#3 - Canja in Curitiba

Here I am doing a "canja" or a sit in with the totally grooooovy Sergio Henrique at a local bar in the Brazilian city of Curitiba! I'm playing a cavaquinho, a small native ukulele type instrument but with steel strings. It's mostly used in Samba music but sure sounds great with the blues! After the song Sergio told me he's never ever heard a cavaquinho sound like that. This is "Lay Down Sally" by Eric Clapton. It's hard to get a sense of it here, but Sergio has a great voice. Reckless yet refined, he can give any rock singer a run for their money.

It's great to jam with people who don't speak your language. Here's what Tom Waits said about the blues: "The blues is like a planet. It's an enormous topic. You can't ignore the impact it's had... It's a tree that everyone is swinging from. Without it, I don't know where I would be. It's indelible and indispensable."

#2 - Brass Balcony

Santa Teresa, neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro 

So this is the view from the balcony of our apartment in Rio. Pretty cool, especially since it comes with a brass band that rehearses every Tuesday. Yep, that's no soundtrack, that's them playing on the other side of the hill. Que legal!

One thing that strikes me about this scene is that even though the video might not show it, these guys are really blowing, really making some noise. There's no such thing as a quiet brass band! Now, I know many places in the US where this kind of ''noise'' is not allowed at any hour, much less 8pm which is when this was filmed. You don't know how many noise complaints I've gotten for rehearsing with a band in the middle of the day. In this shot, most of the buildings you see are apartments. I bet there are 3000 plus people listening to this same music and probably enjoying it. Things are a bit more laid back here at times.

#1 - Free Style...Advertising!

In Realengo, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro

I love this dude! He is part street performer, part living advertisement. He works for the store to the right. What is he rapping about? Well, the current sale they're running on watches and glasses of course! Notice the wireless mic. Very useful for this type of performance. Notice his phone up to the mic. That's where the backing track is coming from. Now notice his technique for holding his phone and the mic with one hand, very cool indeed. That leaves his other hand free to pass out flyers. I imagine this isn't his first rodeo! This type of music they call ''Funk'', although it bears little resemblance to James Brown or the Meters.

Here I am, the only one on the street showing any interest!