Alfredo Bello is another Brazilian with a more established career abroad than in his native country. “In seven days in Portugal I did more shows than in two years in São Paulo.” Today, the Minas Gerais born and raised in Brasília bassist and producer is known as DJ Tudo and his specialty is condensing traditional music from Brazil and from around the world into a pop repertoire. “He brings to the dance floor unusual ancestral rhythms and reprocesses them electronically” praised the journalist Lauro Lisboa, from O Estado de S. Paulo.
DJ Tudo is a music archaeologist. Through his label Mundo Melhor (an incredible source of information), Alfredo maintains the largest audio collection of Brazilian popular culture. From the recordings he gets during his travels around the country and the world, DJ Tudo – armed with samples and electronic beats – changes the regional sounds into modern dance tracks, and captivates attention wherever he goes.
In 2007 he released his first album, Garrafada. In 2010 came Nos Quintais do Mundo, which was nominated for the Brazilian Music Award in 2011, with a DVD recorded in July.
It was in 1998 that Alfred Bello debuted overseas in Berlin with his band Os Cachorros das Cachorras. In 2000 he went to Portugal and Spain as bassist with the singer Otto. In 2003 he went to England and Scotland with the Orquestra Scotland Brazil, but it was in 2008 that DJ Tudo took his own productions to Europe for the first time. Initially he went as a DJ, but nowadays he performing shows with his band. This year has seen him perform in Portugal with shows slated for Belgium and England (see schedule here). It may be cheaper to travel abroad as a DJ, but he has established enough good contacts to be able to tour with his whole band of nine people.
His passport has stamps from the USA and various European countries. Abroad, DJ Tudo is a World Music artist and not a Brazilian one. He says: “In every place I go I find people interested in my work.”
His CV is extensive. DJ Tudo won a scholarship from the British Council to do an artist residency in London and Glasgow in 2009. He worked with dub masters Mad Professor and Adrian Sherwood in Nos Quintais do Mundo. Recorded bass, moog and percussion on the last album of Lee Scratch Perry, Dubsetter, 2010. he has also produced albums by such artists as Junio Barreto, Cérebro Eletrônico, Porcas Borboletas and Pedra Branca. And made soundtracks for Brazilian movies “O Amor Segundo B. Schianberg” e “ Eu Receberia As Piores Notícias Dos Seus Lindos Lábios” de Beto Brant.
DJ Tudo also recently produced his first DVD: DJ Tudo e sua gente de todo lugar, recorded on July 29 in the Auditorium Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo.
The DVD will be brought to Europe in October for the tour and released in Brazil in November. He’s happy and optimistic, but still feels great difficulty in promoting his work in Brazil. “We have a colonial mentality, where power is still controlled by the few,” he says. “The New York Times has reviewed the album Nos Quintais do Mundo, and here I did not have the same impact”. He expects the DVD to help change this.
DJ Tudo e Sua Gente de Todo Lugar is:
DJ Tudo: bass, computer and vocals
Gustavo Souza: drum and sampler
Estevan Sinkovitz: Guitar and vocals
Ricardo Prado: accordion and keyboards
Marcelo Monteiro: sax tenor and flute
Amilcar Rodrigues: trumpet and flugelhorn
Mestre Nico: percussion and vocals
Graciliano Neto: Vocals and percussion
Guest: Fernanda Cabral: Vocals
Discography:
2008 – Garrafada, (Mundo Melhor)
2010 - Nos Quintais do Mundo – My community is humanity, (Mundo Melhor)
Compilations
2010 – Elektropik – French compilation of Latin Contemporary Music compiled by RKK.
2010 - Oi – A Nova Música Brasileira, (Mais Um Discos)
2010 – The Rough Guide to Brazilian Café, (World Music Network)
2010 – Album Remix for Luiza Maita, track Lero Lero, (Cumbancha)
Sounds like:
Brazilian Music talking with the world.
Influences:
Brazilian Music of all times and regions, electronic, jazz, dub and funk.
News:
In July he performed 6 shows in Portugal.
In October/November he embarks on the second leg of the European Tour 2011. There will be 4 shows and 2 seminars on Brazilian culture at Europália in Belgium, and one show in London. The schedule is here: http://bma.org.br/brmusicexchange/en/agenda/
The DVD, recorded last July at Auditório Ibirapuera, São Paulo, will be released in October. A preview of the new material is in the video below, which has the song “Baque Forte”:
Links:
