"Brazilian Heart"(Kuarup) is an album that was born from the meeting between two generations of Brazilian instrumental music. Trumpeter Silvério Pontes and pianist Antonio Guerra came together to celebrate the songbook and popular genres. The record was born to tell an eternally fertile Brazil, gaucho, chorão, sambista and forrozeiro, extolling the diversity of the Brazilian people.
Trumpet and piano duos were further explored in chamber music and American jazz. However, little has been done with this formation in the history of Brazilian popular music. “This is a novelty in Brazil, based on the tradition of our music”, says Silvério, calling attention to what is heard on the album: “from themes extracted from the songbook to choro and samba, with all the harmonic, melodic and rhythmic richness of Brazilian instrumental music”.
The show's repertoire, based on the record, features works by Pixinguinha ("Desprezado"), Radamés Gnatalli ("Papo de Anjo"), Egberto Gismonti (Frevo), by João Bosco and Chico Buarque ("Sinhá") and Guinga (" Choro pro Zé" and "Lendas Brasileiras"), as well as compositions by Antonio ("Saudades de Pernambuco" and "Bailarina de Fogo") and Silvério ("Gaudérios"), among others.
 
 
 
Two generations, one heart
Silverio and Guerra could never have imagined that a fortuitous working meeting between them would immediately establish a partnership as original as it was productive. During some rehearsal sessions, between choros, maxixes, waltzes and jazz, these two stars from different generations and formations discovered an inexhaustible musical affinity. The result was the pianist's immediate entry into Silvério's band and the urgent desire to develop a work together.
The sound union of Silvério Pontes, who always drank from the source of choro and samba, considered genuinely carioca music, with Antonio Guerra, a concert artist with black music in his blood, yielded the album "Coração Brasileiro". The work was released in the second half of 2017, connecting the best tradition of Brazilian instrumental music and the excellent crop of young musicians who renew the scene. In addition to the aforementioned Guinga, the recordings had the special participation of Bernardo Aguiar, Guto Wirtti and Yamandu Costa.
The “Coração Brasileiro” Duo performed four pre-launch concerts for the project. One in Belo Horizonte, at Teatro da Funarte, and three in Rio de Janeiro: at Teatro Ipanema, at Blue Note and at Casa do Choro. At the Teatro Ipanema, the presentation had the participation of Guinga, a great supporter of the project and who also collaborated in the recordings of the CD, in the track “Lendas Brasileiras”, of his authorship. The project had great support from the specialized media, which can be seen in the PDF presentation that we are sending attached to this proposal.
The CD (Kuarup label) had its official launch show in October 2018 (marking the arrival of the physical CD), at the João Caetano Municipal Theater, in Niterói (a project selected by the Theater's guidelines construction notice), with special participations by Daniela Spielmann (sax), Arthur Maia (bass) and Aquiles Moraes (trumpet). The CD is available on several digital platforms.
In December 2018, Antonio Guerra and Silvério Pontes, together with Daniela Spielmann, promoted the wind workshop “The luxurious assistance of Radamés in Brazilian popular music”, at the USP Cultural Center. Also in December, the duo participated in the 15th edition of the Chorando sem Parar festival, Radamés Gnattali Edition, in the city of São Carlos, SP, with free programming in several places in the city. At the end of the Festival, on the 9th, at Praça XV de São Carlos, in a great meeting of renowned Brazilian and foreign instrumentalists, the duo performed in a 12-hour program of non-stop rotation of guest artists.
With Guinga's participation, the duo also performed, on December 16, 2018, at the third edition of the Curitiba Jazz Festival, a free event, held at Praça Afonso Botelho. On May 9, also with Guinga's participation, the duo performed at Sala Cecília Meireles, in Rio de Janeiro.
At the moment the duo is on tour outside Brazil, performing in Japan, Portugal and Italy.