Born in 1883 to Indian and Portuguese parents, João Teixeira Guimarães (later known by his more familiar name João Pernambuco) grew up in poverty in Jatobá, a drought-stricken rural countryside town in the northeast of Brazil, part of the Pernambuco region. It is an area with a long history of colonial intervention by the Portuguese, French, and Dutch, followed by a succession of post-independence military dictatorships up until 1985. As such, life would have been particulairly harsh growing up for his family, especially with his father passing away when Pernambuco was just eight years old.
João's solace throughout it all was music, specifically viola, and when his mother moved his family to Recife after remarrying, Pernambuco thrived in the music culture there, and by the age of 12 he was performing in local festivals and street parades.
This story is from the October 2023 edition of Guitar Techniques.
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This story is from the October 2023 edition of Guitar Techniques.
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