Título: Cock-tail
Gênero: Fox-trot
Intérprete:
Jazz Band Sul-Americano Romeu Silva
Gravadora: Odeon
Número: 122754
Título: Cherry
Gênero: Fox-trot
Intérprete:
Jazz Band Sul-Americano Romeu Silva
Gravadora: Odeon
Número: 122755
Among their
early recordings (Odeon 122786) is the maxixe "Lolote
'Estrilando'" by Mário Silva, who was most likely
Romeu's brother, for he was a longtime member of the band and
bore a striking resemblance to the leader.
The Dicionário
Cravo Albin da MPB reports that in 1925, sponsored by the Brazilian government,
the Romeu Silva band toured Europe, playing mostly Brazilian genres to publicize
their country's music. In Lisbon they played at the Teatro Trindade, going
on to the Politeama, the Monumental, and Maxim's, in addition to various nightclub
gigs. They were successful enough to have been invited to perform at the presidential
palace. Appearances in other Portuguese cities followed: Figueira da Foz,
Porto, Braga, Estoril, and Coimbra.
In Spain the band passed
through Madrid, Barcelona, Vigo, Bilbao, and San Sebastian, always with great
success. King Alfonso XII invited Romeu Silva to an event of Spanish nobles.
Then on to Paris, where the band played at the salon of the Baron de Rothschild,
Maison Lafite (owned by the Rothschilds), and Château Rambouillet (the
French president's summer residence).
According to the Dicionário
da MPB, Romeu Silva played at the "baile do Pétit le
Blanc" (actually, le Bal des Petits Lits Blancs, an important society
charity ball held at the Paris Opéra), at the inauguration of the night
races at Longchamps, and at the annual ball of Sureté Génerale
at the invitation of then president Albert Lebrun, proving to be the great
revelation of the event. Then the excursion continued to Belgium, Switzerland,
England, Italy, and Germany.
Apparently, the band accompanied
Josephine Baker, and they are said to have recorded several discs with her,
although I haven't been able to establish what those recordings were. The
claim that the latter include "La Petite Tonkinoise" is incorrect;
the band on La Baker's 1930 record is Melodie-Jazz du Casino de Paris, conducted
by Edmond Mahieux. Moreover, this recording featured strings, which the Romeu
Silva band lacked.
The success in Europe
led to further international tours. In 1932, Romeu Silva left for the Olympic
Games in Los Angeles with the Brazilian Olympic Band. In 1935 he returned
to Brazil, bringing along several American band members, including Booker
Pitman (sax & clarinet) and the crooner Louis Cole. For the next two years,
the band played at the Cassino Atlântico.
Then, says the Dicionário
da MPB, it accompanied Carmen Miranda and Bando da Lua on a one-year tour
of Argentina. This part is highly questionable, since Carmen's Argentine tour
with Bando da Lua took place in 1934, she doesn't appear to have gone to that
country in 1937, and in 1938 she went with her sister Aurora, but not for
a year.
Whether the Jazz Band
Sul-Americano accompanied Carmen Miranda on her 1938 tour remains
to be established, but there's ample evidence of another tour
the band took earlier, quite undocumented in the Dicionário.
In 1937, the band went to France, most likely to perform at
the Paris World's Fair (Exposition Internationale des Arts et
Techniques dans la Vie Moderne).
While there,
they settled in at the famous Shéhérazade dance
hall—the same one managed by the Bahian dancer Duque, where
Os Batutas had played in 1922. The Shéhérazade
name is visible in the publicity photo circulated on the occasion
of the band's appearance in Nîmes, an ancient Roman city
in the south of France, among whose landmarks is a feature familiar
to every carioca.
Billed as Orchestre da
Sylva du Shéhérazade de Paris, the band was the attraction at
the Bal de la Presse, which took place on Mardi Gras, 9 February 1937. The
event was a masked costume ball and spectacle organized by the Nîmes
Press Association as a benefit for the anti-tuberculosis campaign, which was
financed by the sale of a souvenir stamp.
In 1939, Romeu Silva was
on the move again, as his orchestra was selected to appear in the Brazilian
pavilion at the New York World's Fair. This time he had several stars under
his baton, including Noel Rosa's partner Vadico (piano), Zacarias (sax &
clarinet), and Zé Carioca (guitar). The band was in New York from June
till November, participating in a Brazilian music festival that included among
its headliners the baritone Cândido Botelho (who had performed the new
samba "Aquarela do Brasil" in the musical revue Joujoux e Balangandãs
that very June) and the pianist Artur Rubinstein.
Upon their return to Rio,
the band began to play at the Feira de Amostras, and in 1941 they moved to
Cassino da Urca, the most glittering showcase in the city. There they remained
until 1946, when general Eurico Gaspar Dutra's government outlawed gambling
and all the casinos were shut down. Suddenly out of work, Romeu was forced
to disband his orchestra and become a public servant. He died completely forgotten
in 1958.
The writer publishes the online magazine of Brazilian music and culture Daniella Thompson on Brazil and the website Musica Brasiliensis, where she can be contacted.
This article was originally published in Daniella Thompson on Brazil.
Copyright © 2003 Daniella Thompson. All rights reserved.
