Starting 2026

Another calendar year flies by.

I see a lot of folks posting their “best of” moments from 2025, but I personally prefer to focus ahead than to look backwards in time. The world is changing at a breakneck pace, and if you spend too much time looking in the rear view mirror, you might hit a wall ahead.

Still, all my paid subscribers can have access to the entire post archive, and there are lots of accounts of my recent musical activities there, if you are interested.

If you missed my yearly series of Musical Advent Calendar improvised videos, you can access all of them for December 2025 on this playlist.

My granddaughter Alaia and me on New Year’s. Photo by Luzia Grob Dos Santos

This photo represents how I like to imagine a transition from an “old” year to a “new”one. I spent the last few days with my youngest granddaughter (6 months old), and that was an amazing learning adventure for me. I could experience how she is attuned to the sounds around her, and how she perseveres in her efforts to learn how to crawl on the floor. To be this close to someone who experiences each moment in this world as a new adventure is very inspiring. Her learning new vocalizations and her response to music and voices is a study in human nature.

The biologist in me marvels at the ongoing miracle of life.

I am starting to perceive how Hermeto Pascoal, who left us in September, watched the musicians in his Grupo as they developed new skills in rhythm, melody and harmony. My memories with him go back to 1977, always surfacing during moments of music making, composing and improvising. His gentle mentoring was the perfect method to get us to learn how to listen and to draw our own conclusions, preparing to face any kind of musical ecosystem.

We are all still processing the greatness of Hermeto’s life and work. I don’t think that anyone alive today can actually comprehend the depth, width and height of his legacy. It might take a few generations for the world to realize who he is — a self-taught musical giant who nurtured and cultivated his Gift with serious practice and a spirit of sharing it with anyone who cared to listen without prejudice. He was able to bridge the gaps between all so-called styles, flying over the canyons of musical pigeonholes with freedom, finesse and fire. Witnessing Hermeto being in “the zone” was frightening and awesome. Music emanated from him like sunlight, and yet he was a fairly normal person, with human urges, desires and needs.

My year is getting started as I work on the music I will perform with the Missoula Symphony Orchestra and the Missoula Jazz Orchestra together in a rare event. I will of course perform some music by Hermeto, my orchestration of his epic Suite Universal which was premiered by the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2019. We will also play a new piece I wrote for the baby granddaughter and will perform my string arrangement of a traditional song from the Mandan Hidatsa tribe of North Dakota with my friend Keith Bear. Here’s a recording from 2000 of my arrangement with Keith singing it and Gary Stroutsos on cedar flutes:

We are also mourning the passing of Odette Ernest Dias a wonderful flutist and teacher from France who moved to Brazil many decades ago. Odette started many initiatives, including the Clube do Choro in Brasília, where she mentored generations of amazing players, including her own family. We met her with Hermeto in 1983, and he immediately composed a piece for 4 flutes, oboe, piano, bass and drums dedicated to her, Afinidade (Affinity). Here’s the last page of Hermeto’s original manuscript:

I just finished transcribing and digitizing this piece, so we can pay tribute from a great musician to another. Stay tuned for more upcoming details.

Lastly, I am very saddened to see how humans are quickly losing their humanity by treating others with cruelty and violence. I sincerely hope that Music will continue to be the Force that will let people honor Life and Love. Spread the Sounds!

Happy 2026, everyone!

Jovino