Baden Powell - Biography
By NIck Castro
Baden Powell was a brazilian guitarist whose styles spanned MPB, latin jazz, samba, bossa nova, Brazilian jazz and afro-Brazilian. He was born in 1937 in the state of Rio de Janeiro with the full name Baden Powell de Aquino and was in fact named after the master scout of the world and baron, Robert Baden-Powell. When he was a young child he moved to the city of Rio de Janeiro from his small town of Varree-Sai. His father was an enthusiast of music and musicians and would often entertain them when Baden was young. The young Powell soon started taking lessons from the choro guitarist Jayme Florence and he was soon revealed as a naturally gifted player. He was influenced very much by both American jazz guitarist Les Paul and Belgian Gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. By the time he turned 13 he was playing electric guitar and only two years later would start playing professionally in various combos and bands. All the while Powell was still soaking up the sounds of his native country.
When he was 18 he started to play in a trio with famous Brazilian musician, Ed Lincoln, at after-hour jam sessions which would help him gain notoriety with the Brazilian jazz crowd of the time. By the time Powell was 20 he had given way to the classical guitar exclusively. He would get a big break when he convinced singer Billy Blanco to write lyrics for Powell's song "Samba Triste" and record it. The song became a standard in the repertoire of many Brazilian jazz groups starting with Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd. That same year, 1959, Powell would record his first solo album, Monteiro de Souza e Sua Orquestra Apresentando Baden Powell e Seu Violão (1961 - Philips), though it would not be released for two years. It was followed shortly after by Um Violão Na Madrugada (1961 - Philips). In 1962 two things happened that would catapult Powell into fame internationally: firstly he would meet and work with Brazilian legend, Vinicius de Moraes and secondly he would record with American jazz artists Herbie Mann and Jimmy Pratt on the records Do the Bossa Nova (1963 - Atlantic) and Baden Powell Swings with Jimmy Pratt (1963 - Elenco) respectively.
Powell's partnership with Moraes would be both influential on future generations and a marking of Powell's dedication the native musics of his homeland as well as the forward thinking ones of modern jazz. He went beyond being an innovator of bossa nova. He would make records that were a mixture of the samba he heard growing up in Rio de Janeiro and the folkier afro-Brazilian sounds such as capoeira rhythms and african derived religious musics of Brazil. He and Moraes would release an album, Os Afro Sambas de Baden e Vinicius (1966 - Forma), which is considered the hallmark of the genre to this day. So much so in fact that Powell rerecorded it in 1996 as Os Afro Samba (1996 - Iris). He recorded what many consider to be his masterpiece album, Tristeza on Guitar (1966 - MPS/Saba), which is a perfect example of Brazilian jazz.
Powell's music was always far more appreciated in Europe so he moved there in 1968 to live in France and then Germany. Powell was recording and touring a lot at the time but his health along with an overall declining jazz scene led to appearances and records by Powell to become less frequent. He mostly retired in the 80's but had a resurgence of popularity in the 90's when came back with a slew of releases. He died in 2000 due to multiple organ failure and pneumonia. Some of his most famous songs include "Canto de Ossanha", "Samba da Bencão", Berimbau" and "O Astronauta".