Hailed by The Boston Globe as a “premier exponent of Chamamé“, Brazil-based Argentine composer, accordionist, and researcher Alejandro Brittes explores his chamamé heritage, an ancestral rhythm connecting us with the Earth and the Universe through music and dance, which was born of the encounter between the ritual musicality and cosmovision of the Indigenous Guaraní and Baroque music within the context of the Jesuit missions in a cultural microregion encompassing Argentina, central and southern Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay which extends through the watersheds and fresh water sources in these nations, as described in Brittes´ book A Origem do Chamamé. Chamamé is declared as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
Following the success of his 2023 U.S. East Coast tour – being featured at Library of Congress – Alejandro Brittes returns in 2024, this time to the West, performing at festivals, universities, historical sites, libraries, museums, etc., giving trilingual lecture-demonstrations, and engaging in musical collaborations with diverse border Roots Music masters. The trio of Alejandro Brittes is composed of André Ely on the 7-stringed Brazilian guitar, Carlos de Césaro on electric bass/contrabass, and Alejandro Brittes on González system button accordion.
From August to October 2024 Alejandro Brittes will be featured at venues such as: San José Jazz Festival (CA), Music In Corrales (NM), Tucson Meet Yourself (AZ), Stanford Live (CA), Cotati Accordion Festival (CA), etc. and will also perform at historical sites such as the Sonoma Mission (CA), San Miguel Chapel (NM). This tour will be a bridge and exchange between the rich multicultural heritage of California and the Southwest and that of southern South America, regions with shared legacies of Indigenous cultures, Missions, colonialism and conflict, borders, cultural mixture, etc.
The trio resides in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil – Porto Alegre – a region that has been affected by the recent catastrophic flooding that has been making international news. In this tour Brittes is calling attention to the relation of chamamé with rivers, seeing that rivers have served as inspiration for some of the most beautiful chamamé compositions, and symbolize the coming together of cultures and borders, that now due to the catastrophe in Rio Grande do Sul, are uniting everyone in solidarity and teaching us that we are all equal, now more than ever.
On this tour, Brittes is collaborating with the Brazil California Chamber of Commerce in obtaining financial support for Santa Barbara, CA-based non-profit, Direct Relief, in delivering medical and other aid to the flood-affected regions of Rio Grande do Sul. Brittes will also promote a donation campaign to help the artistic sector of Rio Grande do Sul which is acutely affected by the floods and cancelling of events and performances. The campaign S.O.S Música do RS is aimed at human and cultural reconstruction
This 2024 tour is a realization of the Ministério da Cultura Brasil – Governo Federal – União with sponsorship of Arroz Prato Fino, through the Lei de Incentivo à Cultura – Rouanet.
Site: https://en.alejandrobrittes.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alejandro.brittes/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alejandrobrittes/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8hUUL2h00w5rYL2Vc-lPgg
Festival Nacional del Chamamé (Video): https://youtu.be/98n47GKLFyc?si=GfzefiSqZxQuOmc9
Km.11 (Video): https://youtu.be/NsObDiWDhjc?si=EAwz3Ac6XnMgKeG1
