June 5, 2025 • 34 mins
Geoff steps into the rich musical world of Brazilian guitarist Luiz Morais as he shares his fascinating journey from the vibrant northeast of Brazil to becoming an accomplished performer, composer, and bandleader in London.
The conversation delves into the intricate world of Choro music - Brazil's first truly urban musical style that blends European harmonic sophistication with African-derived rhythms. Luiz illustrates his Bossa Nova improvisation on Jobim’s 1960s standard ‘Wave’ followed by a masterful demonstration of comping techniques showcasing the subtle complexity behind these seemingly simple rhythmic patterns.
Luiz shares pivotal moments in his musical development - from his move to Rio de Janeiro to immerse himself in the heart of Brazilian musical culture, to his relocation to London in 2010 seeking artistic expansion. We hear about his compositional approach ("red carpet for the melody"), his recent big band project at London’s Pizza Express Jazz Club, and the beauty behind "Waltz for Us Two," a piece written for his wedding that blends Brazilian sensibilities with Indian classical vocals.
For anyone fascinated by Brazilian music traditions, jazz guitar, or cross-cultural musical fusion, this conversation offers valuable insights from a musician who embodies the sophisticated melodic and harmonic language that Brazil has contributed to global music…and download the Quartet iOS app to take your jazz play along even further.
Presenter: Geoff Gascoyne
Series Producer: Paul Sissons
Production Manager: Martin Sissons
The Quartet Jazz Standards Podcast is a UK Music Apps production.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Geoff (00:01):
Hello again, podcats Geoff Gascoyne here, hope you're
well.
Today I'm off to Chesham totalk to a fantastic Brazilian
guitar player, composer,bandleader, arranger, Luiz
Morais, someone I met in aclassical guitar shop a few
(00:22):
years ago and we hit it off andstayed in touch and we've played
a few gigs together and, uh,I've been an admirer of his work
for quite some time.
So I'm going to talk all aboutthe guitar, a bit about Brazil.
Here we go.
Announcement (00:53):
The Quartet Jazz Standards podcast is brought to
you by the Quartet app for iOS,taking your jazz play along to
another level.
Geoff (01:03):
Luiz.
Hello sir, thanks for pickingme up.
Don't get rained on.
It's raining in Chesham.
How are you, my friend?
Good, good, good.
Thank you so much for comingall the way in.
Oh, it's a long way, isn't it?
What a mish.
Are we on?
We're on, yes, yeah, we'repodcasting.
We're live.
How are you today?
Luiz (01:23):
Good, great to have you here.
Geoff (01:25):
Thanks for inviting me around.
Can we start talking about yourbackground, how you got started
in improvised music and whatyour story is playing the
guitar, so beautifully?
Luiz (01:33):
My first thing with music was songs, like the big
tradition of singer-songwritersin Brazil, right, Caetano Veloso
, Gilberto Gil, Luiz Gonzaga,all these people.
So my parents, they are notmusicians, but they gave me that
the whole what we call MPB,Brazilian Popular Music, like
these people, especially back inthe days, 80s, 70s, 60s, 70s,
(01:58):
you know, throughout the lastcentury it was the way that
Brazilian music was evolving wasbased on that, right.
So we had this gorgeous timewhere quality was priority, you
know.
So you get these big TV shows,big festivals, and you know,
(02:21):
radio especially.
You know.
Great music would be, you know,appreciated, would be, you know
, appreciated for, you know, forthe great public, rather than
what happens today.
Great public, like you know,have what we call pop stuff.
So, but back in the day, popwas used to be what we call
popular, like, as in, you know,music from the people, but with
(02:45):
high level, level, very goodquality.
So these people Veloso,Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento,
Chico Buarque, Luiz Gonzaga,all of them.
This is my background.
Geoff (02:57):
I saw an interview once and I can't remember who it was
with, but they were talkingabout the sophistication of
Brazilian music.
The example they gave was theBrazilian national anthem.
Oh yeah, it's not like God Savethe Queen, is it Nah?
Luiz (03:11):
It's complicated.
It has all this jazz,Chromatics and things, right
yeah.
Geoff (03:15):
It's beautiful actually.
Is it beautiful, is it?
Luiz (03:18):
Yeah, proper composition and lyrics like endless lyrics,
Right, wow.
Geoff (03:23):
Growing up with the Jobim legacy, if that is a thing.
Luiz (03:26):
Yeah, yeah, I mentioned all of those, but I didn't
mention Jobim.
Yeah, Of course, Jobim was sortof master for some of those you
know.
Came before, yeah, and actuallybefore Jobim, we had people
like Ary Barroso, which is thecomposer of most famous tune is
(03:49):
Brasil, Brasil, Brasileiro,Brasileiro but wonderful
composers, you know, before theBossa Nova era.
You know, and Choro as well,right, which is something that I
didn't have as a I didn't startwith as a musician, but then I
became very much into Choro,Samba,
Geoff (04:06):
Can you explain what Choro is to people who don't
know?
Luiz (04:09):
Yes, yes, so Choro is, how do I say, the very first urban
music in Brazil.
It's the result of the mix ofthe, the European influence,
like the dances, the saloonmusic, that, all that finesse of
(04:30):
the European music, all theharmonic language coming from
there, with the rhythmiclanguage of the African heritage
, you know so we obviously havethe sad chapter.
So we obviously have the sadchapter of Brazilian history
where African people were takenthere and, despite all the
(04:53):
history that everyone knowsabout, we had this result of the
mix of music, so Choro came asa result of that.
Geoff (05:03):
How does Choro differ from Bossa Nova?
Luiz (05:06):
N More ny because, as I said, coming from classical
music it's very na.
It's a composition that obeys aronde, a three-part composition
A, a, b, b, a, c, c.
Rondo, you know three-partcomposition, you know a, a, b, b
(05:26):
, a, c, c, that form,traditionally in its
instrumental music, mostly veryvirtuosic.
And and also you haveharmonically, you have like a
triadic language that goes,moves a lot, but it's it's not
about the texture, is more aboutmovement of the harmony.
(05:47):
Can you play an example?
Let me find something here,something like this so that's.
(06:19):
Choro.
Right, that's Choro.
Okay, very much yeah.
And the guitar.
What I played here is one ofthe classics, as you know.
You know of the guitarrepertoire, so it's very
connected to that as well.
But when I started out with theguitar, it wasn't Choro, it was
accompanying songs.
Geoff (06:38):
In what sort of style would you be playing when you
started out?
Luiz (06:45):
Rhythm from the northeast of Brazil .
Geoff (06:46):
B I mean, you're not strumming Lennon and McCartney
tunes, are you?
No?
Luiz (06:54):
That kind of thing.
Geoff (06:56):
I know.
So traditional Braziliansongs is what about about?
about.
Luiz (07:01):
Yeah, yeah.
Geoff (07:03):
Was there an influence of European music when you were
growing up?
Not really.
Luiz (07:08):
For me, the first non-Brazilian composer that I
got into was actually Bob Marley.
Wow yeah, I'm just not a rockperson at all you know.
Geoff (07:20):
So what age would you have been when you were starting
to play guitar?
Twelve, Twelve?
And did you have formal lessons?
Or was it all by ear when youstarted?
Luiz (07:29):
No, it was like getting the little books from the, you
know, just finding the positionstrumming along.
Yeah, yeah, yeah all that.
And then later on my dad had ateacher and then I had some
lessons with this teacher.
I had a little bit ofintroduction in early teens and
then I had a massive gap andthen when I was 17 to 18 I got
(07:52):
serious about it, into soloing,you know learning piece, so that
that was a bit of classical inthere.
A little bit further down theline I came across jazz and that
was really striking.
So Choro jazz, you knowinstrumental music, was kind of
same time when I was that kindof age, 18, 19.
Geoff (08:14):
What was the first jazz that really turned you on.
Luiz (08:18):
That's going to be a very cliche, but that was the Kind of
Blue.
Yeah, of course, Kind of Bluewas brutal.
Yeah, Miles was that mysteriousfigure.
I was like wow, wow man.
You know, once my, my aunt gaveme Bags' Groove album with the
green cover, you know, with Milt, , , Milt Jackson, brutal man.
(08:45):
That the sound of the vibes, andI mean before that through
Jobim
Geoff (08:51):
So you already had an ear for sophisticated harmony,
because obviously Jobim is verysophisticated.
Luiz (08:57):
Yeah, that's, that is actually what caught me, you
know, like I was interested onthe guitar but then soloing the
guitar, but then when I startedaccompanying Edu Lobo, Jobim,
Chico Buarque, you know, justget little things, you know, Edu
Lobo like he would do somethinglike that, then result this is
(09:21):
jazz, right, you know, I waslike wow, but why not this?
Like whoa, so gorgeous?
Yeah, so that thing was theharmony side of things
Geoff (09:33):
, I guess it will always lead to jazz, won't it?
Because that harmony is sosophisticated, isn't it?
Yeah, was there any classicalmusic influence as well?
Luiz (09:42):
Not very much.
This is something that I'vebeen more interested in more
recently, actually.
Right.
Obviously, when I went touniversity, one gets exposed.
I didn't go for a jazz course.
There isn't such a thing.
You know, when I first entereduniversity it was like bachelor,
(10:03):
like a general thing In music.
In music, yeah, you know, onewould come across Bach, and you
know, as I said, I started late.
You know, Like my peers theyhad.
You know, a lot of people startas a child, you know, have lots
of piano lessons, blah, blah,blah.
I remember I only startedreading music in order to enter
university.
(10:23):
I didn't know how to read orwrite music at all, so that was
quite a late start.
So for me to hear all thosehuge composers, I didn't really
understand very much.
Geoff (10:34):
So you started to improvise.
Did you ever transcribe anysolos or learn other people's
solos?
Luiz (10:39):
Yes, but that was much later, much later.
That was much later.
When I was 33, I moved to Riode Janeiro.
So that was a big game changer.
So where did you grow up?
Fortaleza?
Fortaleza is northeast ofBrazil.
That's the fifth biggest cityin Brazil, but it was obviously
not.
You know, Rio de Janeiro is thevery center.
(11:01):
You know Villa Lobos is fromRio de Janeiro, Pixinguinha is
from Rio de Janeiro, Jobim isfrom Rio de Janeiro, you know.
So the very core of Brazilianmusic has been Rio, therefore,
you know.
So that's what I went, you knowwhen I decided okay, I do want
to be a musician, so I wentthere.
So what do I find in region?
(11:22):
Samba, Choro, Samba, Choro,Samba, Choro, Samba, Choro.
A little bit of jazz, yes, butmostly within that kind of.
So the transcribing startedwith Choro, actually, because
the Choro it's a genre that youhave your standards, that one
has to learn A lot of harmonyto be memorized.
(11:44):
You don't go to a Choro, ahaunted Choro, like the
equivalent of a jam session.
You don't go with a Choro, ahodage Choro, like the
equivalent of a jam session.
You don't go with your charts,really.
No, you have to know what'shappening.
Geoff (11:55):
It's kind of similar to jazz, isn't it?
You know, you turn up on a jamsession and you play.
I Got Rhythm or Yardbird Suiteor so on.
Yeah, what are the most commonChoro tunes to learn?
Luiz (12:04):
Noites Cariocas, like Brazilian Nights, you know.
So I remember vividly, you know, having to transcribe stuff
like the first change.
So what would they do with thisdiminutve.
Learning how to accompaniment?
Yeah, you know that kind oflanguage of accompaniment that
(12:42):
is transcribing, right, okay,but then jazz, transcribing
solos that was much later, right, you know, through the whole
Bossa Nova thing, Jobim blah,blah, blah into jazz, Moacir
Santos, you know.
And then I was like, oh,improvisation, I have to
(13:02):
understand this harmony to beable to improvise over this and
blah, blah, blah, you know.
Geoff (13:07):
So you started working in Choro in Samba groups.
Did you in in Rio?
Luiz (13:11):
Yeah, so that was the beginning of my professional
life, was that right?
Yeah okay in accompanyingsingers, which I love so when
did you move to the uk?
That was 2010.
Geoff (13:24):
What was that?
What was the reason behindmoving to the UK?
Luiz (13:27):
Man, now you brought me there.
I had just finished universityin Rio and I felt the need for
expansion.
I felt that I had to leaveBrazil.
I had to get to know otherthings, speak other languages.
That was a sort of naturalimpulse for me.
(13:49):
Okay, where am I going?
English is the most usefullanguage.
I had this thing.
I didn't want to go to theStates.
So, coming from Europe, youknow, I knew some people that
had been in London and stuff I'dlived in London.
So I was like, yeah, let me trythat.
Geoff (14:07):
Did you consider going to Portugal or Spain?
Luiz (14:09):
No, because from.
Brazil to Portugal.
Geoff (14:12):
You speak the same countries,
no, Portugal no.
Actually I ended up going toSpain for the.
You know they have the Berkeleycampus there.
A few years later, from England, I went to Spain to do the
course there.
So there is when I had, youknow, more of the transcribing
thing of like jazz itself,through this man called Perico.
(14:35):
Perico Sambiat.
Luiz (14:37):
Yeah.
Geoff (14:37):
I worked with him.
Yeah, I worked with him in GuyBarker's International Group for
many years back in the 90s.
Yeah, where did he live?
Valencia, yeah.
Luiz (14:47):
So I lived for one year there and you studied with him,
did you, yeah?
So there was this improvisation.
Class One had to transcribe,but yeah, that was much later.
That was 2014 to 2015.
When I went there, I hadrecorded my first album.
I was composing already, I wasinto jazz already, but not very
(15:10):
much as an improviser.
So to speak.
Geoff (15:13):
So let's talk about composing.
Did you always compose?
Was it natural for you to dothat?
Luiz (15:17):
Soon, after I started learning harmony and getting
into the words of Edu Lobo,moacir Santos, these people I
just felt that I should, andChoro as well.
I should do my own compositions.
Geoff (15:30):
And now you run your own Choro group right.
Luiz (15:32):
Yeah.
Geoff (15:33):
How long has that been going?
Luiz (15:34):
Alvarada, we've been together for 80 years actually
It's not my group.
Butvarada, we've been togetherfor 80 years.
Actually it's not my group, butyou know we started it together
.
Right, this is some of mycompositions there, and yeah.
Geoff (15:49):
So I made some apps, yes, and I believe you've been using
one of them, right.
Yes, I asked you to pick a tuneto play on.
What did you choose?
Luiz (16:00):
We spoke so much about my beginnings, yeah, so I'm gonna
pick 'Wave'.
Right.
This is one of the tunes thatwas the very first that I you
know, Jo be in.
This is harmony.
This is now.
I'm really into this thing, soI would like to revive that.
Yeah.
Geoff (16:19):
Fantastic.
(16:59):
Right, thank you, do, do, thankyou, yeah, yeah, fabulous yeah.
(18:03):
I'll tell you what I'd love tohear, is if I could put just the
bass and the drums on and justget you to comp through it.
I love guitar, I love the soundof guitar, and then maybe we
can talk about how to accompanyin Bossa Nova.
(19:21):
One chorus accompany in BossaNova.
Thank you, yeah.
(19:57):
I'd love to talk about thecomping.
Yeah, let's do it.
And the rhythmic stuff that youwere doing yeah Right, and the
chords and stuff, so much greatstuff n there Was Was
influences that you took fromyour comping ideas and your
styles?
Luiz (20:10):
It's funny because when you play Bossa Nova.
Bossa Nova is a style of Samba,right, you know, you have that
old school style that wasconsolidated by joan Gilbert.
Right?
When you play like super simple, but then you have someone like
Baden Powell that the semiquavers are more like, it's like
(20:37):
busier, yeah.
So I kind of try and mix thosethings.
Geoff (20:40):
It's fully formed what you're playing there.
You don't really need to haveanything else.
But when you're playing with abass player, do you try and play
without the root notes, becauseI noticed you were still
playing a lot of root notes.
I mean, obviously this questionis coming from a bass player.
Luiz (20:56):
Well, we have the freedom to sort of, you know, not be
there, but also there is noclash, you know.
So sometimes I went as we justdid.
Geoff (21:16):
Without the bass notes ?
ight ight yeah sometimes thissounds so good with the bass
notes, though, doesn't it?
Luiz (21:22):
Yeah, I have a 7th string.
I could go pretty like thatkind of thing.
Geoff (21:38):
Can we just mention that for a second, the 7th string.
Is that a traditional thing?
Why did you go for a 7th stringguitar?
Luiz (21:44):
Because of Choro, Choro Samba and Sambaso so,, so this
is becoming very popular.
You go to the high street shop,you know, in Rio de Janeiro
you'll get one 7th string, youknow.
Right Back to your questionChoro in the Shoro Ensemble
traditionally there is no bass,so one has to sort of cover that
part.
Geoff (22:02):
Well, that would be why.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the resonanceon that low string is just
gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous.
Yeah, oh, we're going to talk abit more about composing.
Right, you've had someinfluences on your composing
style, do you?
Do you compose a lot?
Luiz (22:20):
I wouldn't wouldn't say a lot, a lot.
But yeah, I did one first albumwith 10 compositions originals
I thought they had to be alloriginals and 'Nascente', called
Nascente, which means beingborn.
And then, years later, I didthis more recent 'In called
(22:42):
Weave' the Weave, also withanother 10 compositions.
And I also write, for you knowI did this big band project
recently you all part . Amazingand yeah, so I keep going, I
try to also.
varada also also my show groupalso.
There's quite a few of mycompositions, so I try and keep
(23:04):
writing
Geoff (23:05):
There's one composition I'd like to ask you about, which
I'm a huge fan of.
I love your writing, by the way, but um, there was one with the
Indian singer yeah uh, thistune, can you tell me a bit?
Luiz (23:17):
about this tune.
This is a bit of a hit.
Yeah, this is your hit right,this is true.
Geoff (23:21):
Just remind us of the background to this and the well
this.
What's the title of this tune?
Luiz (23:27):
it's called 'Waltz for Us Two', 'Waltz for Us Two'.
Yeah, this is a tune that Iwrote, actually for the occasion
of my own wedding, where Iwrote for, for, for Florence, my
wife, to come down the aisle,so very, very romantic.
Um, yeah, it's a, you knowwaltz, and I did the rain for
the album with a stringarrangement.
(23:49):
It's absolutely gorgeous.
I'm really, I was really happyabout recording in Rio with my
teacher.
Vito gave me all the support,you know.
You know, this writing music isjust such a how do I say, a
journey, isn't it?
So it's not only the composing,it's the arranging as well,
right, which is composing theend, right?
(24:09):
But yeah, that tune.
It seems that because of theexotic element of the Indian
singer , when I went toBerkeley I I shared the flat
with another composer fromChennai, someone called Satish,
and his wife is a you knowIndian classical um singer, with
(24:33):
that, that style, that amazingsinging, you, it just occurred
to me that that melody would besort of evocative and beautiful
with the Indian singing.
So that's what we did.
Geoff (24:47):
Everyone should listen to that tune, it's absolutely
gorgeous.
Luiz (24:49):
Waltz for us Two, yeah.
Geoff (24:51):
Yeah, congratulations.
Some quick five questions ifthat's okay, yeah, let's do it,
let's do it.
Right, do you have a favouritealbum?
Luiz (25:00):
There is one called Coisas .
Coisas, meaning things, byMoacir Santos, which is perhaps
my great influence in mycomposing, as you asked, Moacir
Moacir, m-o-a-c-i-r, MoacirSantos Santos yeah.
(25:26):
So this is one composer to payattention to.
I'm gonna look this up.
Wynton Marsalis described himas a Brazilian Duke Ellington.
So just for a reference of thejazz people.
Geoff (25:41):
Wow, that's fantastic.
And what is it about him thatparticularly you like.
Luiz (25:47):
You know what?
For me, melody is the thing youknow.
You can play all sorts of fancystuff on top.
I mean, I love my harmony, myreharmonizations and all sorts
of techniques and textures andthis and that and counterpoints
(26:08):
and so on, but the melody is, asmy teacher Vito says, red
carpet for the melody, redcarpet for the melody.
So Moacir is a great melodist.
Geoff (26:19):
Fabulous Right.
So the next question kind ofleads on from that one.
Is there a favourite musician,alive or dead, that you would
like to play with?
Luiz (26:27):
Wow, that's a tricky one To play with.
Oh my God, from the jazz world,someone like Bill Evans is
pretty amazing, right from fromthe writing, the composing, the
arranging side.
Klaus Orgerman, wow, thatperson not not necessarily play
(26:50):
with, but to hear, to see, tohave any any of you know contact
with that kind of music?
For me it just seems so youknow.
Geoff (27:03):
Excellent.
Is there a highlight of yourcareer or a best gig moment in
your career so far?
Luiz (27:08):
You know what?
This recent moment with the bigband was pretty amazing.
Really, it was Indeed, it was.
I mean.
There were other moments thatyou know.
Geoff (27:18):
So we played at the Pizza Express with your big band a
few weeks ago now and you workedreally hard and took a long
time on that music.
It was all your music, right?
Yeah?
Luiz (27:27):
so yeah, so that thing coming coming alive was pretty
amazing.
You know people were on boardand such great players.
You know there was good momentsthere.
You know people were on boardand such great players.
Geoff (27:42):
You know there was good moments there.
Definitely yeah, is thissomething you're?
Luiz (27:45):
going to do more of Well, hopefully.
Geoff (27:48):
Make an album Indeed, yeah.
Luiz (27:51):
What was the last concert you attended?
It was Maria Schneider at theBarbican.
So that was, you see, withinthis writing thing, the big band
thing.
It's also someone really,really inspiring for me Through
the grants, because this thingwas made possible by this grant
from the Ascansa and so on.
(28:11):
So I had the chance to go andsee two concerts recently, back
to back, like a few weeks apartthe Lincoln Jazz Orchestra with
Marsalis and son and MariaSchneider.
So that was just before my owngig.
It was like really, oh my god,what am I doing?
Geoff (28:34):
but yeah, that was great that.
It's inspiring, though, isn'tit Seeing that high level like
that?
Luiz (28:39):
Man, that was fantastic.
I mean Marsalis, the energy ofthese p eople Seeing- that that
There was one thing that reallyimpressed me was that they
brought the junior bands and thejunior band played at the hall,
the foyer, and the main bandwere there cheering supporting,
(29:01):
and that was amazing.
Wow, wow.
What would you say was yourmusical weakness?
Musical weakness, oh, my God.
I think mainly the melodic ear,Even though I consider myself a
melodist.
you know, as we spoke aboutmelody composing, you know I'm
big on melody, but I didn't getvery much training.
(29:24):
That's not a disclaimer, butthat's the way it is, you know.
Geoff (29:28):
Yeah, but you've written some beautiful melodies.
Some of your music is gorgeous,so you have that in you.
You have all the tradition ofbeautiful Brazilian music in you
.
Yeah indeed, that's a plus,that's not a weakness.
Do you ever get nervous onstage.
Yes, yes, When you're standingin front of a big band?
Luiz (29:47):
Perhaps, perhaps, but you know what, that day, that day
that's what I'm saying you knowthat was a good day because
after we had the rehearsal andeveryone was, you know, so
supportive, it was fine.
But yeah, I've had pretty,pretty nerve-wracking moments.
Actually, there was one daywhen we played this gig at the
the Vortex, actually here inEngland, and it was like, you
(30:12):
know, the element of being aforeigner and you know, and not
knowing the people, was recentlyin England.
Oh my god, that was tricky.
Geoff (30:23):
What's your favourite sandwich?
Luiz (30:29):
I think ham and cheese toasties pretty, pretty high up
in there.
What's your favourite sandwich?
I think ham and cheese toastieis pretty high up in the
traditional, simple one.
Geoff (30:37):
Okay, excellent.
What about a favourite movie?
Luiz (30:39):
Favourite movie?
Well, there was a movie that Iwatched a long time ago.
Very sad, but it's actually awonderful piece of art, which is
the, Schindler's List.
Right, I'm just saying, perhapsit's not necessarily my
favourite, you know, yeah, butit's… Made an impression.
That's kind of movie likereally a piece of art, isn't it?
(31:02):
Sure is, yeah, I like myAlmodovar as well.
Sometimes I like also some youknow, fun stuff as well.
Geoff (31:11):
Did you grow up watching mostly English language films,
or did you?
Is there a Brazilian scene?
Luiz (31:18):
Well, yeah, yeah, America was pretty strong, isn't it?
With the cinema.
Geoff (31:22):
Is there a favourite venue that you've played in?
That you like to play in?
Luiz (31:27):
Favourite venue?
Geoff (31:29):
Well, there was one gig that we played that I really
enjoyed here in England was thefew years back with Alvarado.
We did the Elgar Room.
That was.
That was great.
There was I don't know about250 people there and it was
launching the album.
You know the size of the stage,the quality of the sound and
(31:53):
and the whole.
Obviously .
It's just yeah, like veryglamorous, very grand and so on.
So that was, but you don't playfrequent that frequently there.
That was a one-off actually sofar.
But to be honest, in England Ithink the Pizza I do like the
Pizza yeah, it's great.
Do you have a favourite countryor a favourite city that you
(32:15):
like to visit?
Luiz (32:17):
or be in.
I'm just gonna take Brazil outof that one because that's
that's biased, that's, that's,that's very obvious.
But a place that I that Ireally, really, really enjoyed
was Valencia, Spain, right, thatplace I even wrote that tune
called Mi Pueblo.
Places in the south of Spain,Granada was wonderful.
Geoff (32:42):
Tradition of classical guitar music as well.
Obviously, indeed, yeah, allright.
So one last question just tofinish off what's your favourite
chord, my favourite, myfavourite chord?
You can have a few and you canplay.
Luiz (32:54):
You can play some of them for me if you want.
the flat 2 on a minor key whenit, when you go like you go,
flat 2 Lydian.
I do love that.
Okay, my, my Northeast, sort of7th with a sharp 11th.
(33:29):
Yeah, I like that.
Ah, when you do a 2-5 like.
Geoff (33:36):
That's a nice voicing.
Just tell us what those notesare.
Luiz (33:39):
D, A-flat, C, E-natural G.
Geoff (33:45):
So it's a diminished finish with a natural 9, yeah, G
.
So diminished with a naturalnine, yeah.
Luiz (33:57):
That kind of very lush, yeah, yeah, yeah, I like that
kind of thing.
Beautiful man.
Geoff (34:05):
Well, I think that'll do it, we're done.
Luiz (34:07):
Thank you for being my guest you're welcome.
Thank you for being here.
I'd love to, I'd listen to youplay guitar all day, so thanks
and let's hope we work togethervery soon yes, indeed, more big
band.
I'm coming to see your Chorogig for sure.
Yes, I'm looking forward tothat.
Alright, great, bye, bye.
Thank you for yes, I'm lookingforward to that, alright great,
(34:28):
bye, bye.
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com.
Hello again, podcats Geoff Gascoyne here, hope you're
well.
Today I'm off to Chesham totalk to a fantastic Brazilian
guitar player, composer,bandleader, arranger, Luiz
Morais, someone I met in aclassical guitar shop a few
(00:22):
years ago and we hit it off andstayed in touch and we've played
a few gigs together and, uh,I've been an admirer of his work
for quite some time.
So I'm going to talk all aboutthe guitar, a bit about Brazil.
Here we go.
Announcement (00:53):
The Quartet Jazz Standards podcast is brought to
you by the Quartet app for iOS,taking your jazz play along to
another level.
Geoff (01:03):
Luiz.
Hello sir, thanks for pickingme up.
Don't get rained on.
It's raining in Chesham.
How are you, my friend?
Good, good, good.
Thank you so much for comingall the way in.
Oh, it's a long way, isn't it?
What a mish.
Are we on?
We're on, yes, yeah, we'repodcasting.
We're live.
How are you today?
Luiz (01:23):
Good, great to have you here.
Geoff (01:25):
Thanks for inviting me around.
Can we start talking about yourbackground, how you got started
in improvised music and whatyour story is playing the
guitar, so beautifully?
Luiz (01:33):
My first thing with music was songs, like the big
tradition of singer-songwritersin Brazil, right, Caetano Veloso
, Gilberto Gil, Luiz Gonzaga,all these people.
So my parents, they are notmusicians, but they gave me that
the whole what we call MPB,Brazilian Popular Music, like
these people, especially back inthe days, 80s, 70s, 60s, 70s,
(01:58):
you know, throughout the lastcentury it was the way that
Brazilian music was evolving wasbased on that, right.
So we had this gorgeous timewhere quality was priority, you
know.
So you get these big TV shows,big festivals, and you know,
(02:21):
radio especially.
You know.
Great music would be, you know,appreciated, would be, you know
, appreciated for, you know, forthe great public, rather than
what happens today.
Great public, like you know,have what we call pop stuff.
So, but back in the day, popwas used to be what we call
popular, like, as in, you know,music from the people, but with
(02:45):
high level, level, very goodquality.
So these people Veloso,Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento,
Chico Buarque, Luiz Gonzaga,all of them.
This is my background.
Geoff (02:57):
I saw an interview once and I can't remember who it was
with, but they were talkingabout the sophistication of
Brazilian music.
The example they gave was theBrazilian national anthem.
Oh yeah, it's not like God Savethe Queen, is it Nah?
Luiz (03:11):
It's complicated.
It has all this jazz,Chromatics and things, right
yeah.
Geoff (03:15):
It's beautiful actually.
Is it beautiful, is it?
Luiz (03:18):
Yeah, proper composition and lyrics like endless lyrics,
Right, wow.
Geoff (03:23):
Growing up with the Jobim legacy, if that is a thing.
Luiz (03:26):
Yeah, yeah, I mentioned all of those, but I didn't
mention Jobim.
Yeah, Of course, Jobim was sortof master for some of those you
know.
Came before, yeah, and actuallybefore Jobim, we had people
like Ary Barroso, which is thecomposer of most famous tune is
(03:49):
Brasil, Brasil, Brasileiro,Brasileiro but wonderful
composers, you know, before theBossa Nova era.
You know, and Choro as well,right, which is something that I
didn't have as a I didn't startwith as a musician, but then I
became very much into Choro,Samba,
Geoff (04:06):
Can you explain what Choro is to people who don't
know?
Luiz (04:09):
Yes, yes, so Choro is, how do I say, the very first urban
music in Brazil.
It's the result of the mix ofthe, the European influence,
like the dances, the saloonmusic, that, all that finesse of
(04:30):
the European music, all theharmonic language coming from
there, with the rhythmiclanguage of the African heritage
, you know so we obviously havethe sad chapter.
So we obviously have the sadchapter of Brazilian history
where African people were takenthere and, despite all the
(04:53):
history that everyone knowsabout, we had this result of the
mix of music, so Choro came asa result of that.
Geoff (05:03):
How does Choro differ from Bossa Nova?
Luiz (05:06):
N More ny because, as I said, coming from classical
music it's very na.
It's a composition that obeys aronde, a three-part composition
A, a, b, b, a, c, c.
Rondo, you know three-partcomposition, you know a, a, b, b
(05:26):
, a, c, c, that form,traditionally in its
instrumental music, mostly veryvirtuosic.
And and also you haveharmonically, you have like a
triadic language that goes,moves a lot, but it's it's not
about the texture, is more aboutmovement of the harmony.
(05:47):
Can you play an example?
Let me find something here,something like this so that's.
(06:19):
Choro.
Right, that's Choro.
Okay, very much yeah.
And the guitar.
What I played here is one ofthe classics, as you know.
You know of the guitarrepertoire, so it's very
connected to that as well.
But when I started out with theguitar, it wasn't Choro, it was
accompanying songs.
Geoff (06:38):
In what sort of style would you be playing when you
started out?
Luiz (06:45):
Rhythm from the northeast of Brazil .
Geoff (06:46):
B I mean, you're not strumming Lennon and McCartney
tunes, are you?
No?
Luiz (06:54):
That kind of thing.
Geoff (06:56):
I know.
So traditional Braziliansongs is what about about?
about.
Luiz (07:01):
Yeah, yeah.
Geoff (07:03):
Was there an influence of European music when you were
growing up?
Not really.
Luiz (07:08):
For me, the first non-Brazilian composer that I
got into was actually Bob Marley.
Wow yeah, I'm just not a rockperson at all you know.
Geoff (07:20):
So what age would you have been when you were starting
to play guitar?
Twelve, Twelve?
And did you have formal lessons?
Or was it all by ear when youstarted?
Luiz (07:29):
No, it was like getting the little books from the, you
know, just finding the positionstrumming along.
Yeah, yeah, yeah all that.
And then later on my dad had ateacher and then I had some
lessons with this teacher.
I had a little bit ofintroduction in early teens and
then I had a massive gap andthen when I was 17 to 18 I got
(07:52):
serious about it, into soloing,you know learning piece, so that
that was a bit of classical inthere.
A little bit further down theline I came across jazz and that
was really striking.
So Choro jazz, you knowinstrumental music, was kind of
same time when I was that kindof age, 18, 19.
Geoff (08:14):
What was the first jazz that really turned you on.
Luiz (08:18):
That's going to be a very cliche, but that was the Kind of
Blue.
Yeah, of course, Kind of Bluewas brutal.
Yeah, Miles was that mysteriousfigure.
I was like wow, wow man.
You know, once my, my aunt gaveme Bags' Groove album with the
green cover, you know, with Milt, , , Milt Jackson, brutal man.
(08:45):
That the sound of the vibes, andI mean before that through
Jobim
Geoff (08:51):
So you already had an ear for sophisticated harmony,
because obviously Jobim is verysophisticated.
Luiz (08:57):
Yeah, that's, that is actually what caught me, you
know, like I was interested onthe guitar but then soloing the
guitar, but then when I startedaccompanying Edu Lobo, Jobim,
Chico Buarque, you know, justget little things, you know, Edu
Lobo like he would do somethinglike that, then result this is
(09:21):
jazz, right, you know, I waslike wow, but why not this?
Like whoa, so gorgeous?
Yeah, so that thing was theharmony side of things
Geoff (09:33):
, I guess it will always lead to jazz, won't it?
Because that harmony is sosophisticated, isn't it?
Yeah, was there any classicalmusic influence as well?
Luiz (09:42):
Not very much.
This is something that I'vebeen more interested in more
recently, actually.
Right.
Obviously, when I went touniversity, one gets exposed.
I didn't go for a jazz course.
There isn't such a thing.
You know, when I first entereduniversity it was like bachelor,
(10:03):
like a general thing In music.
In music, yeah, you know, onewould come across Bach, and you
know, as I said, I started late.
You know, Like my peers theyhad.
You know, a lot of people startas a child, you know, have lots
of piano lessons, blah, blah,blah.
I remember I only startedreading music in order to enter
university.
(10:23):
I didn't know how to read orwrite music at all, so that was
quite a late start.
So for me to hear all thosehuge composers, I didn't really
understand very much.
Geoff (10:34):
So you started to improvise.
Did you ever transcribe anysolos or learn other people's
solos?
Luiz (10:39):
Yes, but that was much later, much later.
That was much later.
When I was 33, I moved to Riode Janeiro.
So that was a big game changer.
So where did you grow up?
Fortaleza?
Fortaleza is northeast ofBrazil.
That's the fifth biggest cityin Brazil, but it was obviously
not.
You know, Rio de Janeiro is thevery center.
(11:01):
You know Villa Lobos is fromRio de Janeiro, Pixinguinha is
from Rio de Janeiro, Jobim isfrom Rio de Janeiro, you know.
So the very core of Brazilianmusic has been Rio, therefore,
you know.
So that's what I went, you knowwhen I decided okay, I do want
to be a musician, so I wentthere.
So what do I find in region?
(11:22):
Samba, Choro, Samba, Choro,Samba, Choro, Samba, Choro.
A little bit of jazz, yes, butmostly within that kind of.
So the transcribing startedwith Choro, actually, because
the Choro it's a genre that youhave your standards, that one
has to learn A lot of harmonyto be memorized.
(11:44):
You don't go to a Choro, ahaunted Choro, like the
equivalent of a jam session.
You don't go with a Choro, ahodage Choro, like the
equivalent of a jam session.
You don't go with your charts,really.
No, you have to know what'shappening.
Geoff (11:55):
It's kind of similar to jazz, isn't it?
You know, you turn up on a jamsession and you play.
I Got Rhythm or Yardbird Suiteor so on.
Yeah, what are the most commonChoro tunes to learn?
Luiz (12:04):
Noites Cariocas, like Brazilian Nights, you know.
So I remember vividly, you know, having to transcribe stuff
like the first change.
So what would they do with thisdiminutve.
Learning how to accompaniment?
Yeah, you know that kind oflanguage of accompaniment that
(12:42):
is transcribing, right, okay,but then jazz, transcribing
solos that was much later, right, you know, through the whole
Bossa Nova thing, Jobim blah,blah, blah into jazz, Moacir
Santos, you know.
And then I was like, oh,improvisation, I have to
(13:02):
understand this harmony to beable to improvise over this and
blah, blah, blah, you know.
Geoff (13:07):
So you started working in Choro in Samba groups.
Did you in in Rio?
Luiz (13:11):
Yeah, so that was the beginning of my professional
life, was that right?
Yeah okay in accompanyingsingers, which I love so when
did you move to the uk?
That was 2010.
Geoff (13:24):
What was that?
What was the reason behindmoving to the UK?
Luiz (13:27):
Man, now you brought me there.
I had just finished universityin Rio and I felt the need for
expansion.
I felt that I had to leaveBrazil.
I had to get to know otherthings, speak other languages.
That was a sort of naturalimpulse for me.
(13:49):
Okay, where am I going?
English is the most usefullanguage.
I had this thing.
I didn't want to go to theStates.
So, coming from Europe, youknow, I knew some people that
had been in London and stuff I'dlived in London.
So I was like, yeah, let me trythat.
Geoff (14:07):
Did you consider going to Portugal or Spain?
Luiz (14:09):
No, because from.
Brazil to Portugal.
Geoff (14:12):
You speak the same countries,
no, Portugal no.
Actually I ended up going toSpain for the.
You know they have the Berkeleycampus there.
A few years later, from England, I went to Spain to do the
course there.
So there is when I had, youknow, more of the transcribing
thing of like jazz itself,through this man called Perico.
(14:35):
Perico Sambiat.
Luiz (14:37):
Yeah.
Geoff (14:37):
I worked with him.
Yeah, I worked with him in GuyBarker's International Group for
many years back in the 90s.
Yeah, where did he live?
Valencia, yeah.
Luiz (14:47):
So I lived for one year there and you studied with him,
did you, yeah?
So there was this improvisation.
Class One had to transcribe,but yeah, that was much later.
That was 2014 to 2015.
When I went there, I hadrecorded my first album.
I was composing already, I wasinto jazz already, but not very
(15:10):
much as an improviser.
So to speak.
Geoff (15:13):
So let's talk about composing.
Did you always compose?
Was it natural for you to dothat?
Luiz (15:17):
Soon, after I started learning harmony and getting
into the words of Edu Lobo,moacir Santos, these people I
just felt that I should, andChoro as well.
I should do my own compositions.
Geoff (15:30):
And now you run your own Choro group right.
Luiz (15:32):
Yeah.
Geoff (15:33):
How long has that been going?
Luiz (15:34):
Alvarada, we've been together for 80 years actually
It's not my group.
Butvarada, we've been togetherfor 80 years.
Actually it's not my group, butyou know we started it together
.
Right, this is some of mycompositions there, and yeah.
Geoff (15:49):
So I made some apps, yes, and I believe you've been using
one of them, right.
Yes, I asked you to pick a tuneto play on.
What did you choose?
Luiz (16:00):
We spoke so much about my beginnings, yeah, so I'm gonna
pick 'Wave'.
Right.
This is one of the tunes thatwas the very first that I you
know, Jo be in.
This is harmony.
This is now.
I'm really into this thing, soI would like to revive that.
Yeah.
Geoff (16:19):
Fantastic.
(16:59):
Right, thank you, do, do, thankyou, yeah, yeah, fabulous yeah.
(18:03):
I'll tell you what I'd love tohear, is if I could put just the
bass and the drums on and justget you to comp through it.
I love guitar, I love the soundof guitar, and then maybe we
can talk about how to accompanyin Bossa Nova.
(19:21):
One chorus accompany in BossaNova.
Thank you, yeah.
(19:57):
I'd love to talk about thecomping.
Yeah, let's do it.
And the rhythmic stuff that youwere doing yeah Right, and the
chords and stuff, so much greatstuff n there Was Was
influences that you took fromyour comping ideas and your
styles?
Luiz (20:10):
It's funny because when you play Bossa Nova.
Bossa Nova is a style of Samba,right, you know, you have that
old school style that wasconsolidated by joan Gilbert.
Right?
When you play like super simple, but then you have someone like
Baden Powell that the semiquavers are more like, it's like
(20:37):
busier, yeah.
So I kind of try and mix thosethings.
Geoff (20:40):
It's fully formed what you're playing there.
You don't really need to haveanything else.
But when you're playing with abass player, do you try and play
without the root notes, becauseI noticed you were still
playing a lot of root notes.
I mean, obviously this questionis coming from a bass player.
Luiz (20:56):
Well, we have the freedom to sort of, you know, not be
there, but also there is noclash, you know.
So sometimes I went as we justdid.
Geoff (21:16):
Without the bass notes ?
ight ight yeah sometimes thissounds so good with the bass
notes, though, doesn't it?
Luiz (21:22):
Yeah, I have a 7th string.
I could go pretty like thatkind of thing.
Geoff (21:38):
Can we just mention that for a second, the 7th string.
Is that a traditional thing?
Why did you go for a 7th stringguitar?
Luiz (21:44):
Because of Choro, Choro Samba and Sambaso so,, so this
is becoming very popular.
You go to the high street shop,you know, in Rio de Janeiro
you'll get one 7th string, youknow.
Right Back to your questionChoro in the Shoro Ensemble
traditionally there is no bass,so one has to sort of cover that
part.
Geoff (22:02):
Well, that would be why.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the resonanceon that low string is just
gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous.
Yeah, oh, we're going to talk abit more about composing.
Right, you've had someinfluences on your composing
style, do you?
Do you compose a lot?
Luiz (22:20):
I wouldn't wouldn't say a lot, a lot.
But yeah, I did one first albumwith 10 compositions originals
I thought they had to be alloriginals and 'Nascente', called
Nascente, which means beingborn.
And then, years later, I didthis more recent 'In called
(22:42):
Weave' the Weave, also withanother 10 compositions.
And I also write, for you knowI did this big band project
recently you all part . Amazingand yeah, so I keep going, I
try to also.
varada also also my show groupalso.
There's quite a few of mycompositions, so I try and keep
(23:04):
writing
Geoff (23:05):
There's one composition I'd like to ask you about, which
I'm a huge fan of.
I love your writing, by the way, but um, there was one with the
Indian singer yeah uh, thistune, can you tell me a bit?
Luiz (23:17):
about this tune.
This is a bit of a hit.
Yeah, this is your hit right,this is true.
Geoff (23:21):
Just remind us of the background to this and the well
this.
What's the title of this tune?
Luiz (23:27):
it's called 'Waltz for Us Two', 'Waltz for Us Two'.
Yeah, this is a tune that Iwrote, actually for the occasion
of my own wedding, where Iwrote for, for, for Florence, my
wife, to come down the aisle,so very, very romantic.
Um, yeah, it's a, you knowwaltz, and I did the rain for
the album with a stringarrangement.
(23:49):
It's absolutely gorgeous.
I'm really, I was really happyabout recording in Rio with my
teacher.
Vito gave me all the support,you know.
You know, this writing music isjust such a how do I say, a
journey, isn't it?
So it's not only the composing,it's the arranging as well,
right, which is composing theend, right?
(24:09):
But yeah, that tune.
It seems that because of theexotic element of the Indian
singer , when I went toBerkeley I I shared the flat
with another composer fromChennai, someone called Satish,
and his wife is a you knowIndian classical um singer, with
(24:33):
that, that style, that amazingsinging, you, it just occurred
to me that that melody would besort of evocative and beautiful
with the Indian singing.
So that's what we did.
Geoff (24:47):
Everyone should listen to that tune, it's absolutely
gorgeous.
Luiz (24:49):
Waltz for us Two, yeah.
Geoff (24:51):
Yeah, congratulations.
Some quick five questions ifthat's okay, yeah, let's do it,
let's do it.
Right, do you have a favouritealbum?
Luiz (25:00):
There is one called Coisas .
Coisas, meaning things, byMoacir Santos, which is perhaps
my great influence in mycomposing, as you asked, Moacir
Moacir, m-o-a-c-i-r, MoacirSantos Santos yeah.
(25:26):
So this is one composer to payattention to.
I'm gonna look this up.
Wynton Marsalis described himas a Brazilian Duke Ellington.
So just for a reference of thejazz people.
Geoff (25:41):
Wow, that's fantastic.
And what is it about him thatparticularly you like.
Luiz (25:47):
You know what?
For me, melody is the thing youknow.
You can play all sorts of fancystuff on top.
I mean, I love my harmony, myreharmonizations and all sorts
of techniques and textures andthis and that and counterpoints
(26:08):
and so on, but the melody is, asmy teacher Vito says, red
carpet for the melody, redcarpet for the melody.
So Moacir is a great melodist.
Geoff (26:19):
Fabulous Right.
So the next question kind ofleads on from that one.
Is there a favourite musician,alive or dead, that you would
like to play with?
Luiz (26:27):
Wow, that's a tricky one To play with.
Oh my God, from the jazz world,someone like Bill Evans is
pretty amazing, right from fromthe writing, the composing, the
arranging side.
Klaus Orgerman, wow, thatperson not not necessarily play
(26:50):
with, but to hear, to see, tohave any any of you know contact
with that kind of music?
For me it just seems so youknow.
Geoff (27:03):
Excellent.
Is there a highlight of yourcareer or a best gig moment in
your career so far?
Luiz (27:08):
You know what?
This recent moment with the bigband was pretty amazing.
Really, it was Indeed, it was.
I mean.
There were other moments thatyou know.
Geoff (27:18):
So we played at the Pizza Express with your big band a
few weeks ago now and you workedreally hard and took a long
time on that music.
It was all your music, right?
Yeah?
Luiz (27:27):
so yeah, so that thing coming coming alive was pretty
amazing.
You know people were on boardand such great players.
You know there was good momentsthere.
You know people were on boardand such great players.
Geoff (27:42):
You know there was good moments there.
Definitely yeah, is thissomething you're?
Luiz (27:45):
going to do more of Well, hopefully.
Geoff (27:48):
Make an album Indeed, yeah.
Luiz (27:51):
What was the last concert you attended?
It was Maria Schneider at theBarbican.
So that was, you see, withinthis writing thing, the big band
thing.
It's also someone really,really inspiring for me Through
the grants, because this thingwas made possible by this grant
from the Ascansa and so on.
(28:11):
So I had the chance to go andsee two concerts recently, back
to back, like a few weeks apartthe Lincoln Jazz Orchestra with
Marsalis and son and MariaSchneider.
So that was just before my owngig.
It was like really, oh my god,what am I doing?
Geoff (28:34):
but yeah, that was great that.
It's inspiring, though, isn'tit Seeing that high level like
that?
Luiz (28:39):
Man, that was fantastic.
I mean Marsalis, the energy ofthese p eople Seeing- that that
There was one thing that reallyimpressed me was that they
brought the junior bands and thejunior band played at the hall,
the foyer, and the main bandwere there cheering supporting,
(29:01):
and that was amazing.
Wow, wow.
What would you say was yourmusical weakness?
Musical weakness, oh, my God.
I think mainly the melodic ear,Even though I consider myself a
melodist.
you know, as we spoke aboutmelody composing, you know I'm
big on melody, but I didn't getvery much training.
(29:24):
That's not a disclaimer, butthat's the way it is, you know.
Geoff (29:28):
Yeah, but you've written some beautiful melodies.
Some of your music is gorgeous,so you have that in you.
You have all the tradition ofbeautiful Brazilian music in you
.
Yeah indeed, that's a plus,that's not a weakness.
Do you ever get nervous onstage.
Yes, yes, When you're standingin front of a big band?
Luiz (29:47):
Perhaps, perhaps, but you know what, that day, that day
that's what I'm saying you knowthat was a good day because
after we had the rehearsal andeveryone was, you know, so
supportive, it was fine.
But yeah, I've had pretty,pretty nerve-wracking moments.
Actually, there was one daywhen we played this gig at the
the Vortex, actually here inEngland, and it was like, you
(30:12):
know, the element of being aforeigner and you know, and not
knowing the people, was recentlyin England.
Oh my god, that was tricky.
Geoff (30:23):
What's your favourite sandwich?
Luiz (30:29):
I think ham and cheese toasties pretty, pretty high up
in there.
What's your favourite sandwich?
I think ham and cheese toastieis pretty high up in the
traditional, simple one.
Geoff (30:37):
Okay, excellent.
What about a favourite movie?
Luiz (30:39):
Favourite movie?
Well, there was a movie that Iwatched a long time ago.
Very sad, but it's actually awonderful piece of art, which is
the, Schindler's List.
Right, I'm just saying, perhapsit's not necessarily my
favourite, you know, yeah, butit's… Made an impression.
That's kind of movie likereally a piece of art, isn't it?
(31:02):
Sure is, yeah, I like myAlmodovar as well.
Sometimes I like also some youknow, fun stuff as well.
Geoff (31:11):
Did you grow up watching mostly English language films,
or did you?
Is there a Brazilian scene?
Luiz (31:18):
Well, yeah, yeah, America was pretty strong, isn't it?
With the cinema.
Geoff (31:22):
Is there a favourite venue that you've played in?
That you like to play in?
Luiz (31:27):
Favourite venue?
Geoff (31:29):
Well, there was one gig that we played that I really
enjoyed here in England was thefew years back with Alvarado.
We did the Elgar Room.
That was.
That was great.
There was I don't know about250 people there and it was
launching the album.
You know the size of the stage,the quality of the sound and
(31:53):
and the whole.
Obviously .
It's just yeah, like veryglamorous, very grand and so on.
So that was, but you don't playfrequent that frequently there.
That was a one-off actually sofar.
But to be honest, in England Ithink the Pizza I do like the
Pizza yeah, it's great.
Do you have a favourite countryor a favourite city that you
(32:15):
like to visit?
Luiz (32:17):
or be in.
I'm just gonna take Brazil outof that one because that's
that's biased, that's, that's,that's very obvious.
But a place that I that Ireally, really, really enjoyed
was Valencia, Spain, right, thatplace I even wrote that tune
called Mi Pueblo.
Places in the south of Spain,Granada was wonderful.
Geoff (32:42):
Tradition of classical guitar music as well.
Obviously, indeed, yeah, allright.
So one last question just tofinish off what's your favourite
chord, my favourite, myfavourite chord?
You can have a few and you canplay.
Luiz (32:54):
You can play some of them for me if you want.
the flat 2 on a minor key whenit, when you go like you go,
flat 2 Lydian.
I do love that.
Okay, my, my Northeast, sort of7th with a sharp 11th.
(33:29):
Yeah, I like that.
Ah, when you do a 2-5 like.
Geoff (33:36):
That's a nice voicing.
Just tell us what those notesare.
Luiz (33:39):
D, A-flat, C, E-natural G.
Geoff (33:45):
So it's a diminished finish with a natural 9, yeah, G
.
So diminished with a naturalnine, yeah.
Luiz (33:57):
That kind of very lush, yeah, yeah, yeah, I like that
kind of thing.
Beautiful man.
Geoff (34:05):
Well, I think that'll do it, we're done.
Luiz (34:07):
Thank you for being my guest you're welcome.
Thank you for being here.
I'd love to, I'd listen to youplay guitar all day, so thanks
and let's hope we work togethervery soon yes, indeed, more big
band.
I'm coming to see your Chorogig for sure.
Yes, I'm looking forward tothat.
Alright, great, bye, bye.
Thank you for yes, I'm lookingforward to that, alright great,
(34:28):
bye, bye.
Announcement (34:30):
Thank you for making it to the end of another
podcast.
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The Quartet Jazz Standardspodcast is a UK music apps
production.
Quartet for iOS taking yourjazz play along to another level
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(34:51):
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