In Copacabana I bought a Milton Nascimento compilation CD. The next day I took a bus from Rio de Janiero to Angra dos Reis where I spent three days. It wasn't until the bus ride back to Rio de Janeiro that I discovered Travessia. This song is from Milton's 1967 album of the same name. Travessia means journey or crossing. It is interesting how a song can "find" you. I'm sure I had heard it while I was in Angra dos Reis. But it didn't really strike me until the ride back. I listened over and over. I didn't understand the Portuguese lyrics but loved everything about this song. Milton Nascimento had written the music, Fernando Brant the lyrics and the arrangement was by Luiz Eca. The way he arranged the strings and horns is what really got to me.
This is what got me hooked on Milton Nascimento. Now I've heard most of what he has done and was fortunate enough to see him in Chicago with The Jobim Trio in 2008.
There is something about that bus ride from Angra to Rio. There was another significant bus trip in my life. My friend Bob and I had flown to Los Angeles in 1981. We only had enough money to take a bus home. The complete details of this bus trip will have to be told in another story.
I will never forget waking up at about 4:30 AM and looking down the aisle of that bus out the front window at one of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever seen. I am pretty sure that the driver and myself were the only people awake for this. The feeling that I had comes back to me quite often. There was no soundtrack for that moment.
I piece things together sometimes and I have a good imagination. I spend a lot of time driving lately. This is when I remember these things. The sound of Milton Nascimento sometimes places me back on either of these buses. It comforts me to be back on there with him providing the soundtrack.
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