On the radio, twenty years later...

Twenty years later, there I was, sitting in a comfortable couch inside a radio station, Australia's ABC (720AM Perth), for an interview about a new gig I am doing with a Brazilian singer/friend next Saturday. We were both a little nervous with the whole thing, but then, unlike 20 years ago when I'd get all fired up and tense like a wire during a live appearance, I started looking around, and just feeling lucky to be there once again. The views of leafless trees from the large studio windows, and how nice all people from production, technicians and the presenter, Geraldine Mellet, were being with us, all provided me a perfect setting to neutralize the hand-freezing effects of being there, live on the radio, twenty years later. Good to see time changes us for better in a few things, so I was just able to appreciate, and play as best as possible, and just feel good about it.

We played two songs from the repertoire of 15 we'll be playing on Saturday - Meu Erro (Paralamas do Sucesso) and Every Breath You Take (ThePolice). Both songs are from the rock/pop stream of music, but we reworked them onto a samba/bossa nova arrangement that sounds simply delicious for a voice and guitar duo. As a bass player, taking the classical guitar for this project has allowed me to focus on the rhythmic textures, taking advantage of the larger range of possibilities to throw in harmonic structures alongside the rhythmic thing. Of course, the singer loves it, as it gives her all the freedom and backing to float away in the melodic space that becomes all hers.

We are calling ourselves "So Brazil Duo", and everything has been fantastic about this experience.