Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Carlinhos Veiga and Band in the Municipal Market, Florianopolis
Saturday 14 October 2006
We first met Carlinhos in Brasília last year, when Andrew preached in the Presbyterian Church of Brasilia, which happened to be the occasion of Carlinhos' last Sunday there, as the congregation he had planted was being organized as a church that same night. Cora went along to the formation of the North Lake Presbyterian Church with the recognition of Carlinhos as its Pastor.
But even before that we already enjoyed Carlinhos' music. Our friends Jairo and Sheila of Goiânia had introduced us to his work, even giving us a CD. Subsequent to the Brasília trip, Carlinhos himself gave us the rest of the oeuvre. With his recent visit to Floripa, courtesy of the Trindade Presbyterian Church, we at last had a chance to hear him live. Commitments on Friday night (Peregrinos) and Saturday night (Anna's Chá and Andrew preaching to a youth rally in Barreiros) meant that we were only able to get along on the Saturday lunchtime. Even then not for the whole time. But it was well worth it.
In a country (and world?) where Evangelical music basically means worship songs, and worships songs mean "all the good news, none of the bad, put in the most anodyne way and set to middle of the road and lively but non-descript tunes" Carlinhos is very refreshing. Instead of singing about the gospel from a superficial perspective, he sings about everything from a gospel perspective. He sings Brazilian roots folk music – north-eastern and centre-west rhythms, with songs about all aspects of life. Much of his music is a celebration of brazilianness, sung as a Christian Brazilian. He sings about fruits and sea food, about trees and flowers. He has a song about how to teach your children about sex. He has a pentateucal genealogy set to a samba. He is a great musician, with a very good band. We would listen to him even if he were not a Christian – but we are so glad that he is. Keep up the good work, mate!
Saturday 14 October 2006
We first met Carlinhos in Brasília last year, when Andrew preached in the Presbyterian Church of Brasilia, which happened to be the occasion of Carlinhos' last Sunday there, as the congregation he had planted was being organized as a church that same night. Cora went along to the formation of the North Lake Presbyterian Church with the recognition of Carlinhos as its Pastor.
But even before that we already enjoyed Carlinhos' music. Our friends Jairo and Sheila of Goiânia had introduced us to his work, even giving us a CD. Subsequent to the Brasília trip, Carlinhos himself gave us the rest of the oeuvre. With his recent visit to Floripa, courtesy of the Trindade Presbyterian Church, we at last had a chance to hear him live. Commitments on Friday night (Peregrinos) and Saturday night (Anna's Chá and Andrew preaching to a youth rally in Barreiros) meant that we were only able to get along on the Saturday lunchtime. Even then not for the whole time. But it was well worth it.
In a country (and world?) where Evangelical music basically means worship songs, and worships songs mean "all the good news, none of the bad, put in the most anodyne way and set to middle of the road and lively but non-descript tunes" Carlinhos is very refreshing. Instead of singing about the gospel from a superficial perspective, he sings about everything from a gospel perspective. He sings Brazilian roots folk music – north-eastern and centre-west rhythms, with songs about all aspects of life. Much of his music is a celebration of brazilianness, sung as a Christian Brazilian. He sings about fruits and sea food, about trees and flowers. He has a song about how to teach your children about sex. He has a pentateucal genealogy set to a samba. He is a great musician, with a very good band. We would listen to him even if he were not a Christian – but we are so glad that he is. Keep up the good work, mate!
# posted by Andrew and Cora @ 9:06:00 pm 
