Entertainment at Casa de Almeida (Home of Adelaide)

One of the enjoyable parts of my visit here is the beautiful chords and tempo of Brazilian music. Last Sunday (11 March) Sergio Celaschi brought Bob and I to Ribeirao Preto from Sao Carlos, where we had stayed overnight for another music session with Sergio. With Sergio were two of his sons, Enrico (13) and Pedro (11). We arrived in Ribeirao Preto at 10 a.m., in time to attend the regular Sunday concert in an outdoor amphitheater on the Unversity Campus. The band that played there included two musicians whom I had seen Friday evening when Adelaide took us out to a pizza restaurant.

The featured musician who was present this afternoon, as far as I was concerned, was an older heavy-set black man named Jose da Conceicao. Jim and others who enjoy good guitar playing will have to listen to a CD of his which Adelaide kindly bought and gave to me. I asked Mr. Conceicao to autograph it for me, which he kindly did.

After the concert ended at noon, Adelaide took all of us out to a Churrascia (a place where you are served your choice of meats at your table by a constant procession of waiters each with a different kind of roasted meat on a sword-like spit) for an all-you-can-eat meat-of-all-kinds lunch with all the trimmings.

Later that afternoon, at Adelaide´s house, Sergio sang, played the guitar and Adelaide sang except for two songs, `Yesterday´ and `When the Saints Go Marching In´, both of which I knew well enough to sing along in harmony. Photo at right shows Sergio and Adelaide singing one of many Brazilian ballads.

In the meantime, undisturbed by the guitar beat and loud singing voices, two boys may be noted sitting peacefully nearby. The upper picture is comprehensive in showing the musicians in the foreground with the boys in the background.

A more detailed photo of the boys follows. They awoke in time to accompany their Dad back to Sao Carlos in the afternoon.

The end of another enjoyable day in Brazil!