It was within the context of this search that I found myself in Providence, Rhode Island, face to face with a Brazilian friend and future classmate of mine at Brown Medical School. Sitting in the middle of a bustling coffeehouse, I proceeded to ask all sorts of questions about Brazil, the favelas, and his culture's secret to coping with the sadness and hard times so inevitable in life. �You know, I have the perfect answer for you,� he responded. �It�s in the form of some samba lyrics I translated for a fellow med student when she was feeling disillusioned. I think it speaks directly to what you�re doing��
The good samba is a kind of prayer
Because samba is a sadness that sways
And sadness is always hopeful
Of one day no longer being sad�
(Lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes, Translated by Flavio Casoy)
Upon receiving the lyrics, I was immediately struck by its description of samba as a �sadness� always hopeful �of one day no longer being sad.� My friend was right. By thinking of samba as a combination of sadness and hope, it was as if I had gained a new window through which I could understand Brazilian identity and the resilience of the favelados. This experience quickly convinced me that my earlier reliance on books was exactly the wrong way to go about organizing Finding Root. Indeed, my visit with him in that busy coffeehouse had set the stage for how I would eventually piece together my musical program--by collaborating with those who had native knowledge of their culture and music.
As a result, these past three months, from February to April, have been some of the most culturally and musically intense in my life. I�ve played music with folks during Indonesian church services, improvised to Brazilian choro pieces, and imitated electric guitar rifts on Lynyrd Skynyrd standards. On request, I�ve also been lucky enough to have received folk songs and stories from members of the Cambodian, Taiwanese, and Hopi Indian communities. All the while, I was only too happy to take on the role of a student, grateful and humbled that people would take time to teach me about music from countries and cultures all over the world.
Such collaborations are what make Finding Root a unique concert experience, where melodies and harmonies from far-flung parts of the world are able to come together on one stage. In this section, you will find background information about music of both Eastern and Western influence, representing more than seven countries and a multitude of ethnic and social cultures. Although each concert in the Finding Root series will have different programs due to musician availability, it my hope that the stories and program notes below will bring to life the "rootness" of the cultures behind the music.
Choose One:
Program notes: Carrollton Concert (4/22/06)
Program notes: Atlanta Concert (4/30/06)
Health Disparities