(Latin flavor music)

>>Thank you all so
much for being here.

We're gonna start
with a tune called

(speaking foreign language)

and (speaks in
foreign language) is

basically a percussion jam.

>>Today we're going to sit down

with a popular musical couple

whose lives revolve
around making,

teaching and sharing music.

Their spirit is contagious,
(male performer speaking)

and their sound
has been described

as "funkalicious, samba soul."

Join us as we visit
Humberto Sales

and Madeline Holly
Sales of Beleza Music.

Come on!

(singing in foreign language)
(funky Latin music)

>>We met in Salvador
Bahia, where Berto is from,

and I had moved to
sort of gift myself

studying music again, and
living close to the ocean.

And I was taking classes

at the Federal
University of Bahia,

and a mutual friend of ours,

we had been talking and I said,

"Let's form a group

"and we'll do some bossa novas

"and some jazz,
and it'll be fun."

And he said, "Awesome, I
have a perfect guitarist,"

and the perfect guitarist he
was thinking of was Berto,

but, he went to Berto...
>>But,

Berto is very busy.

(Terri laughs)
(Madeline mumbles)

That's true. (laughs)

I'm not lying.
>>You turned it down.

Just say it.

>>He turned it down.
>>Yeah, I said,

"Well, you know, I'm
very busy right now,

"I'm not sure she's gonna
get the right accent,

"so I've heard before."
(Terri gasps)

Not her, but other
artists, and I said,

"Nah, let's just pass on that."

>>He's tryin' to be nice.

He basically said, "Gringas
can't sing bossa nova,

"I don't wanna do this, and
I don't wanna meet her."

(women laughing)
>>Don't wanna do this, no.

>>Okay, but then go ahead,
'cause this gets good.

>>So then we, actually,
accidentally met,

through this mutual friend,

at a big flamenco
concert in the theater.

He, Humberto, they're
both named Humberto.

Humberto said, "Hey,
Humberto, this is Madeline,

"the American I was
telling you about

"that wants to form a group."

>>Yeah, and this
Humberto, he said,

"Oh, really."
(Terri laughs)

"Oh, that's the Madeline.

"Okay, great."

Now I'm very, you know,

enthusiastic about the show.
>>Let's give it a shot.

>>An now, "Okay,
let's give it a shot."

(singing in foreign language)
(bossa nova music)

>>Let's talk about
music, Humberto.

When did you start
playing music?

>>For real, perhaps I was 10.

For fun I was six,
playing with my guitars,

I mean, my dad's guitars.

Untuning everything,
it sounds fun,

but it was very hard,

because the music
that we listened to

was the Brazilian
musicians such as

Tom Jobim, Joao Gilberto,
Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso,

these guys, and they did not

compose things that
were very easy,

and so I kinda had to dig in.

>>Can you give me an example?

Can you give me an example
of what's not easy?

>>Oh my gosh.

So I'll show, for example,

one song that got
stuck in my head when

I think I were 11 or 12.

(intricate flowing guitar music)

(singing in foreign language)

>>Yeah, I can't imagine

why you though that
was hard. (laughs)

>>11 year old.
>>No, I was very easy,

so you know, yeah.
(Madeline laughs)

>>And then you went on to
study at the university?

>>Yeah, I went to
study in the university

for classical
guitar performance.

I never stopped.

>>Never stopped, and Madeline,

your background is
in music and theater,

but not as formally.
>>Mm-hm, right.

>>Tell us a little
bit about yours.

>>I grew up, it's
interesting now,

teaching a lot of
children music,

and I absolutely appreciate,
from both of my parents,

just growing up with music.

I mean, it was
one of my mother's

ways of entertaining
us, I guess,

but I didn't really actually
do formal voice lessons

until I was an adult,
and that really opened.

>>Me too.
>>Yeah, it opened.

You know, I thought like,

no, I can sing what
I want to sing.

Then I had problems and had
to go back for technique,

and it was great.

(bossa nova music)
♪ There was a man

♪ He walked the mall
in (foreign language) ♪

♪ The people laughed,
they stared they mocked ♪

♪ They said there's
something wrong ♪

♪ His hair was wild

♪ His voice was strong

♪ And it was full of soul

♪ The gospel he was
preachin', child, ♪

♪ Well it was ages old

♪ We are the same here

♪ We are the same you know

♪ We are the same here
>>you perform,

you write, and you teach.

What would be something that
you would impart to a student

that you think is just
a really great tip?

>>I think of singing
as though you were,

it's like you're
riding on breath,

the way that a
bird rides on wind

you know?
>>Right.

>>So if you take a good breath,

(deeply breaths)

♪ Now I'm singing

♪ As though I'm singing
with a singing voice ♪

It just becomes more open,

rounder.
>>Yeah.

>>And the space itself,
so just two things.

I mean, just taking in
a good amount of breath

and giving it space, and
that means in your mouth

and in your body
and every other way.

Huge, huge.
>>Yeah, it's huge.

And Berto, you teach too.
>>Mm-hm.

>>So you teach
guitar, ear training,

theory.
>>Yeah, it's music theory,

music harmony, you know,

something that might be a
little complicated for some,

and then I go, "This is so much.

"Oh, do you hear this?

"Now look at this chord
resolve into this,"

and the odd she
goes, "Well yeah.

"You're just geeking out
here right now." (laughs)

(Terri laughing)
>>No, it's fun, I love it.

I appreciate it.
>>It's so much fun.

>>So, talk about your
music you all play.

You play a lot of
different styles of music,

but really, if you were
gonna describe Beleza Music,

how would you describe it?

>>So, a friend of ours,
who was a DJ at WTJU said,

"You know what you guys play?

"You guys play
funkalicious, samba soul,

(fingers snapping)
because it combines,

you know, a lot of
what the American

sort of soul, jazzy, funky thing

with samba, and that
is just referencing.

We do other rhythms
from Brazil too,

but just it's flavor.
>>Right.

>>It's flavor from
both cultures, so

I like that condensed
version of it.

>>Yeah, and it's a great
description, I think.

It really nails it.

So, talk about the different
places that you play.

Where do you perform?

>>As Beleza, we play,
mostly now it seems,

in wineries around the area,

and we'll do some theaters.

Mostly regional,
we'll do theaters.

We have a festival that we
love in North Carolina as well,

but locally, we play
at the wineries,

and at our friend
Bashir's Taverna.

>>Oh yeah.
>>Oh, and

Humberto has a project,
(background Latin music)

a Latin guitar project
now, with his friend Miles.

>>Oh great.
>>Yeah,

playin' at the Bebedero.

Restaurants.
>>At the Bebedero.

>>Yeah, every Tuesday.
>>Right,

and you're basically the house
band for Glass House Winery.

(all laughing)

>>Yeah, we like Glass House.

>>I think they would
claim you in a heart beat.

(upbeat Latin flavor music)
(singing in foreign language)

Name some of the different
musicians that you work with

or have worked with through
the years in all of your bands.

You also have the band In
Full, which is a cover band.

>>Yeah, as Beleza,
we've worked a lot

with Matt Wyatt on drums

and Dave Berzonsky on bass,

with Jeff Decker on horns.

He's been gracious
enough to record with us,

a couple of times,
on our albums,

and perform for CD
releases and things.

And then, In Full,

as you mentioned.
>>Yeah.

>>It's sort of a
corporate and wedding band

that James Mclaughlin
is the leader of,

so he's on drums actually.

Charles Owens, sax
player, keyboard and rap.

Then we have Andrew
Randazzo on the bass.

He's from Richmond.

Schiavone McGee is the
male vocal lead as well.

Humberto gets his
eclectic guitar on.

>>Get rock on, yeah. (laughs)

>>Yeah, so it's fun.

It's a completely different
personality for us,

but it's fun.
>>Yeah.

How many albums do you have?

>>Three.
>>Three.

>>Three, so tell us, just
briefly, about each one.

>>Each one, number one,

recorded in Brazil like a
(whooshing)

every day going.
(Terri laughs)

It was kinda hard,
because we were--

(Terri laughing)
>>Quick job.

>>Okay, here you
go, do, do, do, do.

No, in Brazil you know, you
run the clock about that.

Give me five minutes, and an
hour later everything happens.

>>It's true.
>>So,

we went to our friend's studio,

and then you had to first,
you know, say hello,

and that takes an hour.
>>Talk to their mother.

>>Talk to her mom.

>>And have the snack that
she prepared for you.

>>Have a snack, a little juice.

>>Then talk to the brother.
>>A break for this

a break for that. (laughs)

>>That's my kind of recording.

I like that.
>>Yeah.

>>Except for that
we were only there.

We had just moved to the U.S.,

and we were only there for
a certain number of days,

so we didn't have all that time.

>>We had to do it.

>>Ironically, the name of
that album is "Time to Dream."

(Terri laughing)
>>Yeah that was good.

Yeah, yeah.
>>I love that, okay and then.

>>And then the second
is sort of an EP

that has more original
music of ours on it,

that was a wonderful
Kickstarter project, actually.

We weren't gonna
do a Kickstarter,

but we ended up we had
just bought this house,

actually, (laughs)

and the HVAC went out right
before my sister's wedding,

and we were having
all this family,

and I was like, "Yay."
>>"Yay,"

and she was freaking out.
>>And now we'll be

spending that money that
we had for the album

on a whole new HVAC,
and graciously,

wonderfully, you know,

we had friends and supporters
support that album,

so that was fun.

We recorded that
in The Sound studio

here in Charlottesville.

>>Yeah, the album's called
"Cooking with Flavor."

>>"Cookin' With Flavor."
>>Look, there's flavor again.

>>Gotta have flavor.
>>Flavor, exactly.

You gotta, you know, yeah.
>>There's flavor again.

Then you also have,
your latest project is,

I don't wanna say
a children's album.

It's a family album.

>>So it's called "Just For Fun,"

and it was sorta sparked
by both the influence

and joy, really, that we have,

having a lot of
kids in our studios,

so the idea started like,
"Let's do real music, fun.

"They lyrics have to
be either just fun

"or uplifting in some way,"

and so, hence, was
born this project,

"Just For Fun."
>>"Just For Fun."

(rhythmic cheerful music)

♪ I know a girl in
Charlottesville ♪

♪ Li'l Liza Jane

♪ Rides her bike up
and down the hill ♪

♪ Little Liza Jane

>>I know people probably
ask you this all the time.

You live together,
and you work together.

How does that work out?

I mean, is that difficult?

>>It works well.

Yeah, I think we're lucky
that we get along so well,

that we really have a
lot of the same interests

and have fun together.
>>And same tastes?

>>Yeah, you know.
>>Ahh, we don't.

>>She tries to copy me. (laughs)

(Terri laughs)

>>This happens often.
>>Yes.

>>I put on red; he's got red.

I put on purple;
he's got purple.

I put on green; he has green.

I do dress first, I'm saying.
>>Well yeah,

she always dresses first, so
(Madeline laughing)

it's unfair here. (laughs)
>>You're totally in sync.

I mean, you're totally in sync.

You clearly love music.

Your whole world is about it,

so, I mean, do you have
a philosophy behind that?

>>Music is, really,

the way I wanna express
myself in the world,

and I think that
my passion for it

is related to the fact
that it feels like

it really is the
best way to express

the range of human emotion,

from just the deepest
sorrow to elation and joy,

and I like having that language.

>>What about you?

>>Music was calling me since
even I was a little kid,

and because I always,

I had daydreams that I
was playing on a stage,

and by the way, there
was a woman beside me.

Hmm, interesting, yeah.
(background Madeline singing)

But anyway. (laughs)
(Terri chuckles)

When I saw myself in this dream,

I was always smiling and happy,

and then Beleza
translates into happiness,

and I guess it's
the vehicle for me

to translate my
happiness to the world.

And then they have
to love it, you know,

and then I definitely love it.

>>There's no doubt
that you all love it,

and it's contagious.

Your energy is
really contagious.

Thank you so much for
sharing it with us.

>>Yeah.
>>Yeah, thank you.

>>And for hanging out with
us today, before your gig.

>>Yeah. (laughs)
>>Yeah.

>>Thank you.
>>Thank you.

♪ Sha ba da da da da ba bah

♪ Sha ba da da da da ba bah

♪ Bah ba da da da da ba bah

♪ Bah ba da da da da ba bah

(crowd cheering and clapping)

>>Thank you.

(jazz and trumpet music)