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AN OFFICIAL PRODUCTION
#DANCARMARKETING
JUNE 7, 8, 14 AND 15, 2025
IBIRAPUERA PARK, SÃO PAULO
A HISTORIC EDITION
OFFICIAL AFTERMOVIE
11th EDITION 2024
JEFF BECK • JOSS STONE • ALOE BLACC
TROMBONE SHORTY • JONNY LANG
ANA POPOVIC • CÉU
MARCELO D2
MAY 9 to 11, 2014
SÃO PAULO • WTC GOLDEN HALL
Sponsored by Samsung Galaxy, Best of Blues presented at the WTC Golden Hall, in São Paulo, a line-up with a mix of traditional Blues and popular styles, such as Soul, R&B and Rock.
Buddy Guy returned to the festival stage with his contagious energy, making it clear why he is considered a blues legend. The English guitarist Jeff Beck showed all his skills in Blues, Rock, Fusion and R&B, as innovative as Jimmy Page and visionary as Jimi Hendrix.
Winner of a Grammy Award and several BRIT Awards, Joss Stone began her performance with an enthusiastic audience and, after the first song, she was already impressed with the receptiveness of the Brazilian public. Aloe Blacc stood out for his original musicality, influenced by styles ranging from psychedelic rock to soul, from Brazilian music to folk.
The explosive funk-rock band Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue and the captivating musicality of Brazilian singer Céu were also part of this great music celebration. Jonny Lang, the blues prodigy of his generation, brought his distinctive way of singing and playing to the festival, which earned him much praise. Ana Popovic opened Friday night wielding her red Fender Stratocaster guitar, which she alternated with another in a different color during the 60-minute show,
THE BRANDS AT THE 2nd EDITION OF THE FESTIVAL
SPONSORSHIP
BUDDY GUY
It was only Buddy Guy who entered the festival stage for the party atmosphere to set in. The bluesman was received with a standing ovation and the audience remained standing for a long time.
Accompanied by a quartet, Buddy Guy wore his traditional black shirt with white dots, cap and white pants.
Interacting with the audience the whole time, Guy put on a show of only blues classics, including Muddy Waters and Jimi Hendrix, as well as Albert King and John Lee Hooker, as if it were a great potpourri.
Charismatic, he came down from the stage and played in the middle of the audience.
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JEFF BECK
The main attraction of the night, Jeff Beck, voted the fifth best guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone, came to São Paulo with drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, bassist Tall Wilkenfeld and vocalist Jimmy Hall, from the now defunct band Wet Willie. And when Hall wasn't on stage, what we saw was a real power trio playing passionate blues rock.
An expected fact was confirmed at the end: Joss Stone took to the stage for a short and powerful performance, in which she sang “I Put a Spell On You” – the same song for which Beck and the singer were nominated in 2011 for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Duo Performance.
Beck was born in Wallington, a suburb of London, in 1944. He burst onto the music scene in 1965 when he joined the influential blues-rock band The Yardbirds as Eric Clapton's replacement, but only stayed for a year and a half. As the frontman of the Jeff Beck Group, he recorded Truth (1968) and Beck-Ola (1969), which were very well received by critics and audiences alike.
In 1975, he released Blow by Blow, an instrumental project in the jazz-rock style and his most commercially successful work.
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JOSS STONE
A renowned singer and actress, Joss is a soul and R&B performer, and has sold more than 13 million albums worldwide.
As soon as she took the stage at the Best of Blues, the audience got up from their seats and after the first song, “The Chokin' Kind”, from the album The Soul Sessions (2003), Joss was already impressed with the receptiveness of the Brazilians. It was clear that no matter what she was singing, the audience's reaction would be the same – no one seemed to be there to demand this or that song, even though they demonstrated that they knew how to sing most of them.
And the atmosphere of veneration continued until the end, with “Right to Be Wrong”, from Mind Body & Soul (2004), after which Joss left the stage visibly moved and to great applause.
ALOE BLACC
Very relaxed and a bit of a dancer, the American singer and songwriter Aloe Blacc took to the stage at the Best of Blues accompanied by a power band. He performed a set list consisting of songs such as "Hey Brother", “Lift Your Spirit”, “You Make Me Smile”, as well as his greatest hits, “Wake Me Up”, “Loving You Is Killing Me” and “I Need a Dollar”.
The son of Panamanian immigrants, Aloe Blacc was part of a hip hop duo in the early 2000s, but, influenced by the soul music of Marvin Gaye and Donny Hathaway, he saw a different path – especially after his song “I Need a Dollar” became the theme song for the series How to Make It in America in 2010.
Aloe Blacc stands out for his original musicality – influenced by styles ranging from psychedelic rock to soul, from Brazilian music to folk.
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TROMBONE SHORTY
& ORLEANS AVENUE
The opening show on Sunday was by Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, who performed an instrumental show.
Multi-instrumentalist Troy Andrews is an impressive conductor and has a very fine-tuned band. He performed an excerpt from "Mais que nada" by Jorge Ben Jor and "I've Got a Woman" by Ray Charles.
Born into a family of musicians, Troy grew up playing in brass bands. He also plays the trumpet, as well as the tuba, drums and keyboards.
Thanks to the impact of his shows with the band Orleans Avenue, he became an international star after signing a contract with the Verve record label in 2010.
Their music is almost as diverse as the New Orleans music scene: it mixes funk, R&B, soul, rock and hip hop, among other genres.
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JONNY LANG
Blues sensation Jonny Lang, who at 16 was considered a child prodigy and at 25 won a Grammy® for his album Turn Around (2006), took the stage on Friday, after Ana Popovic's performance, and warmed up the audience for Buddy Guy.
Of Norwegian descent, Jonny was 12 years old when he started playing guitar. Two years later, in 1995, he recorded “Smokin'” with the band Kid Jonny Lang & The Big Bang. At that time, he still insisted on going on stage barefoot – a habit he only gave up after receiving a few electric shocks.
Jonny came to Brazil accompanied by a quartet with guitar, bass, drums and keyboard.
Initially, the first three songs gave the impression of a rock show, but from then on Lang embarked on pure blues, presenting songs from his latest album, Fight for my Soul (2013).
ANA POPOVIC
A rare exception in a male-dominated musical genre, Ana Popovic is a brilliant blues guitarist and singer who has become a role model for many young girls.
She was born in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, in 1976 and grew up surrounded by a lot of music. Her father played the guitar and used to organize jam sessions with friends in the garage.
The opening act of the 2014 edition of the festival showed why she is considered a sensation in the world of blues, almost entirely dominated by men, and to do so she attacked Jimi Hendrix right away, with a version of “Can You See Me”. The short set list of nine songs included “Navajo Moon” (Stevie Ray Vaughan), recorded by her on the album Comfort to the Soul (2003), and songs from her latest album, Can You Stand The Heat (2013).
CÉU
Céu showed all the talent, charisma and electricity that make her one of the highlights of contemporary Brazilian music.
Released in 2005, Céu reached the United States, Europe and Japan, paving the way for her international projection. And in Brazil, the inclusion of the songs “Lenda” and “Malemolência” in the soundtracks of TV Globo soap operas introduced her discreet singing to the ears of the general public.
At festivals with a diverse appeal like Best of Blues, the most important factor is meeting the expectations of an audience focused on a certain type of music, such as that of Joss Stone and Jeff Beck, who made up the majority of the audience present.
The singer from São Paulo did the job by playing the repertoire from her latest album, “Caravana Sereia Bloom” (2012).
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MARCELO D2
A friend of Aloe Blacc and with whom he surprised the audience at the Best of Blues, Marcelo D2 from Rio de Janeiro represents the generation that combined rap-rock with samba with strength and brilliance. The main concept of his music is, as he himself says, “the search for the perfect beat”.
A pioneer in the blend of hip hop and samba, the rapper and MC of Planet Hemp also developed a successful career as a soloist.
With his partner Skunk, he created Planet Hemp in 1993, which had as its banner the legalization of marijuana consumption – its first success was the pamphlet “Legalize Já” (from the album Usuário).
Marcelo D2 released his first solo work in 1998, with “Eu Tiro É Onda”, an album that confirmed that the mix of Samba and Hip-Hop would be the musician's trademark.
In 2008, Rolling Stone Brazil released its list “The 100 Greatest Artists in Brazilian Music” – D2 came in 73rd place.
OFFICIAL AFTERMOVIE
DIVE INTO #BESTOFBLUESANDROCK THROUGH OUR LENSES
THE STAGE IS OUR PLAYGROUND,
THE PHOTOS ARE OUR TROPHIES
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