Paulo Vanzolini - Por Ele Mesmo (1979)

Hello, Good Night! Let's start today with an unique record that has been with me for at least 2 months and probably the contribution that spent more time on the waiting list. By the way what a contribution and what a contributor, this is Paulo Vanzolini - Por Ele Mesmo (1979), for Eldorado, kindly sent to zecalouro by the might Joao Parahyba from the anthological Trio Mocoto.

Joao, blame it on zecalouro, your record was very useful to my self-education on using those complicated computer programs to remove clicks and clacks from audio files. Mother told me to never complaint on a friend gift and that's what I have been doing; now it is ok! Thanks a million Joao and my apologies for the long delay. Thanks also Janja, which is Joao son, member of Sambex, a Samba Rock band that you probably known with I'm including a picture sent by Janja at this post end.

This record is amazing. I'm not an authority on Paulo Vanzolini music, but I think this is his first and only solo LP. AMG bio is provided for a better understanding of this great Brazilian artist, which is one of the main figures of Samba in Sao Paulo state. Tracks are included just bellow the bios.

Paulo Vanzolini, with Adoniran Barbosa, is acknowledged as the biggest representative of the samba of São Paulo. A physician by education (1947) and a zoologist (acknowledged internationally as one of the most eminent) by profession, Vanzolini nevertheless also kept bohemian habits throughout his youth and maturity, always having been connected with music and malandragem (street smarts). Having started to write sambas in the 1940s, soon he proved to be a talented verse improviser; his lyrics are chronicles both of the bohemian and urban São Paulo and of the upstate way of life. As a composer, his biggest hits are the samba "Volta por Cima," launched in 1962 by Noite Ilustrada (and later re-recorded, among many others, by Maria Bethânia) and included in Gláuber Rocha's O Dragão da Maldade contra o Santo Guerreiro (1969, with Rocha being awarded as the Best Director atthe Cannes Film Festival); and the samba-canção "Ronda," written in 1945 and launched by Inesita Barroso in 1953, being highly popular until today and becoming an anthem of the city of São Paulo. The song became successful in Márcia's re-recording in the 1960s, also recorded later by Maria Bethânia (on her LP Álibi, a top-seller of 1978), Nora Ney, Carmen Costa, and Ângela Maria, among others. In 1967, Vanzolini's friend and partner Luís Carlos Paraná and Marcus Pereira produced for Fermata the LP Paulo Vanzolini: Onze Sambas e Uma Capoeira, on which Vanzolini's songs were interpreted by Chico Buarque, Luís Carlos Paraná, and other artists.

Writing lyrics and melodies by himself, Vanzolini also had partnerships with Toquinho, in the mid-'60s, before the composer formed his duo with Vinícius de Moraes. In 1967, Vanzolini and Toquinho participated in the II Festival Internacional da Canção (International Song Festival, FIC, TV Globo) with one of those songs, "Na Boca da Noite," winning the São Paulo stage. Vanzolini also had as partners Luís Carlos Paraná, Paulinho Nogueira, Adauto Santos, and Elton Medeiros. In 1974, Cristina Buarque named her first LP, Cara Limpa, after the title of a Paulo Vanzolini samba. The label Marcus Pereira launched in that same year the LP A Música de Paulo Vanzolini, interpreted by Carmen Costa and Paulo Marques. In 1997, Vanzolini was paid tribute at the University of São Paulo with a show which launched previously unpublished compositions like "Quando Eu For, Eu Vou Sem Pena." Two years later, he was again paid homage during the commemorations of the 447th anniversary of the city of São Paulo in a show at the Sesc Pompéia hall. In 2001, Vanzolini's complete works began to be recorded by selected interpreters for a four-CD box set.

01 - Bandeira de Guerra (Paulo Vanzolini)
02 - Tempo e Espaço (Paulo Vanzolini)
03 - Raiz (Paulo Vanzolini)
04 - Samba Erudito (Paulo Vanzolini)
05 - Amor de Trapo e Farrapo (Paulo Vanzolini)
06 - Alberto (Paulo Vanzolini)
07 - Falta de Mim (Paulo Vanzolini)
08 - O Rato Roeu a Roupa do Rei de Roma (Paulo Vanzolini)
09 - Cravo Branco (Paulo Vanzolini)
10 - Vida É a Tua (Paulo Vanzolini)
11 - Capoeira do Arnaldo (Paulo Vanzolini)
12 - Samba do Suicídio (Paulo Vanzolini)
13 - Samba Abstrato (Paulo Vanzolini)