Ethnic Folk-Dance Music

A Swiss colonial history in Brazil

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Who are we?

Dennis Brown

From the 1960s until his passing at 89 on 13 September 2025, Hermeto Pascoal breathed life into Brazilian jazz — a multi-instrumentalist, a composer, a sorcerer of sound, a free spirit

Intro

«&nbsp;If there is a religion, mine is music, » Hermeto Pascoal once declared — one of countless affirmations that set him free as a musical poet. His unruly white hair became an unforgettable part of his image. An indefatigable composer, credited with more than 19,000 pieces, he opened Brazilian and Afro-American jazz to the sound of every conceivable and improbable instrument — from his own body to conventional instruments and even the everyday objects and tools of Brazil’s Nordeste countryside (1). On 7 August 2025,&nbsp;Hermeto Pascoal performed&nbsp;Calendário&nbsp;do&nbsp;Som&nbsp;at the Jazz In Marciac festival — his final concert in France — with his 6tet featuring Jota P.&nbsp;(sax), André Marques (pno), Itiberê Luiz Zwarg (bass, a member of his group since 1977), Ajurina Zwarg (drms), and his son Fabio Pascoal (perc), for whom he composed the famous tune Bebê. The 366 compositions of this 1996-1997 project were conceived as a sacred folk work — a birthday gift for each human being. --- (1)&nbsp; For more information, see the essential book Le Jazz Brésilien by Isabelle Leymarie&nbsp;(Jasmin Musique, 2021, in French).

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Hermeto Pascoal

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Pascoal 0977

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Pascoal 0862

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Pascoal 0820

(L) Jota P. (sax), (C) Ajurina Zwarg (drms), (R) Hermeto Pascoal (voc, key, horn, teapot) | Jazz in Marciac, France - August 2025

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Pascoal 1981

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Pascoal 0941

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Pascoal 0612

(L) Itiberê Luiz Zwarg (bass), Jota P. (sax), Ajurina Zwarg (drms), (C) Fabio Pascoal (perc), (R) Hermeto Pascoal (voc, key, horn, teapot) | Jazz in Marciac, France - August 2025

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Pascoal 1962

André Marques (pno) | Jazz in Marciac, France - August 2025

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Pascoal 1992

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Pascoal 0705

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Pascoal 0603

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Pascoal 0547

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Pascoal 0667

Fabio Pascoal (perc) | Jazz in Marciac, France - August 2025

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Pascoal 0964

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Pascoal 0962

Fabio Pascoal, percussion solo with pig and cow squeaky toys | Jazz in Marciac, France - August 2025

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Pascoal 0767

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Pascoal 0744

Ajurina Zwarg (drms) Fabio Pascoal (perc), percussion duo with mortars and clog | Jazz in Marciac, France - August 2025

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Pascoal 0892

Itiberê Luiz Zwarg (bass, a member of his group since 1977) | Jazz in Marciac, France - August 2025

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Pascoal 0804

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Pascoal 0653

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Pascoal 0815

Ajurina Zwarg (drms) | Jazz in Marciac, France - August 2025

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Pascoal 0620

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Pascoal 0632

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Pascoal 0622

Mosaic

My selection of music records

Title vinyl

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Cérebro Magnético - Atlantic (BR) 1980

Eita Mundo Bom!

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Planetário Da Gávea - Far Out (UK) 2022

Jegue

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The Monash Sessions - Jazzhead (AUS) 2013

Bebe

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Calendário do Som, Janeiro - (BR) 2025

7 de Janeiro

O Bruxo (the Sound Sorcerer)

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Two small books and an exhibition in Lausanne, Switzerland, on October 2025, after travelling in Japan and the German post-industrial Ruhr Region

During a trip in the autumn of 2024, I created a short series of portraits in Japan, focusing particularly on people photographing themselves. Staging oneself in public, striking a pose, and instantly sharing the image on social media has become an everyday art, omnipresent in Japan—ubiquitous, yet paradoxical in a culture renowned for its reserve and discretion. --- The work was published in two small books and will be exhibited at ARTEASTRY – Contemporary Art Tea Bar&nbsp;in Lausanne, &nbsp;Switzerland, from 7 to 25 October 2025. --- Cover: selfie in rented kimonos by the koi pond. Tenju-an Garden, Nanzen-ji Buddhist Temple, Kyoto.

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Short series of portraits in Japan

Book Japan

Slider Japan

The Kyoto International Manga Museum showcases more than one hundred plaster casts of the hands of famous manga artists, each signed and displayed together with an original drawing. Top row: Yoshiyuki Tomino, creator of Mobile Suit Gundam | Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, character designer and author of Gundam: The Origin | Kunio Ōkawara, mecha designer of the original Gundam (RX-78).&nbsp; Middle row: Monkey Punch, creator of Lupin III | Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli, known for Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Spirited Away | Motoka Murakami, author of Jin. Bottom row: Fujiko Fujio, creator of Ninja Hattori-kun and Kaibutsu-kun | Tsukasa Hōjō, creator of Cat’s Eye and City Hunter | Kenshi Hirokane, author of Shima Kōsaku.

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Manga 0935

Joan Miró, Painting, 1953.&nbsp; The National Museum of Western Art, built in 1959 in Tokyo by the Franco-Swiss architect Le Corbusier and since enlarged, houses a powerful painting by Joan Miró. Its red disk refers visitors to the symbolism of the rising sun, emblem of the national flag of modern Japan.

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Miro 0628

Monumental stairs. Kiyomizu-dera Buddhist Temple, Kyoto.&nbsp; The selfie is an essential act of modern tourism, especially in Japan. You can rent a traditional kimono for a costume visit to historic gardens and hire a photo team to capture the moment, or photograph newlyweds in a public garden.

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Kyoto 0780

Yayoi Kusama’s yellow pumpkin. Naoshima Island.

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Naoshima 1119

Chichu Museum. Naoshima Island.&nbsp; Photo sequence on the spiral ramp of the underground courtyard designed by Tadao Ando.

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Naoshima 1172

Selfie in rented kimonos. Tenju-an Garden, Nanzen-ji Buddhist Temple, Kyoto. The three-part bridge is designed to encourage visitors to pause and meditate.

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Kyoto 0737

Laughter of the newlyweds with their photo team in a public park. Naoshima Island.&nbsp;

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Naoshima 1203

Pokémon Gengar plush. Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo.&nbsp; Crowded day and night, Shibuya Crossing lies between a major subway hub and the nightlife district, surrounded by the lights of colossal buildings constantly under reconstruction and bustling shopping malls. People from all over Tokyo come here to feel a bit like they’re in New York, and to take a selfie in front of the statue of Hachiko, the dog who, a century ago, returned every morning for years to wait for his late master.

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Tokyo 1497

A team of Sumo wrestlers waiting for a taxi.&nbsp;Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo.

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Tokyo 1477

Hazardous crossing running a red light. Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo.&nbsp; A scientific study revealed that 2.1% of people in Japan cross at red light, compared with 41.9% of those in France.

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Tokyo 1438

Mosaic Japan

During a trip to Germany in July 2025, I produced a series of post-industrial portraits in the Ruhr region, focusing particularly on people photographing themselves and on large steam compressors.&nbsp; Today, this vast post-industrial landscape is defined by its tree canopy, from which the massive silhouettes of coal and steel complexes —out of service for several decades— still rise. Some have since been transformed into urban parks and nature reserves. --- The work was published in two small books and will be exhibited at ARTEASTRY – Contemporary Art Tea Bar&nbsp;in Lausanne, &nbsp;Switzerland, from 7 to 25 October 2025. --- Cover: Cosplayers and their photo team at the foot of Blast Furnace 5. Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord.

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Post-industrial Portraits in the Ruhr Region

Ruhr 1701

Slider Ruhr

Former Blast Furnace 5.&nbsp; Landscape architect Peter Latz, nominated for the 2025 Europa Nostra Award, is the designer for the major post-industrial, multi-functional urban park project Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord, created on the site of a former ironworks.

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Ruhr 1606

Cosplayers and their photo team in the former Blast Furnace 5.&nbsp; Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord.

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Ruhr 1617

Cosplayers and their photo team in the former iron ore and coke silos.&nbsp; Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord.

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Ruhr 1697

Former railway viaduct along the canal.&nbsp; Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord.

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Ruhr 1692

Metal skeleton of the furnace cooling towers at Kokerei Hansa, Dortmund. Renamed Urban Industrial Heritage Park, this former coal-to-coke large processing site will serve as the centerpiece of the 2027 International Garden Exhibition (IGA) presented as Dortmund's Gardens of the Future.

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Ruhr 1315

Large industrial steam-driven piston compressor DEMAG, 1928-1939.&nbsp; Compressor Hall, Kokerei Hansa, Dortmund.&nbsp;

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Ruhr 1344

Heavy tools and spare parts for the maintenance of the large steam-driven piston compressors.&nbsp; Compressor Hall, Kokerei Hansa, Dortmund.&nbsp;

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Ruhr 1358

Open door of a coke oven gas treatment unit.&nbsp; Kokerei Hansa, Dortmund.

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Ruhr 1334

Villa Hügel, Essen. Built in 1873 at the heart of a vast wooded estate overlooking the Ruhr River, this colossal private palace of several hundred rooms stands as a monument to the power of the Krupp steel dynasty. The reception desk of the Villa Hügel is dominated by the large equestrian portrait of Bertha Krupp and Gustav von Bohlen und Halbach, shortly after their marriage in 1906.&nbsp;

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Ruhr 1440

Villa Hügel, Essen. Intersected gazes through the bronze legs of Friedrich Alfred Krupp, 1854–1902.

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Ruhr 1549

Mosaic Ruhr

Short series of portraits

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Japan & Ruhr

Rio 1987 - Carnival champion

The highlight of Rio’s Carnival is the samba school parade, which lasts four nights and often continues into the next morning.&nbsp;Each night, six to eight schools parade with more than 2,500 participants, including 200 to 300 percussionists in the masterful Bateria, the incandescent heartbeat of each school.&nbsp; In March 1987, the prestigious Estação Primeira de Mangueira, always dressed in pink and green, was crowned Carnival Champion. Leading the parade, the Comissão de Frente (the school’s front commission), consisting of about ten people, introduced the theme. That year, it was led by singer Chico Buarque, paying tribute to the poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade, the father of modern Brazilian poetry, who would later pass away the same year. Estação Primeira de Mangueira triumphed again in 1998, this time with a tribute to, and the participation of, Chico Buarque da Mangueira, and once more in 2016 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the career of Brazilian singer Maria Bethania.

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Estaçao Primeira de Mangueira 

Mangueira 11 BnW

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Mangueira 3 before

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Mangueira 2 before

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Mangueira 14 before

Before the parade - Samba school Estação Primeira de Mangueira | Sambódromo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - March 1987

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Mangueira 15

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Mangueira 18

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Mangueira 9 bateria

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Mangueira 6 bateria

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Mangueira 7 bateria

The incandescent Bateria before the parade - Samba school Estação Primeira de Mangueira | Sambódromo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - March 1987

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Mangueira 4 bateria

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Mangueira 8 bateria

Before the parade - Samba school Estação Primeira de Mangueira | Sambódromo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil - March 1987

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Mangueira 1 couple

Mosaic 1

Chico Buarque | Commissão De Frente of the samba school Estação Primeira de Mangueira, Sambódromo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil - March 1987

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My selection of music records

Duo - 2Birds1Stone (FR) 2015

Bojan Z solo

Back live at Club Chorus

As Is - Paradis Improvisé (FR) 2023

Articles

David Linx

Skin in the Game

Dejan Terzic

Complex and incendiary jazz

Chico Freeman

In a trio and 4tet at Club Chorus

Themes

Bossa MPB Tropicalia

Jazz

Africa

Pascal Schmidt

Ethnic Folk-Dance

Photographer