Goodbye to Baden Powell
The musician that turned Brazilian acoustic guitars upside down dies in Rio de Janeiro
Nana Vaz de Castro
18/10/2000
Brazilian popular music has lost one of its greatest icons: composer and guitarist Baden Powell de Aquino, 63. Baden was in hospital since August 23 and suffered general organ failure. One of his last projects was the recording of an album dedicated to the works of João Pernambuco (1883-1947). Powell was also expected to participate in a concert with Gal Costa, whose set list would be based exclusively upon Tom Jobim’s compositions. Rushed to the hospital a week before the premiere in Rio, Baden was substituted by Edu Lobo.
Recording company Trama is about to release newly recorded material, the album Lembranças. In this album, Baden’s only company is percussionist Fred Prince in some of the tracks, and the selection includes the songs Pastorinhas (Noel Rosa/João de Barro), Molambo (Jayme Florence/ Augusto Mesquita), Branca (Zequinha de Abreu) and others, besides his own compositions like Tem Dó (with Vinicius) and Falei e Disse (with Paulo César Pinheiro).
Born on the countryside of Rio de Janeiro, Baden Powell was named after the (British) founder of the Scout association, whom his father admired. An amateur musician, his father also passed on to Baden his first musical notions.
At age 8 he started taking guitar lessons from Jayme Florence, a.k.a. Meira. Thanks to his teacher, he began hanging out at radio studios and met musicians like Pixinguinha, João da Baiana and Ismael Silva. He became a professional musician at 15, when he was already backing up big radio names like Cyro Monteiro, Alaíde Costa, Adelaide Chiozzo, Angela Maria, Cyll Farney and Ivon Cury. At that time, he also made a few bucks by playing at clubs in the red light district.
By the end of the decade, he was hired by Philips and performed in albums by Paulo Moura (Interpreta Radamés Gnattali, from 1958) and Carlos Lyra (Bossa Nova, 1959). At Philips he recorded his first solo album, Apresentando Baden Powell e Seu Violão (1959) and the second, Um Violão na Madrugada (1961). Both on the radio and within the (then) emerging bossa nova, so influenced by the jazz, Baden Powell’s technique and sensitivity struck everybody. By that time, he started writing with partners like Billy Blanco, a friend throughout Baden’s life and co-author of hit singles like Samba Triste.
In 1962 he met Vinicius de Moraes. The poet found in Powell the partner who was willing to stay up all night, making music and drinking - which did not seduce Tom Jobim and Carlos Lyra, Vinicius’ constant partners up till that moment. They lived far from each other, so sometimes Baden would crash at Vinicius’ place. Eventually, he ended up staying for three months. Between ’62 and ’65, Baden and Vinicius wrote a series of afro-sambas which established their names among the most brilliant BPM composers in the 60s. About that period, Baden developed a drinking problem that requested detox sessions and caused shows to be called off , as well as minor scandals.
International career
In 1963, Baden went to Paris for the first time, with his wife Heloísa. The couple intended to stay for fifteen days, but remained for fifteen months, during which he recorded the albums Le Monde Musical de Baden Powell and Billy Nencioli et Baden Powell, with the French singer and composer, and those were the first of a series of albums released in France. After that, he would return a few times to Europe and live in France in the 70s, where his two children (Phillipe and Louis-Marcel, musicians) were born. In the 80s, he spent time in Germany, more precisely in the town of Baden-Baden. Along the 70s and 80s, the guitarist was among the most famed Brazilian musicians abroad. But the prestige would sometimes be overshadowed by his drinking problem. On stage, however, the alcoholic side effects would hardly ever be noticed by the audience - which seemed to be magic for those who had seen him earlier in the dressing room.
In 1966, he made the album Os Afro-Sambas, with his and Vinicius’ compositions, arranged by maestro Guerra-Peixe. The album is a must in any BPM collection, but Baden insisted in re-recording it in 1990, claiming that the technical conditions back in ’66 were fragile. Obsession with technique and technicality – both while writing and recording music – was a trademark of his. Those who knew Baden well remember that he could play the same part of a song or listen to the same album for days in a row.
Besides Vinicius, Paulo César Pinheiro was Baden’s most important partner. Their first composition was Lapinha, from 1967, a hit in the voice of Elis Regina. Other hits were Cai Dentro, Aviso aos Navegantes, Voltei, Vou Deitar and Rolar and Refém da Solidão.
In the 90s, Baden began working with his kids, Phillipe and Marcel, respectively, pianist and guitarist. From a tender age, the boys were treated by their father as professionals and legitimate heirs to his legacy. They toured and recorded together around the world.
Baden Powell was converted into Protestantism in the last years, changing habits and disposing of anything related to African-Brazilian religions and even modifying some of his songs, substituting African-related words for Christian ones.
In 1999, the biography O Violão Vadio de Baden Powell, by French writer Dominique Dreyfus, was published by Editora 34.
Recording company Trama is about to release newly recorded material, the album Lembranças. In this album, Baden’s only company is percussionist Fred Prince in some of the tracks, and the selection includes the songs Pastorinhas (Noel Rosa/João de Barro), Molambo (Jayme Florence/ Augusto Mesquita), Branca (Zequinha de Abreu) and others, besides his own compositions like Tem Dó (with Vinicius) and Falei e Disse (with Paulo César Pinheiro).
Born on the countryside of Rio de Janeiro, Baden Powell was named after the (British) founder of the Scout association, whom his father admired. An amateur musician, his father also passed on to Baden his first musical notions.
At age 8 he started taking guitar lessons from Jayme Florence, a.k.a. Meira. Thanks to his teacher, he began hanging out at radio studios and met musicians like Pixinguinha, João da Baiana and Ismael Silva. He became a professional musician at 15, when he was already backing up big radio names like Cyro Monteiro, Alaíde Costa, Adelaide Chiozzo, Angela Maria, Cyll Farney and Ivon Cury. At that time, he also made a few bucks by playing at clubs in the red light district.
By the end of the decade, he was hired by Philips and performed in albums by Paulo Moura (Interpreta Radamés Gnattali, from 1958) and Carlos Lyra (Bossa Nova, 1959). At Philips he recorded his first solo album, Apresentando Baden Powell e Seu Violão (1959) and the second, Um Violão na Madrugada (1961). Both on the radio and within the (then) emerging bossa nova, so influenced by the jazz, Baden Powell’s technique and sensitivity struck everybody. By that time, he started writing with partners like Billy Blanco, a friend throughout Baden’s life and co-author of hit singles like Samba Triste.
In 1962 he met Vinicius de Moraes. The poet found in Powell the partner who was willing to stay up all night, making music and drinking - which did not seduce Tom Jobim and Carlos Lyra, Vinicius’ constant partners up till that moment. They lived far from each other, so sometimes Baden would crash at Vinicius’ place. Eventually, he ended up staying for three months. Between ’62 and ’65, Baden and Vinicius wrote a series of afro-sambas which established their names among the most brilliant BPM composers in the 60s. About that period, Baden developed a drinking problem that requested detox sessions and caused shows to be called off , as well as minor scandals.
International career
In 1963, Baden went to Paris for the first time, with his wife Heloísa. The couple intended to stay for fifteen days, but remained for fifteen months, during which he recorded the albums Le Monde Musical de Baden Powell and Billy Nencioli et Baden Powell, with the French singer and composer, and those were the first of a series of albums released in France. After that, he would return a few times to Europe and live in France in the 70s, where his two children (Phillipe and Louis-Marcel, musicians) were born. In the 80s, he spent time in Germany, more precisely in the town of Baden-Baden. Along the 70s and 80s, the guitarist was among the most famed Brazilian musicians abroad. But the prestige would sometimes be overshadowed by his drinking problem. On stage, however, the alcoholic side effects would hardly ever be noticed by the audience - which seemed to be magic for those who had seen him earlier in the dressing room.
In 1966, he made the album Os Afro-Sambas, with his and Vinicius’ compositions, arranged by maestro Guerra-Peixe. The album is a must in any BPM collection, but Baden insisted in re-recording it in 1990, claiming that the technical conditions back in ’66 were fragile. Obsession with technique and technicality – both while writing and recording music – was a trademark of his. Those who knew Baden well remember that he could play the same part of a song or listen to the same album for days in a row.
Besides Vinicius, Paulo César Pinheiro was Baden’s most important partner. Their first composition was Lapinha, from 1967, a hit in the voice of Elis Regina. Other hits were Cai Dentro, Aviso aos Navegantes, Voltei, Vou Deitar and Rolar and Refém da Solidão.
In the 90s, Baden began working with his kids, Phillipe and Marcel, respectively, pianist and guitarist. From a tender age, the boys were treated by their father as professionals and legitimate heirs to his legacy. They toured and recorded together around the world.
Baden Powell was converted into Protestantism in the last years, changing habits and disposing of anything related to African-Brazilian religions and even modifying some of his songs, substituting African-related words for Christian ones.
In 1999, the biography O Violão Vadio de Baden Powell, by French writer Dominique Dreyfus, was published by Editora 34.