piano
Harmonized voices
Orality is, indisputably, one of the richest sources of human expressiveness. Considering this, listening, imitating, transcribing (and eventually, playing in real time or even harmonizing) fragments of orality needs an in-depth study of expressive resources, that ends having a spectacular return in “conventional” music.
This was well known by the great Hermeto Pascoal, one of the pioneers of this technique. He baptized these transcriptions/harmonizations with the eloquent name of “Aura de of the Voice”.
Abe Rábade has experimented in this area since 2008. The pieces range from humor to poetry, passing throught the demanding, trascendental and random.
Complete Collection
Cada noite eu chorando pensaba
Poem by Rosalía de Castro recited by Anxo Angueira. This transcription/harmonization was a joint work with the Valencian composer and saxophonist Jesús Santandreu. It was published on the album “Rosalía 21” (Falcatruada, 2008).
Gotas
Transcription of drops of water falling into a bathtub. Even without being a transcription of intentional orality and therefore having a completely random character, Gotas continues to be an example of “music found where a priori there seemed to be no music” and that is why we include it in this collection. The piece is edited on the Abe Rábade Trío Once album (Karonte, 2016).
Quadras III
Poem by Rosalía de Castro recited by Anxo Angueira. This transcription/harmonization was a joint work with the Valencian composer and saxophonist Jesús Santandreu. It was published on the album “Rosalía 21” (Falcatruada, 2008).
Chiste do preso
Transcription/harmonization of a joke by the Spanish comedian Chiquito de la Calzada.
Frente a las insidias
Transcription of the popular Cristina Cifuentes in 2018, when she showed “documentation” in her defense of her master’s degree.
Proporcional y proporcionada
Transcription of the popular Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría in her appearance after the police actions of October 1, 2017 in Catalonia (Spain).
Eso es el mercado, amigo
Transcription of the famous phrase by Rodrigo Rato.
Voy a hablar con absoluta claridad
Two transcripts of the former president of the government Mariano Rajoy, opening his classic can of worms.
Revolutionary
Harmonized transcript of historic American activist Angela Davis. In an interview in prison in 1970, she eloquently conveys her vision of what it means to be a revolutionary. In September 2019, Abe Rábade had the honor of being able to play this piece live for the Monterey Jazz Festival audience, in real time with the images projected on stage, with Angela Davis herself among the audience.
Alexandria Ocasio - Cortez on Police Budgets
Harmonized transcription of a speech by AOC where she expresses the aberrational reality of disproportionate budgets for security forces and weapons in the US.
Krishnamurti on Breaking Habits
Harmonized transcription by mystical philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti on how to break bad habits. The images are from a conference in Brockwood Park in 1983.
Maria Homem sobre o Amor
Harmonized transcription of the Brazilian psychoanalyst Maria Homem in which she gives her vision of love.