.
One day at these rodas, João Bosco sat down right next to me and stayed for hours. No pressure! In fact the mood is supportive and joyful. Another observation is that throughout the years, I’m seeing more women and girls in the rodas. This is a wonderful development. Besides a couple of talented young women musicians traveling from Barcelona, I was one of the only non-Brazilians playing at the rodas this year. I felt fully immersed and included in the beautiful flow of music. In fact, this year’s festival concerts intentionally highlighted women.
The fantastic evening entertainment included the stunning Mônica Salmaso duo with Andre Mehemari (piano), beautiful pianist/singer Bianca Gismonte’s Trio, and rising star Vanessa Moreno’s amazing group with Pedro Martins (guitar), Michel Pipoquinha (bass), Felipe Viegas (keys), and Renato Galvão (drums). The music was undeniably remarkable. My friend, US pianist Ingrid Nora Knight says “…watching Bianca Gismonti, Mônica Salmaso & Vanessa Moreno perform such riveting repertoire … I felt myself suddenly transported, inspired by their artistry.”
Highlighting women also came in the form of featuring Jericoacoara’s local all female group, Armenina do Coco Fulô and the closing festival concert featuring Lia de Itamaracá – Ciranda do Mundo fusing traditional ciranda music with modern beats. Of course there were inspiring acts of all genders, including the amazing O Trio, Trio Júlio, Nosso Trio, Jorge Holder and Lula Galvão, Nonato Lima, Jota P Grupo featuring François de Lima, and of course the João Bosco Quartet who performed more than a two hour set.
Vanessa Moreno Group at Stage
Capucho notes the importance of having a major sponsor, Petrobras (BP) to produce this impressive festival. We are all grateful to them, Capucho, Luã and everyone who makes this educational and culture-preserving event possible. The evening concerts begin at about 8pm and go past midnight in the town’s central square. A temporary large stage is set up at one side of the square, and each night the plaza is surrounded by vendors and packed with listeners in chairs, or sitting on the sandy ground. A very memorable moment was one in which the entire audience was so mesmerized by Mônica Salmaso that even when it began to rain nobody moved a muscle. We were all there together hanging on her every note.
Often after the evening’s concerts there would be a forró dance at Jericoacara’s enchanting Serra Mar venue or a jam in the square. I found myself jamming until sunrise with the likes of guitarist Ricardo Silveira, Pedro Martins, Pipoquinha, Vanessa Moreno and drummer Kiko Freitas. Speaking of endless jamming, the festival rounds out at Camp Sambaíba, a lake-side plot of land owned by Capucho. I view this part as more of a musical retreat than anything. There is very little structure to the activities, except that everyone eats together, sharing the wonderful meals prepared by Gama, Sambaíba’s chef. What a delight it is to enjoy fresh food, great company, napping in hammocks, swimming and endless live spontaneous music.
I very much appreciated this chance to relax, practice my Portuguese, calm my system with simplicity and enjoy making music with new and old friends. More information about Choro Jazz can be found at www,chorojazz.com. My thanks to Soul Brasil to have been supporting me and other musicians in love with Brazilian culture in the U.S, and in particular, California.
* Rebecca Kleinmann is a flutist, singer and educator. She is a native of Santa Barbara, California, and currently directs “Charanga Carolina” at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, teaches via her own private studio, and directs several ensembles including “Noites Carolinas” Brazilian Choro Band, “Forró Triângulo,” and the “Rebecca Kleinmann Quintet” which was awarded Chamber Music America’s Performance Plus grant in 2024 – www.rebeccakleinmann.com
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