Sao Paolo

From the famous American Airlines lounge at Guarulhos Airport comes the final post of this trip.  After getting up at 3 freakin' AM to catch my flight from Iguazu to Sao Paolo, I was forced to use the aforementioned taxi mafia since local buses don't run at 3 AM.  Well, the hell with Foz do Iguacu city, then!  Anyways, arrived once again at Campinas (again, no jokes please) and took a free Air Azul shuttle to within 15 minutes of a subway line.  Arrived at my hotel (Feller Paulista) around 9:30AM and they were kind enough to whisk me up to a gorgeous room in what might be considered the "Beverly Hills" of Sao Paolo. Now how many of you knew that Sao Paolo is not only the largest city in S America, but the third largest city in the world, behind only Tokyo and metro NYC?  I didn't.  I really didn't have much of a plan for SP, except that I had to fly out of here in 60 hours.  But, man, this city is one huge WOW!  All I did was walk about, eat at some fine restaurants and enjoy one of the best jazz clubs in the universe (for both nights I was in SP).  Those who think of Brazilian jazz as bossa or samba are sadly mistaken.  That stuff is for the tourists.  The younger players have a wonderful feel for jazz history from big band to free and psych jazz.  In short, I was completely blown away.  My new home club in SP is Jazz Nos Fundos, which is in the funkiest, crappy parking garage you could imagine.  The interior is concrete with minimalist decor, but the bookings on the nights I was there were first rate, the audiences attentive at the right times and boisterous at the right times and the cover was around $10 with $3 beers.  A frugal jazz fan's delight!  And moving about SP was much like moving about NYC; fast and furious and much to my taste, though this old body isn't quite up to what the old mind demands at times.  All in all, a great trip to Brazil and one that I'll fondly remember always for the people, the cuisine, the sport and the culture.

Rooftop Pool at Hotel Feller.  Lots of Big, Tall Buildings

The flute player played at least seven different instruments during the set

That's a percussive instrument, not a guitar.  Above shots all from Jazz Nos Fundos