Marc Askew writes about his two visits to Brazil during 2012-2014.
Searching for sonoridade in Brazil: Encounters with guitars, guitarists and guitar makers in Rio De Janeiro.
There is a lot of simplistic rubbish written about Brazil and Rio de Janeiro in particular. Rio is hot, congested and noisy, and definitely not a paradise: that is, if you are living there and not just passing through on a five-day cosmetic package tour. But the same goes for any big city in the world. What is important for me is that its musical culture is vibrant. In particular, its guitar world is rich, varied and exciting. Which explains why I put up with it (without air conditioning) for six months on my second visit to Rio. Soon after my returning to Australia (armed with music transcriptions from my Brazilian teachers and a new luthier-built 7-string guitar), my long-suffering guitar dealer Pierre Herrero suggested that I write something for his newsletter about my encounters in Brazil. So here it is, and apologies to those readers who have a deeper familiarity and experience with Brazilian guitarists and guitar makers.