Travessia by Maria Dolores
I was able to swing by the Ouvidor bookstore in Belo Horizonte this past trip to Minas and picked up several books, including this one on Milton Nascimento. Hopefully this will make its way into English. Written by fellow Três Pontas native Maria Dolores, it traces Milton’s biography from his father’s path to Rio de Janeiro, to his adoption of Milton, to Milton’s upbringing in Três Pontas, to his move to Belo Horizonte and encounter with the Borges family through which the Clube da Esquina would immerge, to his success on a worlwide scale.
For those unfamiliar with Milton’s work, a great start is Clube da Esquina (Click Here for Amazon.com Link). This is a once in a generation album, up there with Sgt. Pepper’s, Blonde on Blonde, Kind of Blue, or the Shape of Jazz to Come. Toninho Horta, Lô Borges, Márcio Borges, Wagner Tiso, Beto Guedes, Flávio Venturini, Ronaldo Bastos, Tavinho Moura, and lyricist Fernando Brandt all contribute.
Here are some clips of Milton Nascimento
Travessia – In Switzerland in 1980 with fellow Clube da Esquina member and Três Pontas native, Wagner Tiso.
One of my favorites – San Vicente. Here a phenomenal version with Naná Vasconcelos from 1988.
With Chico Buarque Singing Chico’s Calice.
A cut off of the Clube da Esquina CD: Tudo O Que Você Podia Ser
Another Clip from 1988, Cravo e Canela. Notice how Milton takes a samba beat and puts it into 3/4 time. (Try counting ONE two three ONE two three with the song to see how it works.)
