(photo credit: Marcus Fernando)
It's unfortunate to come out of my long absence from this blog with such news...
The most well-dressed samba practitioner of Rio, a tailor by trade, sambista by choice, Walter "Alfaiate" Nunes died this past weekend. Walter was one of the funniest samba performers I have seen on stage, always telling jokes in between songs. I became good friends with his daughter Cláudia during my stay in Rio, but sadly, I did not get to know him personally. A few months back, I had heard about his failing health and was on alert for some time. Finally, the sad news made its way through the grapevine to me in the U.S.
Like so many musicians of his generation, he did not record his own album until he was well into his 60s. The song here is a somewhat somber, but beautiful samba, appropriate for the occasion. Walter had a rich baritone voice, highlighted on this recording.
I leave you with the title track of his 1998 debut album:
"Olha aí" (Mucal/Miúdo)
