Mestres da Guitarrada

Gathered together by Pará's state influential researcher and musician Pio Lobato, the Mestres da Guitarrada group is the reunion of the greatest Guitarrada artists ever: Vieira, the creator of this music style; Curica, banjo player and carimbó arranger; Aldo Sena, the most exceptional honorable pupil of Vieira's. They have played in different music groups, with renowed local folklore artists and solo, but never together, until Pio Lobato proposed them to reunite under the name of Mestres da Guitarrada (Masters of Guitarrada). They played in tons of gigs in Belém, Pará state capital city, and then throughout Brazil and even in Germany, during 2006 Soccer World Cup. Vieira, 63, is the actual creator of the Guitarrada style, which took over the world in early 90s through a simplified and quicker version, the Lambada. Born in Barcarena, a small town 40km distant from Belém, he begun his artistic carrer early in childhood playing a wide variety of instruments, such as mandolin, banjo, cavaquinho, acoustic guitar and saxophone. He was eventually introduced to the electric guitar in early 70s, in a time when riverside town of Barcarena didn't have electric energy. This proved to be a minor challenge, since Vieira was a radio technician: he'd build his own amplifiers by disassembling stereos' speakers, which were fed by trucks batteries. Vieira is said to represent Brasil's second most known musical accent, after Dodô's and Osmar's Bahia guitar. He has recorded 17 albums so far. Curica, 53, is one of the most prominent names of Carimbó, Pará's most famous regional rythm. He arranged Verequete's (considered the most important person in Carimbó scene) and Pinduca's -- the self-entitled Carimbó king -- albums, and was actually the founder of Verequete's instrumental group, Uirapuru, responsible for the first recording of this rythm ever, in 1971. Also a multi-instrumentist, Vieira assembles his own instruments. Also, he is father of 10, one of which, José Augusto, plays guitar with him in the Mestres da Guitarrada band. Aldo Sena, 43, was heavily influenced by Vieira. In the early 80s, he founded the first Lambada band ever, "Populares de Igarapé-Miri", and he's considered one of the most creative Guitarrada composers of all. Also in the band joining the Mestres and Curica's son are bassist Ricardo Ramos and drummer Vovô. Guitarradas are easy-listening instrumental compositions whose main instrument is the electric guitar, which plays melodies over merengue, cumbia and carimbó bases. It is also influenced by choro, forró and maxixe, typical northern and northeastern rythms. Carimbó is a typical rythm from the Pará state in Brazil. It's got a heavy percursive section with heavy drums with leather covers, played by musicians that actually sit over them, and a melodic section formed by a flute, a banjo or an acoustic guitar. The singer chants the life of Amazon river people, their sadnesses and hapinessesses. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.