BOLA SETE
Name: Bola Sete
Born: 16 July 1923
Bola Sete (born Djalma de Andrade) was a Brazilian guitarist born on July 16,
1923 in Rio de Janeiro and who died on February 14, 1987 in Greenbrae,
California. Sete played jazz with Vince Guaraldi as well as with Dizzy Gillespie.
His song "Bettina" was featured on the "Tribe Vibes" breakbeat compilation, as
it had been sampled by the musical group A Tribe Called Quest.
Bola Sete's name means "Seven Ball". In Brazilian billiards, the seven ball is
the only black ball on the table, and Bola got this nickname when he was the
only black member of a small jazz group. He studied guitar at the Conservatory
of Rio and he started performing with his own sextet and local samba groups
while he was still a student. His early infuences were guitarists Django
Reinhardt, Charlie Christian, Barney Kessel & Oscar Moore (of the Nat King Cole
Trio), while he was also captured by the sound of the big bands that were
touring South America at that time (Dizzy Gillespie, Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman).
His career started in Italy, where he played in various clubs & hotels for 4
years (1952-1956). Then, he returned to Brazil and started touring all of South
America. That's when the manager of the Sheraton hotels noticed him and decided
to bring him in the US to play in the hotels (1962). He played for a while in
New York's Park Sheraton, and later he moved in San Francisco to play in the
Sheraton Palace. Dizzy Gillespie was staying there at the time, so he was
listening to Bola Sete playing every day. When Dizzy decided to bring his
pianist Lalo Schifrin to the hotel, he discovered that Lalo & Bola had already
met & played together in Argentina. That's how Dizzy met Bola, and this meeting
was the beginning for Bola's success in the US. In the fall of 1962, Dizzy took
the talented guitarist to the Ninth Annual Monterey Jazz Festival, where he
enjoyed a huge success. After that, he toured for a while with Gillespie and
finally he returned to San Francisco where he joined The Vince Guaraldi trio.
Bola Sete was already well-known in the US, and his partnership with Vince was
another huge success for both of them. After staying for a couple of years with
Guaraldi, Bola Sete formed his own trio with his fellow Brazilians Sebastian
Neto (bass) and Paulinho (drums). With his own trio, he appeared once more in
Monterey (1966) with equal success.
Name: Bola Sete
Born: 16 July 1923
Bola Sete (born Djalma de Andrade) was a Brazilian guitarist born on July 16,
1923 in Rio de Janeiro and who died on February 14, 1987 in Greenbrae,
California. Sete played jazz with Vince Guaraldi as well as with Dizzy Gillespie.
His song "Bettina" was featured on the "Tribe Vibes" breakbeat compilation, as
it had been sampled by the musical group A Tribe Called Quest.
Bola Sete's name means "Seven Ball". In Brazilian billiards, the seven ball is
the only black ball on the table, and Bola got this nickname when he was the
only black member of a small jazz group. He studied guitar at the Conservatory
of Rio and he started performing with his own sextet and local samba groups
while he was still a student. His early infuences were guitarists Django
Reinhardt, Charlie Christian, Barney Kessel & Oscar Moore (of the Nat King Cole
Trio), while he was also captured by the sound of the big bands that were
touring South America at that time (Dizzy Gillespie, Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman).
His career started in Italy, where he played in various clubs & hotels for 4
years (1952-1956). Then, he returned to Brazil and started touring all of South
America. That's when the manager of the Sheraton hotels noticed him and decided
to bring him in the US to play in the hotels (1962). He played for a while in
New York's Park Sheraton, and later he moved in San Francisco to play in the
Sheraton Palace. Dizzy Gillespie was staying there at the time, so he was
listening to Bola Sete playing every day. When Dizzy decided to bring his
pianist Lalo Schifrin to the hotel, he discovered that Lalo & Bola had already
met & played together in Argentina. That's how Dizzy met Bola, and this meeting
was the beginning for Bola's success in the US. In the fall of 1962, Dizzy took
the talented guitarist to the Ninth Annual Monterey Jazz Festival, where he
enjoyed a huge success. After that, he toured for a while with Gillespie and
finally he returned to San Francisco where he joined The Vince Guaraldi trio.
Bola Sete was already well-known in the US, and his partnership with Vince was
another huge success for both of them. After staying for a couple of years with
Guaraldi, Bola Sete formed his own trio with his fellow Brazilians Sebastian
Neto (bass) and Paulinho (drums). With his own trio, he appeared once more in
Monterey (1966) with equal success.