Brazzil
March 2002
Music
A new CD release comes to enrich even more the already great quality of the MPB (Brazilian Popular Music). The group is called Último Tipo, an ambiguous name that can either mean "the newest type" or "the oldest type", with a certain predominance for the latter one in this case, since the logo of the group is an old VW Beetle with a flat tire.
Último Tipo is a vocal group that uses lyrics, acting and irreverence to express their ironic and good humored songs. The troupe appeared in Goiânia (capital of Goiás State), in 1988, and was initially composed of the talents of Jara Carvalho, Déo Piti and Marisa Damas. In 1989 it was elected the best musical group in Goiás State, and in 1990 Marisa left the trio and was replaced by Lóra Brito.
The musical accompaniment during the group's concerts is restricted to a guitar, played by Jara Carvalho, whistles and percussion instruments, played by Déo Piti and Lóra Brito. This apparent simplicity is just one of several steps that set the mood of their musical performances. This mood is also influenced by their costumes, manufactured by themselves out of recycled materials, which bring a special touch to their exotic appearance.
This constant state of creativity has been a trademark of the group since it was founded, and can be noted in all their performances as, for example, in Cabaça Mágica (Magic Gourd), where they introduce to their audience the pinicocabaçofone, a musical instrument composed of a gourd, an iron pan and an aluminum chamber pot. Another interesting case is O Fio da Meiada, where the title plays with the expression "o fio da meada" (the clue to the puzzle), turning it into something like "the yarn of the stockings", and the singers are tied to each other by stockings they wear on their heads.
Besides interpreting their own compositions, Jara, Déo and Lóra also give new life and a touch of humor to songs of other famous Brazilian singers and composers such as Chico Buarque, Premeditando o Breque, Mutantes, Roberto Carlos and Erasmo Carlos, Lamartine Babo, Itamar Assumpção, etc. The interaction with their public is also always a crucial part of their concerts, as we can see in Tipo (Type), where they throw bananas and invite members of the audience to play the role of a train in the song "Ponta de Areia" (Sand Point Train Stop), by Milton Nascimento and Fernando Brant.
For Último Tipo, the connection between music and theatre is very strong. In 1993, the artists composed the soundtrack of a play called Morreu mas Passa Bem (It Died, But It Is Ok), by Hugo Zorzetti, and acted in Aurora da Minha Vida (Dawn of My Life), by Luiz Roberto Pinheiro, in 1994. In 1995, they produced A Noiva do Condutor (The Bride of the Conductor), an operetta written by Noel Rosa and Arnold Glückmann, and directed by Nilton Rodrigues.
A third important element in this junction between music and theatre are children, as we can see in the following plays dedicated to them: Use a Imaginação (Use Your Imagination) _ 1991 _ Through songs composed by Vinícius de Moraes, Caetano Veloso and others, children learn that the only thing they really need to have fun is using their imagination; Circo de Latão (Brass Circus) _ 1998 _ A little girl, living in a very small city, experiences, for the first time in her life, all the magic brought by a circus where a magician makes things disappear, but does not have any idea of how to bring them back; Outra Festa no Céu (Other Party in the Sky) _ 1999 _ Based on the story A Festa no Céu (The Party in the Sky), recorded on disc in 1960, over compositions by João de Barro, it tells how all animals on earth are invited to a party in the sky, but just the ones who have wings can arrive there, a fact that does not prevent the frog Adão from taking part in it; and Máquina da Preguiça (Laziness Machine) _ 2000 _ A percussionist who hates singers because, in his opinion, they get all the attention, and nobody notices his presence in the concerts, decides to build a "laziness machine" and uses it against a fairy which, according to him, would be the one to be blamed for making him a percussionist. All these plays, as well as many of the songs in their soundtracks, were written by the members of Último Tipo, and can be seen in the schools and theatres of Campinas and other Brazilian cities all year long.
In 1995 the trio moved to Belo Horizonte (capital of Minas Gerais state), and one year later to Campinas (São Paulo state), where they live nowadays. In Campinas, after a "long and winding road", as the Beatles' song reminds us, Último Tipo has just finished its first CD, also entitled Último Tipo, that was produced by the percussionist and musical director Roberto Magrão. The songs available on the CD are:
Maria Vai... (Maria Goes...) _ Jara Carvalho/Déo Piti.
Alice - Jara Carvalho/Déo Piti.
Palhaço (Clown) - Jara Carvalho/Déo Piti.
Música Maldita (Cursed Song) - Jara Carvalho/Déo Piti.
A Mais Nova (The Newest Song) - Jara Carvalho/Déo Piti.
A Trazida de Volta (The Brought Back Song) - Jara Carvalho/Déo Piti.
Vera - Jara Carvalho/Déo Piti.
O Monjolo do Seu Lindorfo (Mr. Lindorfo's Water Mill) - Jara Carvalho/Déo
Piti/Marisa Damas.
Trajes Íntimos (Underclothes) - Jara Carvalho/Déo Piti.
Goiânia - Jara Carvalho/Déo Piti/Marisa Damas/Jonatas Davi.
Infantil Antropofágica (Anthropophagic Infancy) - Jara Carvalho/Déo Piti.
A good sample of Último Tipo's creativity can be seen in the songs "Alice," who is not part of Wonderland anymore, and "Música Maldita," which has already killed "more than twenty tenors, contraltos, sopranos and a deep bass":
Alice
Alice já não mora aqui
Se mudou pra Vila Mutirão
Ninguém mais conhece Alice
E o seu país de Oz agora é o Brasil
Não tem mais o cavalo de pau
O espantalho passarinho carregou
E o homem de latas velhas
Virou ferrugem vento veio
e levou
Alice então adormeceu
E o príncipe não veio pra beijar
E aquele pesadelo teve fim
Quando a vizinha veio a gritar:
Ei, Dona Alice, vem ver o que seus filho
tão fazendo no meu quintal!
Contudo não perdeu a esperança
De rever o seu cachorro Totó
Mas já não sabe qual estória
é a sua
E hoje ela tem medo daquela maçã.
Alice
Alice does not live here anymore
She moved to Vila Mutirão
Nobody knows Alice anymore
And her country of Oz is now Brazil
There is no wooden horse anymore
The scarecrow a little bird carried away
And the man made of old cans
Became rust and was carried
away by the wind
So Alice fell asleep
And the prince did not come to kiss her
And that nightmare was over
When the neighbor shouted:
Hey, Mrs. Alice, come here to see what
your children are doing in my backyard!
However she has never lost the hope
Of seeing her dog Totó again
But she does not know anymore which
one is her story
And today she is afraid of that apple.
* a Goiânia's suburb
Música Maldita
Cuidado com a música maldita
A música sem vírgula
A música letal
Ela se esconde num tema
Por trás de um poema de rima banal
Matou mais de vinte tenores
Contraltos, sopranos e um baixo profundo
Profunda vingança
Negra pajelança de um ser anormal
Não se sabe de onde ela veio
se pelo correio
De burro ou de jegue mas ela persegue os
nossos cantores
Mortais condutores das nossas proezas
Tristezas riquezas belezas histórias
Simplórias de glórias
Per séculas in séculas in glória
E é dessa maneira que o ar se esvai
E o cara cai
Sorrindo e gelado
Asfixiado
E o povo já sabe que o
pobre coitado
Com o olho vidrado
Morreu engasgado porque
o fraseado além de quadrado
era longo demais!
Cursed Song
Be careful with the cursed song
The song without comma
The lethal song
It is hidden in a theme
Behind a poem of banal rhyme
It has killed more than twenty tenors
Contraltos sopranos and a deep bass
Deep revenge
Black page of an abnormal being
Nobody knows where it came from
if by mail or
By donkey but it pursues
our singers
Mortal conductors of our feats
Sad wealthy beautiful simple
Stories of glories
Per séculas in séculas in glória
And this is how the air vanishes
And the guy falls down
Smiling and cold
Asphyxiated
And people already know that the
poor fellow
With glazed eyes
Has died choked because the
phrasing besides being square
was too long!
You can get more information about Último Tipo in their website http://ultimotipo.vilabol.uol.com.br, where you can also see many pictures of this interesting and talented troupe.
Gilson P. Borges is a graduate student at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he also teaches Portuguese. You can reach him at gilson_borges@hotmail.com