This weekend is the last chance to catch the Clifton Roots, Jazz and Heritage Festival at the Clifton Center. Musicians from Cuba, Sweden and Venezuela are here in Kentucky for the festival, which includes food, music workshops and performances, of course.
One of the musicians is Brazilian guitarist, Douglas Lora. He’ll be performing in a duo with Spanish singer Irene Atienza. I chatted with Lora at U of L right before he gave a master class at the School of Music.
He talked about how varied Brazilian music can be and where his music fits into that space – especially being a dual citizen of the United States and Brazil. Listen to our conversation in the player above.
On perceptions about Brazilian music:
"When someone from outside thinks about Brazilian music, they think about Bossa Nova actually first. It’s great because the Bossa Nova introduced the Brazilian music to the rest of the world, to the United States, to Europe."
On where his music fits into Brazil’s diverse landscape:
"It’s hard to say because I have many … I have a classical music background, I play classical music. And I play this style choro. And I used to play rock n’ roll when I was a kid. Now, for five years now, I’ve been playing more boleros from Cuba and Mexico. So it’s hard to say what, where do I fit because I take all this influences and I try to incorporate my own personality. It’s universal."
On performing in Louisville:
"I’m very fortunate because I’m playing twice in this festival. Now I have the chance to show to the folks in Louisville what we’ve been doing together for five years, which is also a mix of Brazilian music and boleros and Cuban and Spanish."
