Some light upon Victor Assis Brasil's legacy
The project headed by Victor's brother, Paulo Assis Brasil, is going to rescue the works of the instrumentalist and composer through shows, albums, a web site and sheet music
Nana Vaz de Castro
30/01/2001
One of the greatest names of intrumental music in Brazil, saxophonist and composer Victor Assis Brasil died prematurely in 1981, at age 35. The 20-year death anniversary (on April 14) has instigated Paulo Assis Brasil to head a big project that will bring back the prolific legacy left by his older brother.
The kick off happens with a series of shows in April, in Rio de Janeiro. Then, Paulo intends to gather and print all of Victor's sheet music; make a CD out of the shows and start a web site about his brother. "For the time being, I have no formal support for the project", says Paulo, who counts on a more important type of support, right now: the musicians who immediately agreed to participate in the shows.
Some of the most important artists who make instrumental music in Brazil have confirmed their presence: Hermeto Pascoal, Lula Galvão, Paschoal Meirelles, Idriss Boudrioua, Paulo Russo, Fernando Martins, Celia Vaz, Cláudio Guimarães, Paulo Guimarães, Clara Sverner, Luiz Avelar and, of course, Victor's twin, pianist João Carlos Assis Brasil. Others might join in.
Victor's trajectory was striking. Between the first time that he played the saxophone, at age 17, until his death, at age 35, 18 intensely productive years passed - still, many of his compositions have remained unreleased to this day. Victor used to be regarded as one of the greatest instrumentalists in his time, having performed along with stars like Dizzy Gillespie, Chick Corea and Ron Carter.
As a songwriter, he would record his music in his own albums and have his music recorded by artists like Hélio Delmiro, Paulo Moura and Carlos Malta, among others. Nonetheless, João Carlos was surprised when, after Victor's death, he opened his brother's suitcases to find out over 400 unreleased songs. From the stash, João selected 12 compositions that comporised the repertoire of the album Self Portrait - Assis Brasil por Assis Brasil, which he recorded along with Paulo Sérgio Santos (woodwind), Zeca Assumpção (bass) and Jurim Moreira (drums) in 1990.
The truth is, the full talent of the composer is yet to be discovered. "We also intend to collect music that Victor would record on tape and give to his friends without ever making a copy for himself", reveals Paulo.
The kick off happens with a series of shows in April, in Rio de Janeiro. Then, Paulo intends to gather and print all of Victor's sheet music; make a CD out of the shows and start a web site about his brother. "For the time being, I have no formal support for the project", says Paulo, who counts on a more important type of support, right now: the musicians who immediately agreed to participate in the shows.
Some of the most important artists who make instrumental music in Brazil have confirmed their presence: Hermeto Pascoal, Lula Galvão, Paschoal Meirelles, Idriss Boudrioua, Paulo Russo, Fernando Martins, Celia Vaz, Cláudio Guimarães, Paulo Guimarães, Clara Sverner, Luiz Avelar and, of course, Victor's twin, pianist João Carlos Assis Brasil. Others might join in.
Victor's trajectory was striking. Between the first time that he played the saxophone, at age 17, until his death, at age 35, 18 intensely productive years passed - still, many of his compositions have remained unreleased to this day. Victor used to be regarded as one of the greatest instrumentalists in his time, having performed along with stars like Dizzy Gillespie, Chick Corea and Ron Carter.
As a songwriter, he would record his music in his own albums and have his music recorded by artists like Hélio Delmiro, Paulo Moura and Carlos Malta, among others. Nonetheless, João Carlos was surprised when, after Victor's death, he opened his brother's suitcases to find out over 400 unreleased songs. From the stash, João selected 12 compositions that comporised the repertoire of the album Self Portrait - Assis Brasil por Assis Brasil, which he recorded along with Paulo Sérgio Santos (woodwind), Zeca Assumpção (bass) and Jurim Moreira (drums) in 1990.
The truth is, the full talent of the composer is yet to be discovered. "We also intend to collect music that Victor would record on tape and give to his friends without ever making a copy for himself", reveals Paulo.