Townsend: Serões by Isaías Sávio

Isaías Sávio was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1900, but emigrated to Brazil in 1931, spending the rest of his life there and passing away in São Paulo in 1977. He was a true pioneer of the guitar in Brazil and was the most important teacher there with many outstanding students. He also created an important pedagogic literature for the guitar and wrote some fine pieces. The one you mostly hear is Batucada, a kind of samba, but it is rather noisy and, to me, not very interesting or charming. But another piece from the same collection is Serões, a lovely and lyrical piece that is rarely heard.  A serão is an evening get-together in Brazil, where folks sit around, tell stories and reminisce. Obviously it was a pre-television custom! Here is my recording of Serões, with a couple of photos of Sávio, one of the countryside and a couple of some very charming and colorful houses, just like the ones where folks would have gathered.