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What is a blog for? Today marks four years since I started this one and, honestly, I still do not know the answer. Well, to be honest, there was a break of a little over four months, but even so… It is enough time to write short weekly articles about experiences that, in some way, are connected to music or at least to my music. Sharing insights, stories, and experiences with readers.

I know that on dates like these, readers always expect some uplifting story, about how an experiment without great pretensions became a true community that reaches a huge number of readers, impacting their lives, etc. But that ís not my case at all. For the good or for the bad, I do not have a story like that to tell.

Over the years, I have explored a diverse range of topics that interest me and yes, some kind readers were kind enough to not only read the text, but also to make some comments, but from there to impacting lives? I honestly do not think that is the case here at all. As a matter of fact, I am quite critical of this maxim of “impacting the lives of other human beings” having become the perfect excuse for anyone to sell anything, preserving the image of moral purity, which rarely finds support in reality.

But what about me? Am I not also selling something here? Of course, in a philosophical sense we could say that we are all always selling something, in my case, my image, my persona, if you will.

It is true that I hope to attract your attention to my songs or at least to social networks, with the aim of you becoming a follower (a sign of the times). Yes, all of this is true, but that is not why I want to continue with a blog, even though I know that the format no longer attracts crowds. In fact, this slight shift in relation to the group generated the simple family nickname of “Weirdo” and that, because it is so true in the end, I had no choice but to embrace it.

In fact, I am always a little out of step with the latest hit, whether it’s the format of releasing an album or the repertoire. Maybe because, just like the time of the samba-enredo of the samba schools of Rio de Janeiro (honey, do your own research, okay?) the time of the internet has become too fast for me. Or rather, I prefer to keep up with my own pace, the one that makes sense to me.

But then why continue writing, even after four years if, besides not believing that I have impacted my audience, I am not even sure that I have built a captive audience over these four years? I have thought a lot about this during the four months of hiatus and the only conclusion I have come to is that, if I do not do it, I really feel that something is missing.


I really missed these weekly meetings. They are for me a moment to organize my thoughts, to digest some fact that occurred throughout the day, to express an opinion, an impression, a feeling, to share an experience, because at the end of the day that is what it is all about.

I do appreciate you following them, or any of them.

Hapoy birthday, Red Flower!

Be seeing you!

G.F.

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I haven’t been here in over four months (wow!), and there were many reasons for this long absence: screen fatigue, overwork, and even a slight feeling that there was not much to tell, no really interesting adventures to share. But today is my birthday and I decided to start the new trip around the Sun with a new post because, well, because they say that the things we do on our birthday have a lot of power, so why not give the universe a little help, right?

Besides, even though the day is barely half over, I have already accumulated so many lessons that, at the rate things are going, I will not be able to absorb them all byalone, so I would like to share the top three with you, my loyal reader. Ready?

Lesson #1: It does not matter how prepared you are: on your birthday, the probability of something not being to your liking is approximately 100% with no margin of error.

Unfortunately, and much to my displeasure, the universe does not stop to celebrate my birthday (or yours), so there must be some room for adaptation. The challenge is to readapt the route without losing the way.

Lessom #2: Who said one day can ruin a year? This one serves more or less as compensation for the first one. Even if your birthday starts off on the wrong foot, who says that this is a sign that things won’t go well in the next 365 days?

This morning, for example, I was interrupted while taking a shower, and then again when I was about to start my breakfast. The reasons for the interruptions were noble, but it is no fun to drink bad coffee with burnt bread on any day of the year. But instead of seeing this as a sign that things will not go well in the next twelve months, I prefer to think that, on the contrary, by exhausting unpleasant situations right at the beginning of the first day, things can only go very well from now on. It is like doing an annual spring cleaning.

Lessom #3: Do not get lost in melancholic daydreams about what happened. Today is the day to congratulate yourself on the path you have traveled so far, and focus on what is to come.The way I see it, each year lived represents an achievement, after all, living is not exactly an easy task and yet here we are, alive. Who knows how, who knows at what price, but alive. And about to begin another cycle. It is no small feat. Cross the threshold and celebrate yourself.

I know that certain days, and not just birthdays (perhaps for you it’s the changing of the seasons, or the end of the year) have the power to cause us very strong and not always pleasant feelings. Days in which emotions are on the surface and every action or thought takes on much greater contours than usual. Do not let yourself get too carried away, these moments will pass.

The beauty and irony of life is that both good days and bad days have the same amount of hours.

And, a last word, a bonus, if you will: if possible, listen to some tango music. No birthday personal drama resists to tango: they all turn, magically, into beuaty and passion. I strongly recomed Piazzolla for better results..

Be seeing you!

G. F.

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Once, an ex tried to convince me to go back together with him in a quite, let us say, original way. He said that he really wanted to wake up next to a singer because, according to him, we get up singing. Did it work? No way! I remained irreducible. And you do not need to feel sorry for him, okay? The guy was a jerk. What kind? A “I-do-not-like-you-traveling-alone-to-conferences” kind of jerk. Nevertheless, he had a point.

I always thought this was something everyone did on a normal basis. It never occurred to me that entering the day singingit was a privilege, let alone a specific characteristic of singers. I wonder if my many birthday rituals also count as, let us say singer’s follies.

The thing with my b-day superticious is that they are quite flexible, but they usually include changing the bed linen, bringing the garbage out, followed by a nice shower or bath, finalizing with a glass of Champagne by midnight. They may or may not include posting a story on a social network (sign of the times) or some sort of self-care routine, such as a facial moisturing mask.

Silly? Sure it is silly, but it helps me somehow, not only to leave the previous solar year and all the stuff I do not need anymore behind, but also getting ready for the new cycle to come. To be honest, I think my rituals are charming, say what you will.

You know what? I am sure you have your rituals too, if not for your birthday, at least for some special dates, such as New Year´s Eve. Am I right?

Here in Brazil there are many rituals for the last last of the year: we dress in white, eat lentils and grapes (seven grapes, to be more specific) and there is a complete chapter on how the colour of your underwear will influence your life in the coming year (yellow for money, red for love, green for health, so on and so forth, and another one for the beach-related rituals suposed to bring you good luck.

My guess is that we follow rituals for a variety of reasons, including the fleeting feeling of power over a destiny we do not control. Whatever your ritual to start another year might be, I wish you face the inevitable coming challenges with courage, because often that is all life asks of us.

Happy New Year and, as Annie Lennox sings in Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This):

Hold your head up (movin’ on)

and keep your head up (movin’ on)

Be seeing you!

G.F.

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Sunday, January 15: The Red Flower Press completes two years of existence, and the story of this blog begins, oddly enough, with a podcast.

It all starts at the end of 2020 (yes, that year…). I had dedicated practically all of my time to producing QuaranJazz, a weekly podcast of interviews with musicians from around the world. I did not know at the exactly what I wanted with the podcast,at first.

Looking back to that timet, I think that we were all kind of lost. Anyway, Quaranjazz primary goal has always been to offer my fellow musicians the opportunity to talk about their projects, which had been abruptly cut due to the pandemic.

What did musicians do during social isolation? What were your fears and hopes? How did you take your projects forward and maintain contact with your audience? Honestly, I think of QuaranJazz as a musical portrait of that year of fear and loneliness.

Fortunately those days are over, but the podcast episodes remain as a document for posterity and yet another tool for understanding a very particular phase of our recent history. I am very proud of this project, created and developed in very precarious conditions, but with a lot of determination.

The following year vaccines began to be applied and the word quarantine, finally, ceased to be used in everyday life. QuaranJazz had completed its cycle and its mission and it was time to move on to new projects. I confess that until then I had never tried a blog, and it took me a long time to find a format that worked for me, both in the frequency of posts and in terms of content.

Content was quite an issue indeed, because after the tremendously introspective experience of QuaranJazz, I wanted to be able to talk about various things related to music, from reviews to personal stories, passing through career management tips, but the biggest challenge was finding the middle ground between information and reflection.

My intention is that you can go back and reread the texts, regardless of the period in which they were written and find something you can relate to. Like good old friends, we can stop and pick up the conversation at any time and it will always make sense, it will always feel good.

This is also how I feel about singing, and maybe that is the reason why I like so much writing to you every week.

My red flower and I sincerely thank you for the company.

Be seeing you!

G.F.

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Yesterday was my birthday. I have already talked here about all the tension and the drama of having your birthday at the end of the year, but this time I would like to point out some solutions, or rather describe some lessons I have learned in this last passage of the sun through Sagittarius. What kind of lessons? The kind you can use in your career. Ready to write down some valuable tips? Follow me.

As years go by, it is clear to me that the key word is resilience. December is always a month of intense temperatures, whether it is cold or hot, depending on which half you live in on this little blue planet. For this reason, the difficulties start already in the organization. I dare say that organizing a birthday party in December is more difficult than organizing a small tour with a trio (for those who do not get the reference, organizing tours is always a lot of work).

Sounds a little sad? If you apply resilience it will sound more like consistency. A practical example? Test all possible models until you find one that works for you, just as it is necessary to test different combinations of musicians until you find the one that is ideal for your music.

The philosophy of chop wood, carry water needs time to be assimilated and, depending on your moment in life, it may even seem counterproductive, but time will teach you to realize the value of small, regular things for big results in the long term. In other words: you learn by doing, even if you do not realize it at first.

Another lesson I have learned, not necessarily linked to being born in December, is that the definition of an ideal celebration varies a lot from year to year and depends on many variables, exactly as it happens with the different projects that develop throughout a career.

Last, and certainly not least, I also learned that you always need to reserve some room for a champagne toast. And if you have a slice of cake to go with it, wow, you’re one happy, lucky birthday kid!

Be seeing you!

G.F.