The idle guitar of the wandering genius
With his wild punch, mixing in the tradition of choro and samba with the contemporaneity of bossa, Baden Powell elevated the instrumental school to its highest spot.
Tárik de Souza
18/10/2000
Like Jimi Hendrix and his electric guitar, Baden Powell was a rare unanimity concerning acoustic guitar. It is likely that he was also the best of the world in his time, but, in Brazil, he undoubtedly hit the top. With his wild, African-like beat, Powell combined tradition with the modernism of bossa nova, in spite of not being an orthodox icon for the latter. First as a student, then as a backup musician and later as a solo artist, he always boasted a multi-sided repertoire that reflected his ability to captivate different audiences.
Indomitable Baden made an impression on Marlene Dietrich and French guitar star Sacha Distel, when they visited Rio. "After listening to him I felt like I had Eiffel towers in my hands, instead of fingers", Distel told Powell’s biographer Dominique Dreyfus. That was the outset of an international career that would take the guitarist (as opposed to bossa nova colleagues who chose to live in the States) to an incomparable success ride in Europe, especially in France and Germany.
The meeting with Vinicius de Moraes, in the early 60s, brought certain guidelines to the varied aesthetics of his future partner. Together (with gallons of whisky), they wrote remarkable themes such as Samba em Prelúdio, Apelo, Formosa, Deve Ser Amor, Labareda, Deixa, O Astronauta, Tem Dó, Só Por Amor, Bom Dia Amigo and Tempo Feliz, besides the afro-samba series, reunited in the 1966 album arranged by maestro Guerra-Peixe: Canto de Ossanha, Tristeza e Solidão, Bocochê, Canto de Xangô, Canto de Iemanjá, Tempo de Amor, Canto do Caboclo Pedra Preta, Lamento de Exu.
At that time, the musician had already imprinted his peculiar guitar beat, which blended the energy of flamenco guitar, solid choro techniques and the rhythmic sense acquired by someone who had spent a lot of time at samba meetings. He pursued a successful career as a performer and composer, through albums such as Baden Powell Swings with Jimmy Pratt (1962), Baden Powell à Vontade (1963) and Tempo Feliz, with harmonica player Mauricio Heinhorn (1966), besides the international debut Le Monde Musical de Baden Powell vol. 1 (1964). Baden wrote with different partners, like Lula Freire, but the meeting with writer and poet Paulo César Pinheiro, crystallized in the song Lapinha, was a turning point in his career. With Paulo César, Baden would produce a series of powerful, rhythmic sambas such as Aviso aos Navegantes, Vou Deitar e Rolar (Quaquaraquaquá), É de Lei, Falei e Disse, Refém da Solidão, Samba do Perdão and the poignant Violão Vadio, all of them featured in the album Os Cantores da Lapinha (1970).
But slowly, Powell would let go of the author who triggered improvisations in instrumental themes to pay the debt of his trail as a wandering genius. In his last years, accompanied by his sons Phillipe and Louis Marcel (with whom he wrote Atravessado, Prelúdio Pra Mão Esquerda, Tributo ao Blues), Baden Powell emphasized his performing abilities, as a six-string master who elevated Brazilian guitar playing to its highest level.
Indomitable Baden made an impression on Marlene Dietrich and French guitar star Sacha Distel, when they visited Rio. "After listening to him I felt like I had Eiffel towers in my hands, instead of fingers", Distel told Powell’s biographer Dominique Dreyfus. That was the outset of an international career that would take the guitarist (as opposed to bossa nova colleagues who chose to live in the States) to an incomparable success ride in Europe, especially in France and Germany.
The meeting with Vinicius de Moraes, in the early 60s, brought certain guidelines to the varied aesthetics of his future partner. Together (with gallons of whisky), they wrote remarkable themes such as Samba em Prelúdio, Apelo, Formosa, Deve Ser Amor, Labareda, Deixa, O Astronauta, Tem Dó, Só Por Amor, Bom Dia Amigo and Tempo Feliz, besides the afro-samba series, reunited in the 1966 album arranged by maestro Guerra-Peixe: Canto de Ossanha, Tristeza e Solidão, Bocochê, Canto de Xangô, Canto de Iemanjá, Tempo de Amor, Canto do Caboclo Pedra Preta, Lamento de Exu.
At that time, the musician had already imprinted his peculiar guitar beat, which blended the energy of flamenco guitar, solid choro techniques and the rhythmic sense acquired by someone who had spent a lot of time at samba meetings. He pursued a successful career as a performer and composer, through albums such as Baden Powell Swings with Jimmy Pratt (1962), Baden Powell à Vontade (1963) and Tempo Feliz, with harmonica player Mauricio Heinhorn (1966), besides the international debut Le Monde Musical de Baden Powell vol. 1 (1964). Baden wrote with different partners, like Lula Freire, but the meeting with writer and poet Paulo César Pinheiro, crystallized in the song Lapinha, was a turning point in his career. With Paulo César, Baden would produce a series of powerful, rhythmic sambas such as Aviso aos Navegantes, Vou Deitar e Rolar (Quaquaraquaquá), É de Lei, Falei e Disse, Refém da Solidão, Samba do Perdão and the poignant Violão Vadio, all of them featured in the album Os Cantores da Lapinha (1970).
But slowly, Powell would let go of the author who triggered improvisations in instrumental themes to pay the debt of his trail as a wandering genius. In his last years, accompanied by his sons Phillipe and Louis Marcel (with whom he wrote Atravessado, Prelúdio Pra Mão Esquerda, Tributo ao Blues), Baden Powell emphasized his performing abilities, as a six-string master who elevated Brazilian guitar playing to its highest level.