Biography
by Alvaro Neder
Bola
Sete was a Brazilian guitarist and composer. His unique, highly
improvisational style offered an approach that wed Brazilian styles to
flamenco, classical, jazz, American folk, bossa nova, and pop. Sete cut
half-a-dozen albums for Odeon before leaving Brazil in 1959, including
Aqui Está O Bola Sete (1957) and Ritmolândia (1959). He met Dizzy
Gillespie while playing at a Sheraton lounge one evening and promptly
joined the trumpeter's band. In 1962, he issued his American debut,
Bossa Nova, for Fantasy. After he released Vince Guaraldi, Bola Sete,
and Friends in 1963, he joined the pianist's group as a full
collaborator; they recorded several more albums together through 1967.
That year, Verve released Bola Sete at the Monterey Jazz Festival that
featured his all-Brazilian trio; it made the jazz charts. After 1971's
Latin jazz classic Shebaba for Fantasy, he cut albums for Paramount
(Workin' on a Groovy Thing, 1971) and Columbia (Goin' to Rio, 1973). He
signed with John Fahey's Takoma label and released the enduring solo
guitar set Ocean in 1975. Sete played live and toured almost constantly,
but released only one more album during his lifetime, 1985's solo
Jungle Suite, produced by George Winston for Dancing Cat. After his
death, his widow Anne Sete set up the Samba Moon label for reissues and
archival material including 2004's Live at Grace Cathedral. In 2021,
Tompkins Square released Samba in Seattle [Live at the Penthouse
1966-1968], comprised of unreleased live trio recordings.
The
words "Bola Sete" are Portuguese for the seventh ball in the billiard
game -- the only black one. Born Djalma de Andrade in Rio De Janeiro in
1923, the guitarist got his nickname after being the only Black man in a
small group. From an early age, he was a constant at Praça Tiradentes,
Rio, where musicians met. At 17, he joined composer Henricão's group,
which was going to Marília for an eight-month season. Returning to Rio,
he played at every available venue in Campinas SP and Niterói RJ. In
1945, Rio's Rádio Transmissora instituted a violão (acoustic guitar)
contest, in which he was the winner. He continued to play throughout
Minas Gerais and Rio. At last, he was hired contractually by Rádio
Transmissora and worked in the famous Trem da Alegria show for three
years at the João Caetano Theater with Lamartine Babo, Iara Sales, and
Héber de Bôscoli.
At the end of the '40s, he formed his own
group, Bola Sete e Seu Conjunto. In that time, Dolores Durán, who went
on to be a famous singer and composer, was a crooner at the Béguin
nightclub and once invited, became the group's singer at the Drink and
Vogue nightclubs. In 1952, he went to Italy and played in several clubs
and hotels until 1954. That year, he returned to Brazil and formed an
orchestra, with which he toured Argentina, Uruguay, and Spain. In 1955,
he toured again, this time through Lima, Peru and Santiago do Chile. In
1959, Sete moved to the U.S. and in 1962 was hired directly by the
general manager of Sheraton Hotels to play in the several units of that
chain.
In 1960, the label Sinter, which had already recorded
several cuts with him, released the LP Bola Sete. He had also recorded
for Odeon, which released Bola Sete e 4 Trombones with his own
compositions and Gershwin standards. In 1962, he appeared at the
historic Bossa Nova Festival at Carnegie Hall in New York. He also
played at the Village Gate and Vanguard. The same year, Odeon Brasil
issued O Extraordinário Bola Sete and Fantasy released Bossa Nova. He
was then playing at New York's Park Sheraton and later in the year, he
moved to San Francisco to play at the Sheraton Palace. Dizzy Gillespie
was staying there and listened to him every night. When Gillespie's
pianist, Lalo Schifrin, came to the hotel, he met Sete, with whom he had
become acquainted and played with when the Brazilian toured Argentina.
Invited by Gillespie, Sete played with him at the Ninth Annual Monterey
Jazz Festival with great success.
Following tours and a recorded
album with Gillespie, Sete moved again to San Francisco and joined Vince
Guaraldi's trio. This two-year association, profitable for both
artists, consolidated the already expressive popularity of Sete in the
U.S. They recorded together 1963's Vince Guaraldi, Bola Sete &
Friends (Fantasy). Then he formed his own trio with Brazilian musicians
Tião Neto (bass) and Chico Batera (drums), whom he performed with at the
1966 Monterey Jazz Festival, again with great success. (Verve's
charting album At the Monterey Jazz Festival was drawn from this
performance). From November 11 to 13, 1966, Sete was featured at the
Fillmore Auditorium. His releases in the U.S. included 1964's Tour de
Force and From All Sides (with Vince Guaraldi), 1965's The Solo Guitar
of Bola Sete and The Incomparable Bola Sete, 1966's Live at El Matador
(with Vince Guaraldi) and Autentico, 1969's Shebaba (all issued by
Fantasy). He signed to paramount for 1971's Workin' on a Groovy Thing
and released Goin' to Rio for Columbia in 1973.
Guitarist John
Fahey often saw Sete play on the West Coast and became first an admirer,
then a friend. His Takoma label initially licensed Sete's iconic Ocean
in 1975 (Recorded in the Brazilian's Marin County home, it was offered
to Fantasy first; but it was considered so "out" that they declined to
release it). Reportedly Fahey's favorite album in the label's catalog,
it was licensed later to Sonet in 1976 and then the Windham
Hill-affiliated Lost Lake Arts in 1981. Sete's final outing, 1985's
Jungle Suite, appeared from pianist George Winston's Dancing Cat label.
Bola
Sete died of complications from lung cancer and pneumonia in 1987. He
was 64. Widow Anne Sete set up Samba Moon Records in 1998 for the
purpose of issuing private archival recordings and catalog reissues. The
label's first release was 1999's Ocean Memories, which comprised Ocean
and eight unreleased tracks from the sessions that were recorded for a
sequel that never materialized. It was followed by Shambala Moon in
2001, offering a reissue of Jungle Suite and the previously unissued
title track. 2004's Live at Grace Cathedral was drawn from a solo guitar
concert May 21, 1976. In 2008, the label released Windspell, drawn from
solo home recordings cut during the last year of Sete's life with a
pair of live tracks from a concert at The Boarding House in San
Francisco in 1971. In 2011, Samba Moon released The Crystal Garden, a
repackaging of 1973's Goin' to Rio; it also contained five unissued
tracks from the original sessions. 2014's The Kitchen Tapes was produced
for release by Winston. The lion's share of its 14 cuts were recorded
in a San Francisco kitchen in 1959 on 1/4" tape by Al Cunningham,
shortly after Sete's arrival on the West Coast. Two other cuts from 1971
showcased him playing a hollow-body electric guitar; others were drawn
from home studio tapes.
In December 2021, Resonance Records' boss
Zev Feldman and Tompkins Square's Josh Rosenthal teamed up to release
the three-disc box set Samba in Seattle [Live at the Penthouse
1966-1968], comprised of unreleased live trio recordings from radio
broadcast tapes by Jim Wilke. Compiled with complete cooperation from
Anne, the set included concerts, a slew of rare photos, and liner essays
from music historian Greg Casseus, Winston, Lalo Schifrin, John Fahey,
and Feldman, who also conducted interviews with Anne and Carlos Santana.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bola-sete-mn0000066800/biography
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Biografía
por Alvaro Neder
Bola
Sete fue un guitarrista y compositor brasileño. Su estilo único y
altamente improvisado ofrecía un enfoque que unía los estilos brasileños
con el flamenco, la música clásica, el jazz, el folk americano, la
bossa nova y el pop. Sete grabó media docena de álbumes para Odeon antes
de abandonar Brasil en 1959, entre ellos Aqui Está O Bola Sete (1957) y
Ritmolândia (1959). Conoció a Dizzy Gillespie mientras tocaba una noche
en un salón del Sheraton y enseguida se unió a la banda del
trompetista. En 1962, publicó su debut americano, Bossa Nova, para
Fantasy. Después de publicar Vince Guaraldi, Bola Sete, and Friends en
1963, se unió al grupo del pianista como colaborador de pleno derecho;
grabaron varios discos más juntos hasta 1967. Ese año, Verve publicó
Bola Sete at the Monterey Jazz Festival, en el que aparecía su trío
brasileño. Después del clásico de jazz latino de 1971, Shebaba, para
Fantasy, grabó álbumes para Paramount (Workin' on a Groovy Thing, 1971) y
Columbia (Goin' to Rio, 1973). Firmó con el sello Takoma de John Fahey y
publicó el perdurable conjunto de guitarra solista Ocean en 1975. Sete
tocó en directo y salió de gira casi constantemente, pero sólo publicó
un álbum más en vida, Jungle Suite, de 1985, producido por George
Winston para Dancing Cat. Tras su muerte, su viuda Anne Sete creó el
sello Samba Moon para reediciones y material de archivo, incluyendo Live
at Grace Cathedral de 2004. En 2021, Tompkins Square publicó Samba in
Seattle [Live at the Penthouse 1966-1968], compuesto por grabaciones
inéditas en directo del trío.
La palabra "Bola Sete" significa en
portugués la séptima bola del juego de billar, la única negra. Nacido
Djalma de Andrade en Río de Janeiro en 1923, el guitarrista obtuvo su
apodo tras ser el único negro de un pequeño grupo. Desde muy joven, fue
una constante en la plaza Tiradentes de Río, donde se reunían los
músicos. A los 17 años, se unió al grupo del compositor Henricão, que
iba a Marília para una temporada de ocho meses. De vuelta a Río, tocó en
todos los locales disponibles en Campinas SP y Niterói RJ. En 1945, la
Rádio Transmissora de Río instituyó un concurso de violão (guitarra
acústica), en el que resultó ganador. Siguió tocando por todo Minas
Gerais y Río. Finalmente, fue contratado por Rádio Transmissora y
trabajó en el famoso espectáculo Trem da Alegria durante tres años en el
Teatro João Caetano con Lamartine Babo, Iara Sales y Héber de Bôscoli.
A
finales de los años 40, formó su propio grupo, Bola Sete e Seu
Conjunto. En esa época, Dolores Durán, que llegó a ser una famosa
cantante y compositora, era crooner en la discoteca Béguin y, una vez
invitada, se convirtió en la cantante del grupo en las discotecas Drink y
Vogue. En 1952, viajó a Italia y actuó en varios clubes y hoteles hasta
1954. Ese año regresó a Brasil y formó una orquesta, con la que realizó
una gira por Argentina, Uruguay y España. En 1955, volvió a realizar
una gira, esta vez por Lima, Perú y Santiago de Chile. En 1959, Sete se
trasladó a Estados Unidos y en 1962 fue contratado directamente por el
director general de los hoteles Sheraton para tocar en las diversas
unidades de esa cadena.
En 1960, el sello Sinter, que ya había
grabado varios cortes con él, lanzó el LP Bola Sete. También había
grabado para Odeon, que publicó Bola Sete e 4 Trombones con sus propias
composiciones y estándares de Gershwin. En 1962, apareció en el
histórico Festival de Bossa Nova en el Carnegie Hall de Nueva York.
También tocó en el Village Gate y en el Vanguard. Ese mismo año, Odeon
Brasil publicó O Extraordinário Bola Sete y Fantasy editó Bossa Nova.
Entonces tocaba en el Park Sheraton de Nueva York y, más adelante, se
trasladó a San Francisco para tocar en el Sheraton Palace. Dizzy
Gillespie se alojaba allí y le escuchaba todas las noches. Cuando el
pianista de Gillespie, Lalo Schifrin, llegó al hotel, se encontró con
Sete, con quien se había familiarizado y tocado cuando el brasileño hizo
una gira por Argentina. Invitado por Gillespie, Sete tocó con él en el
Noveno Festival Anual de Jazz de Monterey con gran éxito.