Passing of a Friend - Carlos Aceituno

The past week the Bay Area lost one of it's cultural pillars, Carlos Aceituno, who was only 45.

These kinds of comments get tossed around fairly often, and I try not to be a person of hyperbole, but Carlos directly touched more peoples lives in introducing them to drum, dance, capoeira, carnaval/carnival, than any person I know.

Day in, day out; week in, week out; month in, month out; year in, year out -- he taught his classes -- youth and adult; he led his group Fogo Na Roupa \FŌ GŌ Nah HŌP Ah\.

Here are some articles in the local papers about him:
Capoeira master leaves behind rich legacy
Aceituno, Master of Brazilian arts - Mercury News (requires free registration)
Brazilian martial artist, community leader dies
Carlos Aceituno -- samba, capoeira master (San Francisco Chronicle)
Carlos was a friend too. I had DJed at Fogo parties from back in the early days at warehouses, people's homes, anywhere we could find. I remember one year, I think maybe it was 1999, Carlos decided to throw a party on Christmas night at La Pena and he asked me to DJ. I thought there would be nobody there, but per usual, Carlos pulled a crew of people together and celebrated the holiday like we celebrating everything -- dancing and making music.

As I got more heavily into Salsa, Rueda, and African music and dance, I didn't have as much time to attend all the Fogo events, but would when I could. Nevertheless, Carlos was always supportive of my endeavors, especially when I became Carnaval King in 2000.

This year Fogo had a little party at LA Pena Pachamama a cool little Bolivian Restaurant in San Francisco. I went there with my Riddim Brother, Robert Wallace, just to have fun, not intending to DJ and not having any music with me. But after the bataria finished, Carlos pointed me to a stack of CDs and said, "Go DJ My SpinCycle" :-) I could never imagine that it would be my last DJ request from Carlos.

One bit of preachiness here: Remember your teachers; appreciate them; learn as much as you can from them; don't quibble with them--take what they have to offer, and build on it in your own way. Don't assume they'll be there tomorrow, they just may not be.

Axé Carlos,

Jim