Jacob do Bandolim born Jacob Pick Bittencourt (February 14, 1918 – August 13, 1969) was a Brazilian composer and musician. Born to a Brazilian-

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

mother and a gentile father in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, his stage name means "

Mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

Jacob", after the instrument he played. A perfectionist, Jacob was able to achieve from his band ''Época de Ouro'' the highest levels of quality. Jacob hated the stereotype of the "dishevelled, drunk folk musician" and required commitment and impeccable dress from his musicians who, like himself, all held "day jobs." Jacob worked as a pharmacist, insurance salesman, street vendor, and finally notary public, to support himself while also working "full time" as a musician. In addition to his virtuoso playing, he is famous for his many

choro ''Choro'' (, "cry" or "lament"), also popularly called ''chorinho'' ("little cry" or "little lament"), is an instrumental Brazilian popular music genre which originated in 19th century Rio de Janeiro. Despite its name, the music often has a ...

compositions, more than 103 tunes,Choro: a social history of a Brazilian popular music. Tamara Elena Livingston-Isenhour and Thomas George Caracas Garcia. Indiana University Press, 2005, pp. 122 which range from the lyrical melodies of "''Noites Cariocas''" ("

Carioca Carioca ( or ) is a demonym used to refer to anything related to the City of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. The original meaning of the term is controversial, maybe from Tupi language "''kari' oka''", meaning "white house" as the whitewashed stone ...

Nights"), ''Receita de Samba'' and "''Dôce de Coco''" to the aggressively jazzy "''Assanhado''", which is reminiscent of

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...

. He also researched and attempted to preserve the older choro tradition, as well as that of other Brazilian music styles.

Death and legacy

Bandolim died of a heart attack, when coming back from spending the day with

Pixinguinha Alfredo da Rocha Viana Filho, known as Pixinguinha (; April 23, 1897February 17, 1973) was a Brazilian composer, arranger, flautist and saxophonist born in Rio de Janeiro. Pixinguinha is considered one of the greatest Brazilian composers of popu ...

, planning a recording project to benefit his friend. His son

Sérgio Bittencourt Sergius is a male given name of Ancient Roman origin after the name of the Latin ''gens'' Sergia or Sergii of regal and republican ages. It is a common Christian name, in honor of Saint Sergius, or in Russia, of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, and ...

(1941 - 1979) composed the hit song ''Naquela Mesa'' as a tribute to his father. Jacob had 2 mandolins, which he called "number one" and "number two". After his death, they were kept in storage until 2002, when they received minor restoration. Now under the care of Instituto Jacob do Bandolim, they have been used in a few recordings again.

References

External links

Instituto Jacob do Bandolim
- the best resource for biography, music, and pictures (including the only known film - a 35-second TV interview). This site is in Portuguese. 1918 births 1969 deaths Brazilian mandolinists Brazilian Jews Choro musicians Brazilian composers Jewish musicians 20th-century composers {{Brazil-musician-stub