I think the year was 1995 when Max, and I went to a berimbau university, of sorts, in Brazil. We were doing some type of work, scouting for a video idea Max had. There was a man in a capoeira circle, playing this percussion instrument that resembled a bow and arrow. The difference was, there was a dried, hollowed out gourd connected to the bow. The musician was playing it with thin wooden stick, while holding a flat rock against it.
Max later told me "I am going to play the berimbau on stage." I knew he would become a master. Others he told that night ridiculed him and told him that "only Africans can play that instrument." But we both knew. He would play it.
Now here we are, 22 years later and Max is still plunking away, bringing the sensual heartbeat of the berimbau wafting through the venues around the world...making peoples smiles grow, and emotions join together as one! He has replaced the flat stone with a Metal washer. I guess it was a natural evolution, Max Style! Attitude, Tribe, Back to the Primitive, Brasil, Unleashed..... these tracks all have the Maximum caress of the berimbau!! Max's Brazilian Roots will always remain!!
Class dismissed........
