01-Hello Michel!How are you? First of all, thanks for this opportunity. Please, tell us about your beginning with music,who influenced you and etc.
My house always had a musical atmosphere. My brother used to play the guitar (and he still does) my father had studied violin and he enjoyed classical music and my grandpa used to play guitar, brazilian viola and a bit of violin and mandolin beside compose. They were my first influences. I started to play when I was 8. When I was 11, I went slower because I felt like playing soccer and by the age of 13, I got a guitar and I have been playing since then. The influences that followed were Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. I listened to jazz when I was 15 when I saw Barney Kessel playing on a program on Cultura TV channel. I remember I thought:"I understood nothing but some day I'll play it".
02-You are definitely one of the most popular name of jazz in Brazil.What do you think about it , as you started in rock?
Thanks for the "greatest"! Well, I see it honestly: there's no national jazz in Brazil. There are some few guys who really play it authentically (in terms of jazz language), for example Wilson Teixeira, Alexandre Mihanovich and some very few others. Nowadays there are fewer places to play accordingly and get it really, as many places are not properly for having live shows for not having appropriated acoustic system, license, etc. And more and more musicians have to play music for getting atmosphere. If they want to play, it has to be for people who are in their conversations. I go on finding places where I can play freely. I refuse to make background music. So I keep playing here and there to develop my art. What I do is a mix everything which comes to me and, talking about jazz specifically, I don't know how to play it in a "orthodox" way! I know some standarts -which helped me a lot to get my compositions - I play the music I feel at the moment but with my style which is a great mixture of everything I heard, played and lived until now. I get astonished for how blessed I am and I remember that since I was a child I have always played a lot, practiced and get myself in many challenging situations about music and it has always been like that.
03-You’re a teacher of the well known Souza Lima and Em&t music schools. Tell us what is this job like for a teacher,to teach at such famous schools, as way of teaching so students and so on?
I feel free to do what I want at these schools and I decide on how to work with each student. As it is always individual classes, I try to explore the potential of each one doing the most important: Playing! My way of teaching is only like this: the minimum theory and playing a lot. Besides that, I ask the students to record the classes. It makes things faster.
04-You have already recorded several instrumental cds. As you see it, what is instrumental music in Brazil like? Do you think it is possible to play this kind of music for a living?
Playing instrumental in Brazil is not for a living yet, at least for me. I am going to record my fourth CD and I'm really happy teaching guitar my three days of classes for a living! I say this because with bills paid, music leads the situation. I don't play to please anyone and I don't play to be part of any group of people; I just play for music and for what I believe is honest and pure. Even in instrumental music, there are a lot of people worrying themselves about showing maturity or trying to please people. I get rid of it! I want to be an instrument of divine music more and more.
|
05-Talking about these projects, you have already played with well known names like Cuca Teixeira, Thiago do Espírito Santo…What was this experience like? You are probably referring to "Umdoistrio". It was a nice experience which went on from 2001 to 2004.That would be great if you could listen to my other CDs like "Quarteto" of 2004 with Walmir Gil performing really good as invited solo and Alex Buck & Lichel Leme. and "Trocando idéias" of 2006 with Raphael Ferreira and Thiago Alves. Recording is always good and I get happy when I listen to these works. They are honest and I learned a lot with them. Now I'm going to record a CD with Cassio Ferreira on sax, Thiago Alves on bass and Serginho Machado on drums.The name is going to be " Michel Leme & a Firma" I'm wiiling to send one to GUITAR CLINIC. |
 |
06-What's your equipment? Talk about your sponsors.
I 've been using a jazz arch top built of 1979 - which I hid the logo of the brand as I haven't had any support from their representative in Brazil - amplifiers Rotstage (totally valve and build in São Paulo - the model I have used nowadays is the CJ 100, with 100W RMS and a cabinet with two loudspeaker of 12") and D'Addario strings. The great thing about Rotstage and D'Addario is that, besides having awesome equipment, the people are so cool.
07-When you became a professional musician, was there hard time when you thought about quitting? And what were the best moments of your life so far?
There are hard times for everybody. I consider them challenges which make us develop self-knowledge and a wonderful growth. Who thinks about quitting don't like what they do. The best points of my career like a musician happen when I am playing. Get to play is the best gift a musician can receive. That's our aim: get to play!!!
08-You have already worked as a sideman of some famous artists. What was this experience like?
I played with Michael Brecker on a workshop at Souza Lima in 1997 and with Lee Konitz and Joe Lovano in the same situation in the years after. I played in Jams-sessions with cool guys like Gary Willis, Wynton Marsalis, Hermeto, Stephen Scott, Lewis Nash and other guys. They were also very good experiences; it is amazing how much you can learn from a good musician in just one or two songs. But I also knew the other side of reality. Playing with Fábio Jr. from 1977 to 2001. Fábio is a nice guy. The problem was the people around him. It was some about money. Now I can get this conclusion. Once in a while I still play with "Os Incríveis" (since 1997); when Sandro Haick (Netinho's son) can't, I do some shows. But on this case is different because musical freedom and the people are wonderful. I think that for the guy who wants to play, it is important to play in every situation: balls, bars, singer from well known record labels, instrumental music and etc. After all this, the guy has to evaluate when he can be free (doing art) and when he should follow instructions (paying his part to the system).
|
09-Which song or album has a special meaning to you? Is there anything you would change on the last albums? Every song that I've recorded has a special meaning to me. I only present a song to a group if I am sure that this means more than a group of notes. I consider a composition as a jewel that you've searched for and you somehow conquered it, sometimes hard, and sometimes too easy that you ask yourself if it doesn't belong to somebody else....It is a miracle! If I would change something about the previous albums? Just the mixing and the master of Umdoistrio. Talking about music I would change nothing about the other CDs; I don't want to change the past. I try to learn from it. I believe in it and I don't record any solo twice, for example. What has gone, is gone. |
10- Thank you so much for this opportunity! Please leave a message for Guitar Clinic's viewers.
I really thank you for the opportunity and I wish long life to Guitar Clinic! I wish everybody lots of health, inner peace, wisdom and a lot of great music!
A great hug,
Michel Leme
Website: www.michelleme.com