11.6.10

Um a Zero

   
Arthur Friedenreich was born to Oscar Friedenreich, a German businessman who immigrated to Brazil and Mathilde, an African Brazilian washerwoman, the daughter of freed slaves. Friedenreich was the first Black  professional football player in Brazil, because at that time football was dominated by whites and blacks were not accepted. He faced many barriers because of racism, and he could not attend the same places where white players were, such as swimming pools, tennis courts and parties.

He started his career influenced by his father, playing for SC Germania, a Brazilian football team composed of German immigrants. After playing with a succession of São Paulo club sides from 1910 onwards, Friedenreich made his debut with the national team in 1914. He played twenty-two internationals, including wins in the 1919 and 1922 editions of the Copa América, scoring ten goals. On Brazil's 1925 tour of Europe, he was feted as the King of Football. He also has a claim to the high scoring record but FIFA cannot prove these goals because of faulty record-keeping.

He was not picked up by Brazil National Football Team for 1930 FIFA World Cup because there was a serious misunderstanding between the Football Leagues of the States of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo; only players from Rio travelled. São Paulo stars, like him (who was 38 years old), Filó (who would be 1934 FIFA World Cup champion with Italy) and Feitiço, did not go to Uruguay.
 
      
“Um a Zero,” composed in honor of the paulista football ace Arthur Friedenreich, who shot the only goal in a match against Uruguay, winning for Brazil the 1919 South American championship and its first international soccer title.
      
      
1 - 0 (uno a zero)
di Gabriele Mirabassi
Egea -2001
 
Tracks:
  
01. Um a Zero (Pixinguinha)
02. Ainda Me Recordo (Pixinguinha)
03. Ingênuo (Pixinguinha)
04. Proezas de Solon (Pixinguinha)
05. Seu Lourenço no Vinho (Pixinguinha)
06. Non ci resta che... chorar! (Gabriele Mirabassi)
07. Vou Vivendo (Pixinguinha)
08. Chorei (Pixinguinha)
09. Carinhoso (Pixinguinha)
10. Apanhei-te, Cavaquinho (Ernesto Nazareth)
11. A Ginga do Mané (Jacob Pick Bittencourt)
12. Vidinha Boa (Jacob Pick Bittencourt)
13. Brejeiro (Ernesto Nazareth)
   
Gabriele Mirabassi (clarinet)
Patrick Vaillant (mandolin)
Luciano Biondini (accordion)
Michel Godard (tuba)
  
♫☆`*♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫☆`*♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫
      
      
♫☆`*♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫☆`*♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫
  
Choro, Italian style

Gabriele Mirabassi plays
Pixinguinha

Daniella Thompson
9 March 2002

Gabriele Mirabassi is an Italian clarinet virtuoso noted for his contributions to contemporary music and jazz. His recordings encompass a wide range of genres and styles, so it’s no surprise that Brazilian music which he discovered as an adolescent through Egberto Gismonti’s album Sanfonais clai ming an increasingly important place in his discography. In the past three years, Mirabassi has dedicated two albums to Brazilian music.

The more recent release, 1 - 0 (uno a zero), offers a selection of choro classics with a European twist. Instead of relying on the traditional conjunto regional’s backbone of guitar, cavaquinho, and pandeiro accompanying a solo instrument, Mirabassi’s arrangements employ four instruments clarinet, mandolin, accordion, and tuba in both solo and supportive roles.

Pixinguinha dominates the repertoire. Mirabassi, who like Paulo Moura finds great affinity between Pixinguinha and Duke Ellington, loaded the disc with eight compositions by the great choro composer, including the title tune “Um a Zero,” composed in honor of the paulista football ace Arthur Friedenreich, who shot the only goal in a match against Uruguay, winning for Brazil the 1919 South American championship and its first international soccer title. In a ball game of their own, clarinet, accordion, and tuba toss the melody back and forth and dribble counterpoints against each other.

Throughout the album, the clarinet rotates shades in a chameleon-like fashion, now taking on, now discarding the hues of Altamiro Carrilho’s choro flute, Benny Goodman’s Swing, a klezmer reed, or a progressive-jazz horn. Ernesto Nazareth’s warhorse “Apanhei-te, Cavaquinho” receives perhaps the most atypical interpretation in a leisurely accordion solo. Mirabassi also treats us to his own composition, “Non ci resta che... chorar!” (there’s nothing left to do but cry), which begins with a slow tuba solo that develops into a sprightly and swinging clarinet, accordion, and tuba romp.
   
  
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