Memories of a radical songwriter
Paulo Vanzolini recalls his stories with Adoniran Barbosa and João Gilberto
Carlos Calado
16/01/2001
AllBrazilianMusic - What was it like, you and Adoniran Barbosa?
Paulo Vanzolini - We were good friends, we drank a lot of cachaça together. He wanted to write songs with me, but it never worked out, because he wanted me to come up with the melody (laughs). I regard Adoniran as a genius caricaturist who perfectly chronicled the life in the suburbs of São Paulo.
AllBrazilianMusic- What is your earliest musical memory? How did you get involved with music?
Paulo Vanzolini - By listening to the radio. It may sound pushy, but I perfectly recall turning on the radio when I was 5 or 6 years old, to listen to Noel Rosa and Aracy de Almeida. Of course, my inspiration came from those melodies that I listened to, as a child. Once, I wrote a song that Paraná recognized right away. It was Manolita, a very old and famous song that stuck to my head and I hadn't noticed. The same thing happened to Caetano Veloso: he drew half of the melody of Sampa from Ronda.
AllBrazilianMusic - So it was just a citation or homage?
Paulo Vanzolini - And do these people from Bahia do homage to anyone at all? (laughs) He probably didn't realize it, in the beginning. But then he decided to keep the Ronda melody because he knew I wouldn't say a word. I'm not a big fan of his, but he had to make a living. In fact, I don't like any of these guys from Bahia.
AllBrazilianMusic - Not even João Gilberto?
Paulo Vanzolini - Not as an artist, he's too picky, but I love him as a person. I met him through Henrique Lobo, a disc-jockey that was my cousin and very close to Gilberto. I visited him in New York, once. I was there from 10:30 p.m. till 6 next morning. Then he said to me; "Paulinho, I have always played this chord like this, but now I have found out that it wasn't like this. It's like that...".
AllBrazilianMusic - And did you understand?
Paulo Vanzolini - Talking to me about chords is like barking at a horse (laughs). I patientlywatched him play, I didn't have a clue. When I returned to São Paulo, everybody was asking: "Can't you remeber what the chord was?" In those days, everybody was in love with Gilberto's little things, but what could I do if I didn't know anything about it?
AllBrazilianMusic - Do you know how many songs you have written?
Paulo Vanzolini - Roughly, I would say 60. I used to make music for my own sake. I had no commercial interest in it, I could indulge into perfectionism, spend six months working on one song, as I did with Volta Por Cima. Besides, the competiton is a bit dishonest, because I am very experienced, I have read a lot of poetry.
AllBrazilianMusic - Is it true that, in general, you don't appreciate the existing recording fo your sambas?
Paulo Vanzolini - They're too bad. The real drama is not the singer, but the arranger. Usually, the person does not understand my mind. Maybe I'm too cult for the local arrangers. Once I got a phone call from this guy claiming to be representing Roberto Carlos, that the singer wanted to record my songs. I said it was ok, because I like Roberto, but nothing came out of it. And it would have been a disaster, anyway (laughs). It would have been a musical suicide.
AllBrazilianMusic - What do you think of the new generation of samba musicians?
Paulo Vanzolini - I like Zeca Pagodinho, whose music is simple, creative and unattached. Now, those groupd with the big butt dancers, I can't...
AllBrazilianMusic - How would you like to be remembered, as a scientist or a songwriter?
Paulo Vanzolini - I don't wanna be rememberd (laughs). I watch that Actor's Studio show on the television. By the end of the program, the reporter usually asks them: "If there is heaven, what you like to hear from God when you get there?", or something. You know what I'd like? I'd like if God would just say "Hi, Paulo".
Paulo Vanzolini - We were good friends, we drank a lot of cachaça together. He wanted to write songs with me, but it never worked out, because he wanted me to come up with the melody (laughs). I regard Adoniran as a genius caricaturist who perfectly chronicled the life in the suburbs of São Paulo.
AllBrazilianMusic- What is your earliest musical memory? How did you get involved with music?
Paulo Vanzolini - By listening to the radio. It may sound pushy, but I perfectly recall turning on the radio when I was 5 or 6 years old, to listen to Noel Rosa and Aracy de Almeida. Of course, my inspiration came from those melodies that I listened to, as a child. Once, I wrote a song that Paraná recognized right away. It was Manolita, a very old and famous song that stuck to my head and I hadn't noticed. The same thing happened to Caetano Veloso: he drew half of the melody of Sampa from Ronda.
AllBrazilianMusic - So it was just a citation or homage?
Paulo Vanzolini - And do these people from Bahia do homage to anyone at all? (laughs) He probably didn't realize it, in the beginning. But then he decided to keep the Ronda melody because he knew I wouldn't say a word. I'm not a big fan of his, but he had to make a living. In fact, I don't like any of these guys from Bahia.
AllBrazilianMusic - Not even João Gilberto?
Paulo Vanzolini - Not as an artist, he's too picky, but I love him as a person. I met him through Henrique Lobo, a disc-jockey that was my cousin and very close to Gilberto. I visited him in New York, once. I was there from 10:30 p.m. till 6 next morning. Then he said to me; "Paulinho, I have always played this chord like this, but now I have found out that it wasn't like this. It's like that...".
AllBrazilianMusic - And did you understand?
Paulo Vanzolini - Talking to me about chords is like barking at a horse (laughs). I patientlywatched him play, I didn't have a clue. When I returned to São Paulo, everybody was asking: "Can't you remeber what the chord was?" In those days, everybody was in love with Gilberto's little things, but what could I do if I didn't know anything about it?
AllBrazilianMusic - Do you know how many songs you have written?
Paulo Vanzolini - Roughly, I would say 60. I used to make music for my own sake. I had no commercial interest in it, I could indulge into perfectionism, spend six months working on one song, as I did with Volta Por Cima. Besides, the competiton is a bit dishonest, because I am very experienced, I have read a lot of poetry.
AllBrazilianMusic - Is it true that, in general, you don't appreciate the existing recording fo your sambas?
Paulo Vanzolini - They're too bad. The real drama is not the singer, but the arranger. Usually, the person does not understand my mind. Maybe I'm too cult for the local arrangers. Once I got a phone call from this guy claiming to be representing Roberto Carlos, that the singer wanted to record my songs. I said it was ok, because I like Roberto, but nothing came out of it. And it would have been a disaster, anyway (laughs). It would have been a musical suicide.
AllBrazilianMusic - What do you think of the new generation of samba musicians?
Paulo Vanzolini - I like Zeca Pagodinho, whose music is simple, creative and unattached. Now, those groupd with the big butt dancers, I can't...
AllBrazilianMusic - How would you like to be remembered, as a scientist or a songwriter?
Paulo Vanzolini - I don't wanna be rememberd (laughs). I watch that Actor's Studio show on the television. By the end of the program, the reporter usually asks them: "If there is heaven, what you like to hear from God when you get there?", or something. You know what I'd like? I'd like if God would just say "Hi, Paulo".
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