I can't find a way out

Composição de Milton Nascimento, Lô Borges e Márcio Borges, de 1972.
Voz Angelina Gaúna, violão Davi Avansini.
Gravado e mixado no Pro-studio SP, por Cassio Martin.
Abril de 2015, Ipiranga, São Paulo, Brasil.

Clube da Esquina nº 1 - Angelina e Davi

Thanks to Angelina Gauna (https://soundcloud.com/angelina-graciano-gauna) and Luis Santos (https://soundcloud.com/luissantos-1-1) for initiating this interpretation with their vocal performances, and allowing me to chip in on keys.

(Thumbnail image of postage stamp featuring the artistic work of Martha Poppe and celebrating the composer Heitor Villa-Lobos obtained from Wikimedia Commons; it's public domain)

Melodia Sentimental (Villa-Lobos) with Angelina and Luis

Initially I was messing around, just on keys, experimenting with applying some Barry Harris (the best music teacher ever) harmonic techniques, and using this legendary Beatles tune as a canvas.  But then decided to do a little lighthearted (OK, cheesy) multitracked arrangement, 'cause why not?

(Photo taken by me, though I can't take credit for the whimsical sticker additions; those creative enhancements were already in place)

The Fool On The Hill (Lennon/McCartney)

Not This (24/02/2022) by Irina

My heart is bleeding, worn and torn
Do not resuscitate
I don’t know where I am from
In a crisis state

Believed in better, trusted lies
At least I had some pride
But now, a war before my eyes
The terror bona fide

Unsure of my identity
What will keep me safe
Culture losing sanctity
Digging its own grave

Hypocrisy and bitter crime
“Civilians won’t be harmed”
Strangled by the darkest time
The Earth – shaken, alarmed

Although I’m not responsible
I’m feeling shame and guilt
I thought it wasn’t possible
But they grabbed the hilt

A slash, another, children scream
Displaced by politicians
God, let this be an awful dream
Inhumane conditions

My heart is bleeding, worn and torn
I cannot bear to witness
Generations not yet born
Never seeing kindness

Endless sanctions, tensions, greed
Fighting one another
Nothing’s ever been agreed
Upon I now discover

Who am I? Afraid to ask
Powerless, that’s what
Distance is no easy task
Cannot stay afloat

A ghost has occupied my place
Emotions go to slumber
Cannot bear to see my face
While fields shall burn to umber

Aggression, a cold-blooded act
But real blood will be spilled
How many people won’t know home
How many will be killed

Historical event, God, no
Don’t want to live through this
My heart is broken, all time low
Not this, not this, not this


Music in background: 
Cello Concerto by Edward Elgar I. Adagio - Moderato
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Maria Kliegel, cello
Michael Halasz, conductor

Not This

(Edit Dec 2022)... I stole the general chord sequence and bass line from the lovely tune written by Christine McVie and recorded by Fleetwood Mac called As Long As You Follow.  That framework inspired me to try some specific techniques on keys.  I did this a few months ago, and it's sad to learn of Ms. McVie's passing (yesterday, relative to the moment I'm editing this description).  So, I'd like to let this stand as a tribute, though unplanned as such.

weekend Rhodes vibing (edited description December 2022)

The late great music educator Barry Harris would do this thing where he would draw 4 numbers randomly from the set of integers 1 through 8, and then improv a tune on piano based on the drawn numeric sequence.    Youtube has a clip with one such occasion, where the sequence 2-6-4-7 was drawn: https://youtu.be/0-IRJsAi0ek?t=91.  My simple interpretation here on soundcloud is in the spirit of tribute.  To accompany my keys I also used a beginner level lap steel guitar (electric) I recently got (been trying to learn basics of C6 tuning w/ fingerpicks... I'm not good at it but it's fun and I like the added atmosphere).

Barry Harris 2-6-4-7 (a tribute interpretation)

wrote out a chord progression on a napkin (trying to throw in a bunch of 2-5 and 2-5-1 sub-progressions, gratuitously, 'cause I never tried that), and demo-ed something out real quick on Ableton just using keys.  Silly, yet the process was more fun than I thought it was going to be.  Might try a different instrumentation and/or arrangement in future.  (Quickly/crudely tried to approximate a wobbly-onset Lyle Mays style synth lead sound using Operator on this).

(Photo snapped by me; I never know what to use for photos in this context so I tend to use a pic from a local park and/or trail, something mundane but pleasant, e.g. "this was a little part of my day" kind of thing)

Sunday chording

Mambembe, de Chico Buarque, cantada no palco do EM&T em 2029.
Voz: Angelina Gaúna
Violão: Daiv Avansini

Mambembe - Angelina Gauna e Davi Avansini

Mixagem e masterização gentilmente cedida pelo amigo John Laurence (https://soundcloud.com/john-poletti). Muito obrigado!



Foto: Rio Mississipi

Letra: João Felipe Parreiras
Música: Luis Santos

Há um lugar chamado Sambazul
As águas lamacentas do Delta
se encontram com o Verde-Rosa do sul

Já ouvi um velho feiticeiro cantar
sobre os órfãos filhos d'África
em Sambazul

Como eles navegam nos rios brasis,
nos rios bravios que corre seu sangue ancestral
não sei, não vi

Como eles conquistam as ninfas,
tão ínfimas, tão íntimas,
com a percussão dos grilhões
com o som dos violões
Eu não sei, eu não vi

Porque nem seiva salva
essa gente
Nem saliva convence
a selva capital

Talvez o carnaval
os salve,
os livre,
para nadarem nus
no Emancimississippi

Capital
Colonial
Canavial

-----

There is a place called Sambazul
The muddywaters from the Delta
Meet the Pink-Green from the south

I once heard
an old sorcerer singing
about the orphans sons of Africa
in Sambazul

How they sail in the brazilian rivers
the brave rivers where your ancestral blood flows
I do not know, didn't saw it

How they conquer the nymphs
so intimate, so tiny
with the percussion from the grilhões
with the sound from the guitars
I do not now, didn't saw it

No sap can save these people
neither saliva convinces
the capital jungle

Maybe the Carnival
can save them
can free them

So they can swim naked
in the Emancimississipi

Capital
Colonial
Canavial

Sambazul (Luis Santos; João Felipe Parreiras) - John Laurence Mastering

Uma das maravilhas com as quais Cartola nos brindou...