Sparrow Roberts, steps away
Sparrow Roberts and most of humanity are within 6 degrees of each other. This matrix combines the small-world principle behind this seemingly magical fact with inter-artist recommendations-in-series in order to make all artists potential curators and discoverable within a handful (or two) of steps from everywhere on the planet. It works like this:
I RECOMMEND people (do you?)Sparrow Roberts & degrees of proximity
WHO CURATES "I RECOMMEND" ABOVE?
- Vertex/Edges Out by: me, the Artist
Individual Works I Recommend
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Books, Films, Plays, Songs, Albums...
Fiddler on the Roof for its universality depicted within strict ethnic confines.
Dr. Zhivago, the supposedly flawed novel by Boris Pasternak, for its depiction of individual humanity within vast societal upheaval.
Pomes Penyeach by James Joyce.
Artist & Where
- Name: Sparrow Roberts
- City/Place: Salvador, Bahia
- Country: Brazil
Current News
- What's Up? Working on the matrix interface...
Life & Work
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Bio:
I'm Randy Roberts. "Pardal" in Brazil, which translates to "Sparrow".
A couple of decades ago I worked in New York City rescuing royalties for composers and performers who hadn't been paid. That was my education in the dark side of the music industry. I did this for Mongo Santamaria, Paul Simon, Barbra Streisand, Led Zeppelin, Jim Hall, Astrud Gilberto, Ray Barretto, Robb Royer from Bread, Philip Glass and many others.
Now I work with music in a different way (among other things I run Cana Brava Records). And from where I am it's easy to see that fabulous music is often isolated. At the same time even well-known artists can be unknown to huge swathes of humanity. Music travels, but not as well, far or widely as people suppose. Propagation has always cost money. We want to change this.
Background:
Bahia's great bay ("bahia" IS the archaic spelling for "bay") was port-of-call for more enslaved human beings than any other such throughout the entire period of human history. These people arrived Africans and became Bahians, and among much else they ironically created some of the most body-and-soul uplifting music ever heard. They needed it.
We believe that -- the world being what it is today -- a LOT of other people could use it as well, or they should at least have a chance to hear it and decide for themselves. But there's a conundrum in that this music -- which is Brazil's equivalent to and analogue of the delta blues and early jazz (these of course known everywhere) -- is widely unknown even here in Brazil (even here in Salvador, pelo amor de Deus!). It's non-commercial, and most of the people who make it are poor...meaning that the chances of it travelling by conventional means -- publicity costs money and wide-ranging publicity costs a lot of money -- are almost nil. So for them we built the matrix. But for the matrix to work for them, it has to work for everybody!!!
Contact Information
- Email: sparrowroberts@gmail.com
- Telephone: +55 71 9 9976-2049
- Whatsapp: +55 71 9 9976-2049
Media & Markets
- ▶ Website: http://www.matrixonline.net
Clips (more may be added)
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FILHOS NAGÔ - SÃO FÉLIX - BA. Vídeo elaborado através do Programa PAT BTS.
157 views
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CARME CANELA / JURANDIR SANTANA ( Cravo e Canela )
95 views
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Samba Chula in São Braz, Bahia, Brazil
135 views
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Samba de Roda em São Braz, Bahia
212 views
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Samba Chula de João do Boi
160 views
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Roberto Mendes & Raimundo Sodré in Santo Amaro, Bahia
274 views
ABOUT THE MATRIX
This matrix is dedicated to creative artists and non-algorithmic discovery.
It was described (to some degree) and can be accessed via this article in British journal The Guardian (which named our radio of matrixed artists as one of ten best in the world):
www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/apr/17/10-best-music-radio-station-around-world
While the Brazilian musicians I work with now you may not know, I formerly worked (chasing unpaid royalties!) on behalf of Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Led Zeppelin, Jim Hall, Mongo Santamaria, Gilberto Gil, Astrud Gilberto, Wah Wah Watson (Melvin Ragin), Philip Glass, The Cadillacs (Earl Carroll), The Flamingos (Zeke and Jake Carey), and others, including Oscar-winning world-class great-guy Robb Royer. I was interviewed by David Dye for broadcast on U.S. National Public Radio several years ago ... about the Brazilians:
- Randy "Pardal/Sparrow" Roberts
All is more connected than we know.
w/ David Dye for U.S. National Public Radio
The matrix was inspired in (the kabbalah-inspired fiction of) Borges' El Aleph, that in the pillar in Cairo's Mosque of Amr, where the universe in its entirety throughout all time is perceivable as an infinite hum from deep within the stone...
Our logo, per the "spirit" above, is a cortador de cana, a cane cutter. It was designed by Walter Mariano, professor of design at the Federal University of Bahia to reflect the origins of the music the shop specialized in. The Brazilian "aleph" doesn't hum... it dances and sings.
