here & now

Sometimes being small is not that bad – economical depression hits hard, suddenly everyone becomes poorer, future perspectives start to shrink, but somehow all this can still feel quite feasible. Of course you can become very angry, as the political class seems to get dumber and dumber, with big cuts in education and culture, and nothing seems to change or there’s not even the hope things will become better – but you know where your strengths are, you know they exist and they’re visible and there to teach and educate the generations to come, assuring a continuity to a cultured and educated country. And you don’t expect these references to disappear, because you’re counting on them and they’re the only thing you’re left with, the only thing guaranteeing that the future won’t look worse than the present, at least.

Bernardo Sassetti, Portuguese pianist and composer, died yesterday, after falling from a cliff, in Lisbon outskirts, while making some photos. Bernardo’s name may sound unfmailiar, but he was in  fact widely known within international music circles, having played along with names as the likes of Al Grey, Frank Lacy, Andy Sheppard, Paquito D’Rivera, Benny Golson or Guy Barker. Along music and photography, cinema was also a passion, leading Sassetti to compose for some of the best (and few) Portuguese directors left (I specially recall the beautiful soundtrack for Alice). Sassetti was a versatile pianist, he played not only jazz; in the last few years he also collaborated with musicians from other areas, from hip hop to fado.

‘If there’s something that can make a country poorer and sadder, more so than having less money for a comfortable life style, it is seeing the wrong people dying’, someone said to me yesterday.