Hamilton de Holanda had just finished teaching a master class at URI’s annual Guitar and Mandolin Festival, when I sat down with the Brazilian bandolim master to ask about the difference between his instrument and the mandolin.
One big distinction: the mandolin, commonly found in bluegrass and Italian music, has eight strings while his Brazilian bandolim has 10 – a change he made himself years ago. De Holanda says that it’s also different in how it fits with the music. “You know, [the bandolim] can make the accompaniment, can make the solo, the improvisation. And in choro music specifically, it’s like this soloist who makes the melodies of the choro.” He sings a melody line in a bluegrass mandolin style, and a Brazilian choro melody to demonstrate the difference in feel.
De Holanda, recently nominated for two Latin Grammys, comes from a family of musicians – with his father, grandfather, son and nephew all playing instruments. “We had like mandolin, seven-string guitar, guitar, regular guitar, pandeiro, cavaquinho – it’s like a ukulele, Brazilian, with two strings – keyboard, percussion. Can you imagine a room with this always out of the box? Always. Not, not in the case, like guitar in the case. No, in my house, always out of the case. And, that was my ambiance.”
Although he was surrounded by music while growing up, and started playing at an early age, de Holanda says he didn’t set out to become a professional musician when he got to college. “I had like three semesters, one year and a half in a university, but not of music – of accounting. Can you imagine this? Can you imagine this, man? I was going to the class, but [had] this feeling that I was in a wrong place.”
De Holanda is also a composer, and he worked with students playing some of his original compositions at URI Guitar and Mandolin Festival. He said it was an emotional experience. “I was almost crying,” he told us, “because they were playing so beautiful, and it was like a time machine. I remember the moment that I was creating and writing the music.”
De Holanda played two shows in New York this week as part of Jazz at Lincoln Center. And although he’s known for jazz, he says that the music of Brazil is closest to his heart. “First of all, choro music – my real roots. But I love to play with different musicians from far from my home. I love music and the power of the music can put the people together.”Learn more about Hamilton de Holanda at hamiltondeholanda.com.
