Bio:
Músico autodidata, Alegre deu início à sua carreira em 1973, aos 13 anos, quando começou a tocar guitarra em bandas de bailes. Na década de 1980, mudou-se para Florianópolis, onde integrou a Banda de Neutrons ao lado do saxofonista e flautista Letieres Leite. Posteriormente, em Porto Alegre (RS), fundou o Circuito Emocional e colaborou em shows e gravações com artistas locais após a dissolução do grupo. Sua jornada musical o levou a Santa Rosa (RS), onde colaborou com o acordeonista Luiz Carlos Borges.
Em 1987, conquistou o primeiro lugar no festival FAMPOP, em Avaré (SP), com a música "Terça-feira". No ano seguinte, participou do Mato Grosso Group em Viena, gravando o CD "Brasileiro". Em 1992, criou o Grupo Alma, gravando o álbum "Gaúcho Rider" na Suíça com Luiz Carlos Borges. Ao longo dos anos, apresentou-se com diversos artistas europeus e recebeu reconhecimento em festivais no Brasil e no exterior.
Seu álbum de estreia como artista solo, "Infância", foi lançado em 1993, patrocinado pela Thomastik-Infeld. Em 1995, com o Alegre Corrêa Sextett, gravou "Negro Coração", com participação de Hermeto Pascoal. Em 1997, lançou "Terra Mágica" com o Alegre Corrêa Sextett, seguido por "Handmade" em 1999, em parceria com Guinha Ramires. Em 2000, tornou-se o primeiro músico brasileiro a integrar a Vienna Art Orchestra, participando do Concerto de Ano Novo em Viena.
Ao longo dos anos 2000, continuou a expandir sua carreira, colaborando com renomados músicos e lançando álbuns como "Mauve" (2001), vencedor do prêmio Hans Koller Preis, e "Por Causa do Samba" (2006), com a cantora Ana Paula da Silva. Sua contribuição para a música brasileira foi reconhecida com prêmios e homenagens, incluindo o Grammy Awards em 2009 com Joe Zawinul and the Zawinul Syndicate.
Em 2013, Alegre retornou ao Brasil e lançou "Leme", inspirado na obra de Darius Millor. Em 2015, colaborou com Gerald Preinfalk no álbum "Gêmeos". Nos anos seguintes, participou de diversos festivais e projetos, consolidando sua posição como um dos músicos mais versáteis e respeitados no cenário musical brasileiro e internacional.
English:
Self-taught musician, Alegre began his career in 1973 at the age of 13, playing the guitar in dance bands. In the early 1980s, he moved to Florianópolis, where he joined the Neutrons Band with saxophonist and flutist Letieres Leite. Later, in Porto Alegre (RS), he founded the Emotional Circuit group and collaborated on shows and recordings with local artists after the group dissolved. His musical journey took him to Santa Rosa (RS), where he worked with accordionist Luiz Carlos Borges.
In 1987, he won first place at the FAMPOP festival in Avaré (SP) with the theme "Terça-feira." The following year, he traveled to Vienna as part of the Mato Grosso Group, with which he recorded the CD "Brasileiro" in 1989. In 1992, he formed the Alma Group, recording the "Gaúcho Rider" CD in Switzerland with Luiz Carlos Borges. Over the years, he performed with various European artists and gained recognition at festivals in Brazil and abroad.
His debut solo album, "Infância," was released in 1993, sponsored by Thomastik-Infeld. In 1995, with the Alegre Corrêa Sextet, he recorded "Negro Coração," featuring Hermeto Pascoal. In 1997, he released "Terra Mágica" with the Alegre Corrêa Sextet, followed by "Handmade" in 1999 in collaboration with Guinha Ramires. In 2000, he became the first Brazilian musician to join the Vienna Art Orchestra, participating in the New Year's Concert in Vienna.
Throughout the 2000s, he continued to expand his career, collaborating with renowned musicians and releasing albums such as "Mauve" (2001), winner of the Hans Koller Preis award, and "Por Causa do Samba" (2006) with singer Ana Paula da Silva. His contribution to Brazilian music was recognized with awards and honors, including the Grammy Awards in 2009 with Joe Zawinul and the Zawinul Syndicate.
In 2013, Alegre returned to Brazil and released "Leme," inspired by the work of Darius Millor. In 2015, he collaborated with Gerald Preinfalk on the album "Gêmeos." In the following years, he participated in various festivals and projects, solidifying his position as one of the most versatile and respected musicians in the Brazilian and international music scene.
The Recôncavo is an almost invisible center-of-gravity. Circumscribing the Bay of All Saints, this region was landing for more enslaved human beings than any other such throughout all of human history. Not unrelated, it is also birthplace of some of the most physically & spiritually uplifting music ever made. —Sparrow
"Dear Sparrow: I am thrilled to receive your email! Thank you for including me in this wonderful matrix."
—Susan Rogers: Personal recording engineer for Prince, inc. "Purple Rain", "Sign o' the Times", "Around the World in a Day"... Director of the Berklee Music Perception and Cognition Laboratory
I'm Pardal here in Brazil (that's "Sparrow" in English). The deep roots of this project are in Manhattan, where Allen Klein (managed the Beatles and The Rolling Stones) called me about royalties for the estate of Sam Cooke... where Jerry Ragovoy (co-wrote Time is On My Side, sung by the Stones; Piece of My Heart, Janis Joplin of course; and Pata Pata, sung by the great Miriam Makeba) called me looking for unpaid royalties... where I did contract and licensing for Carlinhos Brown's participation on Bahia Black with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock...
...where I rescued unpaid royalties for Aretha Franklin (from Atlantic Records), Barbra Streisand (from CBS Records), Led Zeppelin, Mongo Santamaria, Gilberto Gil, Astrud Gilberto, Airto Moreira, Jim Hall, Wah Wah Watson (Melvin Ragin), Ray Barretto, Philip Glass, Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd for his interest in Bob Marley compositions, Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam and others...
...where I worked with Earl "Speedo" Carroll of the Cadillacs (who went from doo-wopping as a kid on Harlem streetcorners to top of the charts to working as a janitor at P.S. 87 in Manhattan without ever losing what it was that made him special in the first place), and with Jake and Zeke Carey of The Flamingos (I Only Have Eyes for You)... stuff like that.
Yeah this is Bob's first record contract, made with Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd of Studio One and co-signed by his aunt because he was under 21. I took it to Black Rock to argue with CBS' lawyers about the royalties they didn't want to pay. They paid.
MATRIX MUSICAL
The Matrix was built below among some of the world's most powerfully moving music, some of it made by people barely known beyond village borders. Or in the case of Sodré, his anthem A MASSA — a paean to Brazil's poor ("our pain is the pain of a timid boy, a calf stepped on...") — having blasted from every radio between the Amazon and Brazil's industrial south, before he was silenced. (that's me left, with David Dye & Kim Junod for U.S. National Public Radio) ... The Matrix started with Sodré, with João do Boi, with Roberto Mendes, with Bule Bule, with Roque Ferreira... music rooted in the sugarcane plantations of Bahia. Hence our logo (a cane cutter).