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He did 'City of God'; now it's time for New York
By ED CONDRAN
SPECIAL TO THE RECORD
Brazilian entertainer Seu Jorge is well-known in his homeland because of his music and his movies. But film may be the medium he uses to make it big in America.
Director Wes Anderson ("Rushmore," "The Royal Tenenbaums") caught Jorge in the gritty, dramatic film "City of God." Anderson was looking for a Brazilian actor who could play guitar in his most recent film, "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou."
"He liked what he saw in the movie ["Gty of God"], but it was just fate that I played a guitar," Jorge said by phone from Miami.
Jorge was cast as a quirky member of Steve Zissou's crew who played one David Bowie track after another while the action unfolded around him. "I was asked by Wes to do some 'faithful renditions' with a bossa-nova spin," Jorge said. "I was told to be as close to the originals as possible."
Jorge had other ideas. "I looked at the songs and realized because I wanted to strip them down to the basics that I felt creatively that I should personalize them," Jorge said. "I looked at the characters in the film and in my own life and then created the songs. I found inspiration from my own life, having gone from being a homeless addict to a musician in a decade. I feel as though I've added to the tracks mainly because the sound is so different."
(If you missed out on the "Life Aquatic" soundtrack, check out the tunes on "The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions," which was released in November.)
Jorge, 36, has a way with more than just Bowie covers. He offers his version of the Leiber and Stoller classic "Don't," which charted courtesy of Elvis Presley, and Serge Gainsbourg's "Chatterton" on his disc, "Cru," which was released last year. "Cru" is Portuguese for "raw."
The amiable Jorge realizes he's starting over in a sense, given that he's hardly a known quantity in the United States.
"It's a challenge," he said, "but I feel that people are aware of me from 'City of God' and 'Life Aquatic,' which helps."
Jorge will showcase the vocally driven "Cru," which also features casual acoustic guitar and laid-back percussion, Sunday at Central Park SummerStage.
After Jorge completes his tour, he'll work on an American-style album with Brazilian twist. Down the road, Jorge would like to try his hand at directing. "Maybe I will do a version of 'Othello' or other film projects for black Brazilian actors," Jorge said. "I am not trying to institutionalize black cinema. I just want the experiences of black men in Brazil, whose lives are so rich and varied, to tell their stories."
Jorge was fortunate to have survived his hardscrabble childhood in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. "You never knew what was going to happen," Jorge said. "It wasn't easy."
In.1991, Jorge's 16-year-old brother was killed by Rio police.
"You experience a lot of the good and the bad there," Jorge said. "I carry all of it with me, and sometimes it comes out in song."
WHO: Seu Jorge with Jose Gonzatez, Alex Cuba Band and DJ Cut Chemist. WHAT: Brazilian pop. WHEN: 3 p.m. Sunday.
WHERE: Central Park SummerStage, 69th Street and Fifth Avenue, Manhattan; 212-360- 2777.
HOW MUCH: Free.
06/30/06
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