Genealogia Familias Agricola e Souteiro

Família Agricola (por Elge Agricola)

Padre Severino, meu Anjo da Guarda, nasceu na Polonia. Foi redentorista e veio para o Brasil, residindo em Minas gerais.

Foi padre do 1º colégio feminino de Belo Horizonte, o Colégio Cassão, fundado pelas Irmãs Cassão – Leopoldina (Dinda Sinhá) e Romualda (Mada), onde meu avô João Batista Palermo, italiano de Cosenza, internou as três filhas (Aurora, Aurea e Aurette) após a morte da esposa, minha avó Maria Celeste.

João Batista & Maria Celeste tiveram mais dois filhos: Armando (chamado de Armandinho, um gênio, que morreu de tétano aos 10 anos) e Aurelina, que foi criada por Aurea e morreu com 10 meses de idade.

Lá no Colégio Cassão, as irmãs Aurora (a mais velha, cujo apelido era Lola), Aurea (minha mãe, que Arnaldo viria a chamar de Zazá ou Zá) e Aurette (Dete, chamada de Biba por Arnaldo) estudaram e depois passaram a professoras.

Aurea lecionava francês e geografia; Aurora, trabalhos manuais; e Aurette, geografia. Assim, continuaram morando no Colégio Cassão, em troca do trabalho como professoras.
Aurea queria estudar Farmácia. Aurette queria ser dentista. Meu avô João Batista achou que Aurea deveria acompanhar a irmã mais nova nos estudos, e assim ambas se formaram em odontologia.

João Batista foi minerador e geologista, descobrindo pedras preciosas em Minas Gerais. Teve, como sócios, Mattarazo, Dolabela Portela e Martinelli. Teve em mãos a Vale do Rio Doce, mas a exportação do aço era proibida por Getulio Vargas. Acabou perdendo as terras (tomadas por usucapião) e o dinheiro para os “sócios”. Naquela época, se dizia que um fio de cabelo de barra valia como “palavra”.

Um ano após a morte de vovô, Getulio abriu a exportação pelo porto de Vitória, no Espirito Santo.
Meu pai, Ernani Agricola, era filho de Maria Lyra de Campos e Antonio Agricola dos Passos. Estudou no Colégio Arnaldo, só para meninos, formando-se em odontologia e depois medicina. E, enquanto estudava, lecionava matemática no Colégio Cassão. Contava que, no colégio, não queriam aceita-lo, pois preferiam um padre. Mas acabou “aprovado” porque nunca se atrasava para dar a primeira aula.

Ernani casou-se com Aurea em cerimonia realizada pelo Padre Severino no Colégio Cassão, em 29 de junho de 1922. A lua de mel foi no Rio de Janeiro, no centenário da Independência, em 7 de setembro de 1922.

Aurora e Aurette continuaram morando no colégio, em Belo Horizonte. Mas quando Elge nasceu, em 23 de abril de 1923, Aurora foi convidada a morar com eles na Rua Sergipe 186.
Graças aos ensinamentos de matemática de Ernani, Aurette passou num concurso para a Secretaria de Finanças de Belo Horizonte. Mais tarde, foi morar junto com toda a família a partir de 1930, quando estourou a famosa Revolução de 30.

A outra filha de Aurea & Ernani, Delza Agricola, nasceu em 15 de Março de 1931 em Belo Horizonte, MG.

Elge Agricola
Nascimento: 23 de Abril de 1923, segunda-feira, às 3hs, em Belo Horizonte, MG
Falecimento: 06 de Fevereiro de 2017, segunda-feira, às 20hs, no Hospital de Ipanema (Rua Barão da Torre), Rio de Janeiro, RJ
Padre Severino Severens, que celebrou o casamento de seus pais, Ernani Agricola & Aurea Agricola, batizou Elge em 24 de Maio de 1923. Ela o considerava seu Anjo da Guarda.
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Delza Agricola
Nascimento: 15 de Março de 1931, em Belo Horizonte, MG.
Falecimento: 23 de Agosto de 1985, no Rio de Janeiro (Hospital Samaritano), RJ.
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Aurea Agricola
Nasc: 07 de Dezembro de 1894, em Belo Horizonte, MG.
Falec: 24 de Março de 1990 (em casa na Rua Vitório da Costa 11/303, Humaitá, pela manhã), no Rio de Janeiro, RJ.
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Aurora Palermo
Nasc: Belo Horizonte, MG
Falecimento: 23 de Março de 1955 no Rio de Janeiro, RJ
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Ernani Agricola
Nasc: 09 de Agosto de 1887, em Palma, MG.
Falec: 14 de Julho de 1978 (por volta das 3hs da madrugada), Rio de Janeiro, RJ
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Aurette Palermo
Nasc: 26 de Outubro de 1897, em Belo Horizonte, MG
Falec: 02 de Setembro de 1983 (por volta de 8hs da manhã na Casa de Saúde São José, Humaitá), Rio de Janeiro, RJ
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Walter Pinto Souteiro
Nasc: 24 de Abril de 1924, Rio de Janeiro, RJ
Falec: 15 de Outubro de 2012, Rio de Janeiro, RJ.
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Walter era filho de Rosa Souteiro (nascida no Rio de Janeiro) e José Souteiro (nascido em Portugal). Walter Souteiro e Delza Agricola casaram-se em 1962, e o filho Arnaldo Agricola DeSouteiro nasceu em 23 de Junho de 1963 no Rio de Janeiro, RJ, às 20:30hs, na Casa de Saúde São José, Humaitá.

Padre Severino Severens (1862-1925) - Bio & Reminiscences

por Arnaldo DeSouteiro

(Pe. Severino Franciscus Severens, C.Ss.R.)

Padre Severino Severens celebrou o casamento de meus avós (Ernani Agricola & Aurea Agricola) e batizou minha tia & madrinha Elge Agricola em 24 de Maio de 1923, em Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Ele a chamava carinhosamente de "Rosa Maxixa" e pedia que Aurea a levasse até a estação de trem quando ele passava por BH. Elge o considerava seu "Anjo da Guarda". Até os últimos dias de sua vida, rezava tendo em mãos um Terço dado por ele, que me deixou como preciosa herança de fé, caridade, bondade e generosidade.

Dois anos depois do batismo, Padre Severino faleceu em 08 de Janeiro de 1925, às 22:30hs, no Convento de Santo Afonso, em consequencia de uma ensolação, levando a "Vice-Província Holãndico-Brasileira" a emitir uma nota comunicando a "grande perda". A nota, além de relatar a brilhante vida devotada a Deus, ao Cristianismo e aos fiéis, comentava "o caracter alegre na juventude, um brincalhão que gostava de alegrar os confrades".

Nascido Franciscus Severens a 04 de Maio de 1862 em Maastricht, Holanda, entrou para o Juvenato em Roermond, em 1874.

No dia 07 de Setembro de 1880 entrou no Noviciado e recebeu o hábito Redentorista a 15 de Outubro daquele mesmo ano. Emitiu os votos na Igreja de Wittem no dia 27 de Dezembro de 1881.

Foi ordenado Sacerdote a 08 de Outubro de 1886. Inicialmente foi nomeado Professor e depois Missionário. Granjeou renome de fenomenal pregador.

Nomeado para o Brasil, sacrificou tudo isso, e chegou a cidade mineira de Juiz de Fora no dia 06 de Maio de 1899. [No Brasil, os Redentoristas iniciaram suas atividades em 1893, através da Província holandesa].

Segundo o historiador Sergio Augusto Moreira Bastos, em 1907 chegaram a Montes Claros "os sacerdotes Severino Severens, Afonso Mathysen, Bernardo Willems, Theodoro Roosmalen, Sebastião Dorresteyn e Clemente Wildt, que aqui vêm pregar as Santas Missões. Reúnem-se nessa ocasião, na sede da Paróquia, 6 redentoristas holandesas, 5 sacerdotes premonstratenses e 2 padres brasileiros. Após 15 dias de pregações na cidade, partiram em grupos de três pregadores a fim de levar a palavra de Cristo às 9 Capelas existentes na Paróquia".

Trabalhador incansável, em seus quase 26 anos de Brasil, Padre Severino pregou 32 "Santas Missões", 63 Retiros Para Clero de várias dioceses. e mais 53 outros "exercícios". Ganhava a simpatia de todos, pois era considerado "um santo de simplicidade".

Em Belo Horizonte, o padre redentorista (pertencente à Congregação do Santíssimo Redentor, popularmente chamada de Congregação Redentorista), ficou conhecido como "O Catequista". Muito procurado como confessor, entre seus penitentes contaram-se os "Presidentes de Minas Gerais" Arthur Bernardes e Francisco Sales, com suas respectivas esposas.

Na cidade de Curvelo (então trabalhando na "Parochia de Santo Antonio de Curvello"), onde nasceu meu saudoso amigo Luiz Claudio de Castro, cantor e compositor da mais alta estirpe musical, fundou a revista "O Santuário de São Geraldo" que subsistiu por mais de 78 anos.

Segundo minha tia, um processo de beatificação foi iniciado alguns anos após sua morte, mas não sabia me dizer mais detalhes sobre o lento andamento. Procurei muito na internet e nada encontrei. Na verdade não existia, até agora, nenhuma biografia do Padre Severino na web. Agora há.

E agradeço a ele por toda a fé que transmitiu a várias gerações da minha família, inclusive a pessoas que não chegaram a conhece-lo, como minha mãe Delza Agricola, mas que o adotou em suas orações. Minhas tias-avós Aurette Palermo e Aurora Palermo, que conviveram com o Padre Severino, também o adoravam. À ele devo principalmente o milagre de ter conservado minha tia Elge Agricola em excelente estado de saúde física e mental durante 93 anos, preservando-a lúcida até três dias antes da morte, sem nunca ter sofrido uma fratura, um assalto, absolutamente nenhum mal grave; milagre do qual dou testemunho público em sinal de Fé, me colocando à disposição para manifestar-me no processo de beatificação. Certamente estaremos todos juntos no Dia da Ressurreição. Com a graça de Deus, Amém.

(O holândes P.e Severino Severens, padre redentorista)

Wanda Sá today, July 25, @ MIS-RJ with Arnaldo DeSouteiro, Carlos Lyra, Gilson Peranzzetta, Joaquim F. dos Santos and Rosa Maria Araujo

Legendary bossa nova singer Wanda Sá (aka Wanda De Sah) was interviewed today, at Museu da Imagem e do Som, in Rio de Janeiro, by Arnaldo DeSouteiro, Carlos Lyra, Gilson Peranzzetta, Joaquim Ferreira dos Santos and Rosa Maria Araujo, the President of the museum.

 (Arnaldo DeSouteiro & Wanda Sá)

 (Arnaldo DeSouteiro & Wanda Sá)

 (Joaquim Ferreira dos Santos, Arnaldo DeSouteiro, Wanda Sá, Rosa Maria Araujo, Carlos Lyra & Gilson Peranzzetta; photos by Daniel Veiga)

(Arnaldo DeSouteiro & Wanda Sá)

João Donato's first "Quem É Quem" concert in Rio, August 4th! Directed by Arnaldo DeSouteiro.

News published today, on the "O Globo" daily newspaper, about the upcoming first release concert of "Quem É Quem" in Rio de Janeiro, scheduled for August 4, 2018 @ the Baden Powell Hall. Directed & Produced by Arnaldo DeSouteiro. 

Tamba Trio's Bebeto Castilho interviewed @ MIS

 (Arnaldo DeSouteiro & Bebeto Castilho)

(Tárik de Souza, Arnaldo DeSouteiro, Bebeto Castilho, Pedro Só, Armando Pittigliani and Ruy Castro, photos by Daniel Veiga)

 (Arnaldo DeSouteiro, Bebeto Castilho, Pedro Só and Armando Pittigliani)

(Bebeto Castilho, seated, with Tárik de Souza, Arnaldo DeSouteiro, Ruy Castro, Armando Pittigliani and Pedro Só; photos by Daniel Veiga)

R.I.P.: Bill Watrous (1939-2018)

R.I.P.: Bill Watrous.

One of the all-time greatest trombone masters. I love his big band albums for Columbia. He and Garnett Brown were the trombonists who topped DownBeat polls in the 70s. And I love this video (I bought a DVD copy in Japan some years ago) from one of the best jazz TV concerts ever, featuring the winners of the DownBeat Readers Poll in 1975. Btw, that's why jazz attracted a young audience in the 70s: it had swing, energy, positive vibes, enthusiasm and communication between players and between players and the audiences. It was not an intellectual exercise of ego trips.

The first time I saw Watrous' name was on Deodato's "Prelude." A couple of years later, he signed with Columbia and released two acclaimed albums leading his own big band: "Manhattan Wildlife Refuge" (1974) and "The Tiger of San Pedro" (1975), which led him to be voted as #1 Trombone player in the 1975 DownBeat Readers Poll.

Watrous also played and/or recorded with Milton Nascimento ("Courage"), Paul Desmond, Kenny Burrell, Maynard ferguson, Woody Herman, Quincy Jones, Art Pepper and many more.

DVD of the Month - "Randy Brecker Quintet: Live 1988 at Sweet Basil"

DVD of the Month
Randy Brecker: "Live 1988 - Sweet Basil" (MVD Visual/Gazell) 2018
Contains bonus CD of complete performance

Featuring: Randy Brecker (trumpet), Bob Berg (tenor sax), David Kikoski (acoustic piano & synth), Dieter Ilg (acoustic bass), Joey Baron (drums)

Recorded & Mixed by Malcolm Pollack direct to digital 2-track @ Sweet Basil (New York, NY) on November 18-19-20, 1988
Assistant Engineer: Roy Hendrickson
Mastering: Michael Sarsfield @ Frankford Wayne Mastering Labs (NY, NY)
Production Coordination: Christine Martin
Painting by Henry Denader
Region 0, NTSC
Total Time: 74 minutes

For three decades, I've dreamed to watch the live performances by the Randy Brecker Quintet that yielded the album "Live At Sweet Basil," released in Europe, in June 1989, by the Swedish label Sonet on both vinyl and CD formats. One month later, I was able to buy the CD in a Munich record store, while on vacation after having attended the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Now the dream comes true with this DVD release containing the best takes from three nights taped live at the now defunct Sweet Basil jazz club. Besides six superb originals -- the hard bop gem "MoJoe" (dedicated to Joe Henderson), "No Scratch," "Moontide," "Ting Chang," the haunting ballad "Incidentally," and the r&b-funk-rock "Hurdy Gurdy" --, there's a splendid previously unreleased version of Cole Porter's standard "Love For Sale," with Randy on muted trumpet, Miles ahead.

The group performs on a telephathic level. Randy proves to be the best trumpet player of his generation, and one of the all-time greatest jazz musicians. The much missed Bob Berg was my favorite tenor player in the 80s, after Michael Brecker. Pianist David Kikoski (sometimes also using a small keyboard placed above the piano), bassist Dieter Ilg (a monster in the Niels Pedersen tradition) and drummer Joey Baron (reminding me a lot of Tony Williams on those nights) are on fire, killing in all songs.

The video quality has some imperfections, but the musical performances are flawless. Highly recommended and, surely, one of the most important releases of 2018.

Liner Notes by Randy Brecker:

"As I said in the liner notes on the original release at the time: “This band is a true highlight of my career” and that statement is still true some 30 years later! The original Vinyl LP ‘dropped’ on June 15 1989. CDs were still being established as a competitive format and ‘dropped’ meant that something had fallen on your toe. It ‘came out’ to really great reviews, and being that all of us were close friends, we were all thrilled at the reception.

This was all brand new music played for the very first time that week at Sweet Basil, so everything was fresh, and Sweet Basil was the happening Jazz Club at the time, with the best ambient sound in NYC due to its wood floor and walls.

Bob Berg, I had been associated with for many years since the late 60’s with the Free Life Communication organization started by Dave Liebman and I had guested on some of Bob’s great recordings. He had a sound and intensity in his playing all his own and was a big part of the Liebman, Brecker Grossman, Berg tenor saxophone conglomerate.

Dave Kikoski who I had first heard with the great Roy Haynes, had some deep swing in his step, and reminded me of Phineas Newborn. After hearing him, I immediately hired him for my record ‘In the Idiom’.

Dieter Ilg I had met on a gig in Europe, and I was impressed with his technique and unique conception leaving  ‘harmonic sonic holes’ for you to jump through.

As for Joey Baron, what can I say? He had played with everyone from Al Jarreau to John Zorn, and could play absolutely any style with complete authenticity and originality.

We did some tours of Europe, had great fun together, and the music was always spectacular… I went to Sweden around a year later and met with Dag Haggqvist my old friend from Sonet Records who had originally recorded, filmed and released this. We looked at the video to maybe edit it, and Dag exclaimed after viewing it…”Let’s just leave it as it is!” The music was so great it was impossible to edit.

But then one thing after another happened in the music business, and things got stalled, and then stalled some more, and it wasn’t until Ed Seaman of MVD Entertainment in Pottstown, PA got involved in a co-production with Dag and his newer company: Gazell Records AB from Stockholm, that this video is finally seeing the light of day as a DVD all these years later. So thanks go out to them for saving the life of this performance, and another thanks for all the hard work that went into in releasing it.

Eventually the five of us went our separate ways but stayed friends. Everyone became bandleaders and started doing ‘their own thing’. Then sadly on Dec 5th, 2002 Bob Berg was killed in a tragic traffic accident on Rt 27 out near where we both lived in the Hamptons, on a snowy afternoon...a cement truck skidded into his lane and he was gone.

So this DVD, finally released after so many starts and stops, is dedicated to his memory. He’s at the top of his game here. May his sound and his one-of-a-kind personality live on…"

Vocal Jazz CD of the Month - "Tiffany Austin: Unbroken"

Vocal Jazz CD of the Month
Tiffany Austin: Unbroken (Con Alma Music CAM 002) 2018
Rating: ***** (musical performance and sonic quality)

Produced by Richard Seidel
Co-Produced & Arranged by Mitch Butler
Recorded & Mixed by Adam Munoz @ Fantasy Studios (Berkeley, CA)
Mastered by Bernie Grundman @ Bernie Grundman Mastering (Hollywood, CA)
Photos: Bill Reitzel
Graphic Design: Amy Woloszyn

Featuring: Tiffany Austin (vocals), Ashlin Parker (trumpet), Mitch Butler (trombone), Teodross Avery (tenor sax), Cyrus Chestnut (piano), Rodney Whitaker (bass), Carl Allen (drums)

The best jazz vocalist that I've heard in the last ten years. Period. 
And finally a record with a producer! One extra star for this.
Influenced by Dianne Reeves, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Rachelle Ferrell, Tiffany takes vocal jazz to a new dimension.
She adds lyrics to Charles Mingus' "Better Git It In Your Soul" and Ornette Coleman's "The Blessing," performs a powerful version of John Coltrane's "Resolution" with impressive wordless vocals, exhibits a wonderful phrasing on Dizzy Gillespie's "Con Alma" (lyrics by Sonny Henry), and offers a haunting rendition of Michel Legrand's gorgeous ballad "You Must Believe In Spring."
So far the best vocal jazz release of the year.

With the release of "Unbroken," on her Con Alma Music imprint, Tiffany Austin further solidifies her standing as one of the leading vocalists on the current international jazz scene.

Austin was propelled onto the national stage in 2016 when her debut recording, "Nothing But Soul," received rave reviews from media outlets such as DownBeat and NPR's Fresh Air as well as airplay on jazz radio stations across the U.S. With her sophomore CD "Unbroken," Austin has raised her artistry to a higher level both conceptually and musically. Her silky smooth voice has gained an earthy smokiness and a gravitas ideally suited to expressing her broadening, deepening artistic vision.

"Unbroken" is a soul-steeped affirmation embracing the blues and swing, spirituals and R&B, bebop, post-bop, and Austin's Louisiana Creole heritage. "I've experienced multiple instances of people trying to separate blues from jazz," Austin says. "How can you divide the music that comes from the same diaspora, the same spirit? The idea behind this album is that the African-American spirit remains unbroken. After all of the things we go through we're still here, joyfully creating great art and great music."

Produced by the Grammy Award-winning jazz advocate Richard Seidel (former President of Verve Records) and arranged by trombonist Mitch Butler, the music on "Unbroken" is impeccably executed by the rhythm section of pianist Cyrus Chestnut, bassist Rodney Whitaker, and drummer Carl Allen as well as Butler, veteran tenor saxophonist Teodross Avery, and the formidable young trumpeter Ashlin Parker. In addition to four originals, Austin penned lyrics for the arrangements of Charles Mingus's "Better Git It in Your Soul" and Ornette Coleman's "The Blessing."

The multi-generational band mirrors the album repertoire, which touches on several eras of African-American history. The CD opens with two Austin compositions that speak to the vicious response that has sometimes met black accomplishment -- "Blues Creole" evokes the pioneering Louisiana Creole accordionist Amédé Ardoin, and the searing "Greenwood" connects Watts and Ferguson to the 1921 pogrom that wiped out Tulsa, Oklahoma's prosperous "Black Wall Street" neighborhood.

As if in direct response to these tales of oppression, Austin answers with a rollicking version of the old gospel song "Ain't No Grave," which builds to a glorious sanctified scat solo. She embraces the transformative power of love with a sumptuous "You Must Believe in Spring" and offers an object lesson in gratitude with her lyric for Ornette's early free bop invocation. Soaring to the heavens on Donny Hathaway's "Someday We'll All Be Free," Austin also summons the spirit with a wordless sojourn through Coltrane's "Resolution," scatting his entire solo note for note.

Unbroken closes with righteous marching orders by way of a riveting duet with Whitaker on the civil rights anthem "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize." The song provides the key to Austin's overarching argument, that whether the source is Sunday morning worship, Saturday night revelry, or an afternoon protest, African-American music is animated by a liberating imperative. "Freedom songs aren't only about freedom from an oppressor," she says. "It's about living your life soulfully. We must live with soulful connection to ourselves and our history."

Born and raised in South Los Angeles, Tiffany Austin grew up in a house filled with music. Her parents listened to soul and pop masters like Donny Hathaway and Stevie Wonder, while her Louisiana Creole grandmother introduced her to jazz. Austin graduated from the prestigious Los Angeles High School of the Arts and then attended Cal State Northridge where she majored in creative writing, while studying classical voice.

After graduating in 2004, Austin set out for Tokyo with the plan that she'd look for work as a singer and spend a year in Japan. After finding regular work as an R&B chanteuse, Austin ended up staying in Tokyo through 2009 and only returned because UC Berkeley's School of Law made her a scholarship offer she couldn't refuse. Austin submerged herself in law school and left music behind but after her first year realized she desperately needed a musical outlet and began performing with bassist, composer, and bandleader Marcus Shelby on numerous projects, including the title role in "Harriet's Spirit," an opera about Harriet Tubman. (She went on to earn her J.D.)

With a series of prestigious gigs and residencies, Austin quickly gained attention as the most exciting new vocalist in the region. Now, with Unbroken, Austin makes it clear that she's far more than a beautiful voice. Claiming her cultural birthright, she's an artist drawing nourishment from all of jazz's roots.

Tiffany Austin has planned a series of CD release concerts on the West Coast and in New York City: 6/7 Birdland, NYC; 6/29 Stanford Jazz Festival; 7/5 Kuumbwa, Santa Cruz; 8/11 SFJAZZ, San Francisco. At all but the Stanford date, Austin's septet will feature special guest Carl Allen; Cyrus Chestnut will be with Tiffany at Birdland.

Photography: Bill Reitzel

Instrumental Jazz CD of the Month - "Andrea Brachfeld: If Not Now, When?"

Instrumental Jazz CD of the Month
Andrea Brachfeld: "If Not Now, When?" (Jazzheads JHI229) 2018
Rating: ***** (musical performance & sonic quality)

Produced by Andrea Brachfeld & Bill O'Connell
Recorded @ Mozart Studio and Trading8's Studio
Mixed by David Kowalski & Harvie S
Mastered by Dave Darlington
Photo & Graphic Design: Christopher Drukker

Featuring: Andrea Brachfeld (flutes), Bill O'Connell (acoustic piano), Harvie S (acoustic bass) and Jason Tiemann (drums)

We had Joe Farrell, Herbie Mann and Dave Valentin. We still have Hubert Laws. But now is Andrea Brachfeld's time as the top jazz flute player. Gorgeous tone, outstanding phrasing, and also a brilliant composer.

The "incredible clarity of purpose" flutist-composer Andrea Brachfeld gained after spending 2016 in deep introspection about her life and music generated the nine original compositions on her exhilarating new album "If Not Now, When?," released by Jazzheads Records. The quartet outing, featuring the dynamic rhythm section of pianist, arranger, co-composer, and co-producer Bill O'Connell, a longtime collaborator, as well as bassist Harvie S and drummer Jason Tiemann, is an uncompromising manifestation of music Brachfeld recalls came to her on a cold day in January 2017.

"It seems that music always chooses me, and I very politely acquiesce to its energy. This has been my journey throughout my life and If Not Now, When? is no exception," she explains. "Of all my projects, this recording is the closest yet to my heart. Every note felt good in my body."

The album's song titles, which include "The Listening Song," "Creating Space," "The Silence," "Anima Mea," "Deeply I Live," and "Moving Forward," allude to the year Brachfeld spent on an inner journey meditating as opposed to composing, an experience that was clearly cathartic. "The way I composed all of the songs was like taking a huge block of marble and chopping away until I got the image inside the marble," she says. "It was about seeing what melodies came out and working on them until they felt right."

A grant from Chamber Music America and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation for the CD -- "a wonderful affirmation" -- assured Brachfeld she was on the right path. "In the end," she says, "it's all about your voice, your journey to find your voice."

Brachfeld's flute playing has what the late New York Times critic John S. Wilson described as a "vigorously dark, gutty quality." It's no wonder the first jazz flutist to turn her head was free jazz pioneer Eric Dolphy. In her music, that energy she described can pour out to bruising effect. "If you want to play jazz, you have to be able to get the articulation of Charlie Parker, to make the instrument sound like a trumpet or saxophone," says Brachfeld. "With a lot of flute players, I don't hear those articulations."

Andrea Brachfeld was born May 3, 1954 in Utica, NY and raised in New York City. She began playing piano at age six and flute at 10. In 1969, she enrolled at the High School of Music & Art, and, at 16, got her first jazz gig, playing her own pieces with her quartet at an "All Night Soul" presentation at St. Peter's Church. She attended Saturday morning Jazzmobile workshops; Jimmy Heath was one of her flute instructors.

She went on to study flute at the Manhattan School of Music, where her fellow students included Kenny Kirkland, Fred Hersch, and Angela Bofill. After connecting with the Charanga band Tipica New York, Brachfeld recorded with the legendary band Charanga '76, which catapulted her to fame as the first woman to play flute with a Charanga band in the United States.

Andrea Brachfeld Brachfeld recorded her first album, "Andrea" (1978), with Tito Puente percussionist José Madera producing. A year later, she accepted an invitation to perform in Venezuela and ended up staying for two and a half years, during which time she led her own group, opening for such visiting luminaries as GaryBurton, Chick Corea, and Paco de Lucia.

When she returned home to New York in 1981, she devoted herself to her family and attended graduate school, acquiring a Master's in education. For nearly 25 years, she taught ESL and bilingual education while maintaining a local profile as a musician.

Then, in 1998, Brachfeld approached acclaimed jazz flutist (and former high school classmate) Dave Valentin with material she had written and asked if he wanted to record any of it. "His response was, 'I want you to record it.'" That she did, acting as her own producer on 2002's Latin-tinged "Remembered Dreams" (Spirit Nectar). Over the next decade and a half she would release a half dozen albums, eventually moving away from Latin music and back toward her first love, bebop.

Andrea Brachfeld has recently performed at the following venues (all dates with Insight -- Bill O'Connell, piano; Harvie S, bass; Jason Tiemann, drums -- except as indicated): 4/28 The Jazz Loft, Stony Brook, NY; 4/29 An Die Musik, Baltimore; 5/18 Trumpets, Montclair, NJ; 6/18 Triad Theater, NYC; soon she will be appearing at: 8/10 Pavillion Café, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (with Bill O'Connell, piano; Lincoln Goines, bass; Robby Ameen, drums); 8/25 Long Branch (NJ) Jazz & Blues Festival; 10/4-7 La Cote Flute Festival, Gland, Switzerland; 10/12 Flushing (NY) Town Hall.

Photo: Maureen Plainfield
Web Site: andreabrachfeld.com