Jorge Aragão may be a few years younger than Marcos Valles, who was also in Montreal this week, but he’s just as popular with Montreal Brazilians, if not more so. Accompanied by his seven musicians, including a woman who appears to be the musical director, he charmed Montrealers despite the long delay before the start of the show. But as soon as he hummed his first notes, still backstage, that frustration turned into excitement, accompanied by shouts, to welcome this giant of samba and pagode.
A pandeiro, a guitar, a surdo, several drums, a drum kit and a cavaquinho – these were the instruments that accompanied him as he sang with his recognizably deep voice. Dressed all in black, he addresses the crowd: “I’m going to sing some very old songs tonight”. He begins with the classic Eu e você sempre, and cell phones were out and the whole crowd was singing in unison. His voice is still recognizable but you can feel it losing some of its vigor. And without transition, he continued with another classic, Lucidez, which he played live with his former group Fundo de Quintal, of which he is a founding member. This was followed by Novos tempos and De Sampa a São Luis, to name but a few.
He had a machine in front of him, on which he occasionally taped, while doing a few subtle dance steps. He also sometimes mimed his lyrics, taking the time to connect with his audience, who was in total admiration. A good Brazilian friend of mine was in tears during some of the songs, because of the saudade (nostalgia made in Brazil) that was omnipresent at the National.
“Now I’m going to sing you some samba,” he announces, before Malandro, which was a phenomenal success thanks to Elza Soares, who popularized it. As well as being a singer and multi-instrumentalist, Jorge Aragão is also a composer and lyricist.
He invites the audience to clap along to some of the songs, adding to the festive atmosphere. The magic recipe of this great artist is his talent for telling stories of everyday life, with a romantic touch, over fast or slow rhythms, depending on the song.
After standing on stage for an hour, he asked for a chair, feeling a little tired. And that was just in time for the song that followed, which was much quieter but perfect for dancing with a partner.
He continued his series of hits, including Loucuras de uma paixão, Feitio de paixão, Doce amizade and Conselho, one of my favorites.
There was no encore, but the talented samba dancer Daniela Castro returned to the stage towards the end of the concert. She had done a few dance steps during Roda de Samba Sem Fim’s opening performance. Which put us in the right frame of mind to welcome this giant of Brazilian music.
Photo credit: Monica Kobayashi
