Hermeto Pascoal’s Musical Flow Like Water in Windy City Concert and Interview

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As the world continues to evolve, music remains an ever-present force in our lives, delivering messages that resonate beyond borders and language barriers. On June 6th, 2023, renowned multi-instrumentalist and composer Hermeto Pascoal spoke about his experiences in the music world and his latest adventures during an interview conducted by Michael Jackson.

Pascoal is a man of many titles, juggling roles as a composer, orchestrator, and performer. Throughout his illustrious career, he has released an impressive number of albums and recordings that showcase his immense talent. Among his recent releases are No Mundo dos Sons, Natureza Universal and E sua visão original do forró, which won a Latin Grammy in 2019.

Despite his many accomplishments, Pascoal is not a household name amongst the general public. However, his music has a universal appeal and transcends barriers that other mainstream genres struggle to breach. Pascoal’s music is not only original, but it also defies categorization. He composes without listening to other recorded music, even his own, to ensure his sound remains unique.

As a man of the people, Pascoal’s music is reflective of his daily life. He skillfully writes charts on surfaces such as walls, hats, and takeaway food containers, with thick colored markers to help him visualize up close, as he is legally blind. Through his music, he conveys the message that music is a universal language that connects individuals from all walks of life.

Despite his immense talent and influence, Pascoal is still not as well-known to all music fans. His music is not commercially driven, and self-funding makes his tours and expenses challenging to handle, leaving much to be desired in terms of widespread exposure. However, his music’s universal appeal allows him to perform worldwide, and this brings him to Chicago after almost 20 years.

During his recent Chicago performance at Thalia Hall, Pascoal and his sextet of virtuosi, which includes his son Fabio on percussion, legendary bassist Itibere Zwarg, his son Ajurinã on drums, pianist André Marques and saxophonist/flutist/piccolo player Jota Pê, cast a spell on the audience with their energetic and relentless performance that included popular hits such as “Maracatu,” “Papagaio,” “Republico,” “Ailin,” and the well-known “Forró Brasil.”

The interview between Pascoal and Jackson revealed that music for him is a spiritual experience, and it is this spirit that allows him to overcome the challenges and limited exposure of non-commercial music. His music is a reflection of his soul, expressed in a torrential flow of ideas that defy categorization. He compares his creative process to Mozart or Charlie Parker, but on a level that is unquantifiable, as he has lived 50 years longer than Mozart.

For Pascoal, archiving his work and receiving recognition for his immense talent is not a primary concern. He believes that his music belongs to the world, and that it is the people who will preserve and appreciate it for generations to come. Pascoal is a true testament to the power of music to transcend distance, language, and every other barrier, to connect us all as human beings.