André Geraissati
I went to the theater expecting to watch a genius musician playing complex arrangements demanding constant attention from the audience. In a sense, music that appeals more to the brain than to the senses or, as some would say, “difficult” music.
It wasn’t quite like that. Geraissati indeed has the chops, and his songs require a good level of attention so that the listener can follow the stories they tell, but the flowing rhythms and the beauty of the melodies are captivating. His music is far from difficult.
André Geraissati entered the stage and, after greeting the audience, played “Tuiú” nonstop for 40 minutes, using the song as a ground for long improvisation flights. Musicians in the audience were certainly paying close attention to his exceptional technique, trying to understand — and learn — how he got that many sounds from the instrument. I saw a lot of open mouths after this or that prodigious hand movement during the concert.
Technical proficiency is only a part of André Geraissati’s music, though. The melodies he chooses when improvising are always beautiful, inserted brilliantly between the main themes. His phrasing is sometimes exotic, but most of the time carry the rhythmic richness and lyricism of the best Brazilian music.
After the end of “Tuiú”, the known introvert thanked the applause and, without speaking a word, left the stage. On the insistence of the audience, he returned for the encore, playing another song for more 15 minutes nonstop. And that was it. Two songs and the concert was over.
It wasn’t an easy to shoot concert. I always set up my camera to be as discreet as possible, but the sound of the click was still audible because of the low volume on the stage and the complete silence from the audience. As I didn’t want to disturb the concert (music first, you know), I could only take a few photos. Some of them are in this album on my Flickr account:
Although working with music since the 60s, Andre Geraissati became known in the mainstream at the end of the 70s, with Grupo D’Alma. From 79 to 85 he was a part of this guitar trio, which, playing its own repertoire, with strong Brazilian characteristics, charmed audiences from all the world. With Grupo D’Alma, Andre played in the main international jazz festivals, establishing himself as one of the great talents of Brazilian guitar.
After 1992 Andre focussed on his Tom Brasil project, putting together a series of concerts and recordings of all the artists involved with Brazilian instrumental music, surrounding them with the best technology possible.
It’s possible to find some of Geraissati’s albums on YouTube and also some songs on streaming platforms, but I’d suggest this performance recorded live for a Brazilian TV channel:
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