ANATOMY OF AN IMPROVISER: THE STYLE OF NAILOR AZEVEDO “PROVETA”
Manuel Silveira Falleiros
Introduction
This dissertation focuses on a discussion of Nailor Azevedo’s musical creative process. Considered one of Brazil’s leading saxophonists, his musical works have gained international recognition due to his originality as a soloist.
We aim to highlight the stylistic aspects that define his originality as a soloist. Throughout this study, we will discuss themes related to his musical development.
This work is structured into three chapters: the first outlines a biography focused on highlighting his musical training; the second discusses his creative process, illustrating it through his improvised solos; and the third presents a conclusion based on the information gathered.
The first chapter consists of a biographical survey conducted through interviews, which allows us to explore his musical training, his professional experiences, and ultimately his life story, with the aim of drawing a parallel between these and his later musical output, in order to clarify how these life experiences subsequently influenced him in the creation of his style. With this, we can trace a trajectory of his musical development. We will use theoretical frameworks to demonstrate the level of Nailor’s skills as an improviser.
In the second chapter, we seek to understand Nailor’s creative structure through the elements provided in the previous chapter. To better illustrate this, and to enrich the work, we will use, as examples, analyses of transcriptions of his improvised solos. These analyses reveal elements typical of his musical conception.
In the third chapter, using the data from the previous two chapters, we aim to summarize some of Nailor Azevedo’s stylistic characteristics. This chapter discusses the originality of Nailor’s work.