Carpe Diem, or how to go from Arnold Schwarzenegger to bossa nova in a few easy steps

Before we arrived in Rio, Jimmy was forwarded an invitation to a prescreening of the new Terminator movie.  Taking the advice of a former US Consul General to Rio and his wife who were here a decade ago, (accept every single invitation that initially comes in), we said we'd love to attend the prescreening.

So last Monday we went to a small private theater room in a multi-story building in Centro and watched Terminator Genisys in 3-D.  Before the movie, I struck up a conversation with a woman who turned out to be the stepdaughter of the American gentleman who was hosting the event.  She heard my accent, asked where I was from, and we established common ground over South Carolina when she told me that she and her husband, also in attendance, were musicians who had played recently at the College of Charleston and at the University of South Carolina.  Kay told me that they were playing a little gig every Wednesday night at a hotel piano bar for a few weeks until they go to Japan to perform and that we were welcome to come anytime.

(Accept every single invitation that initially comes in.)

So two nights later, Jimmy and I attended the Canada Day celebration at the Canadian consulate (where some of the Canadian national soccer team were in attendance) and then went to the hotel piano bar to hear Kay and Mauricio play.

When we got there, Kay's stepfather and mother (an American woman who has lived in Brazil for decades now and who is a famous actress here) were already there.  Kay told us that her father would be coming as well so we'd get to meet him.  Now we were clueless and didn't know who "he" was.  I foolishly thought maybe she was giving us fair warning that there could be awkwardness between all the parents and stepparents in attendance.

The group started playing - Kay sings and plays guitar, Mauricio plays guitar and they had a pianist and bass player as well.  They sang all these great bossa nova songs that for Jimmy and me, scream Brazil.  It was pure magic.  Kay's mother, Kate, is a justifiably very proud mama and she would sing along or tell me that this or that song was her favorite or that this song was written by Kay's dad.

Um, what?

Over the course of the first set, we learned that Kay's father, Kate's ex-husband to whom she was married for decades, is Carlos Lyra, who along with more well-known artists like Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, founded bossa nova.

Um, WHAT?

After the first set, Carlos Lyra himself came into this intimate lounge that seated maybe 30 people and sat at the table with his second wife, Kay's mother and stepfather, and us.  He sang a few songs over the next two sets with Kay, he took photos with people who asked, and he was incredibly charming and funny.  I was awestruck. I felt like we were in the presence of genius.  I've never met anyone who helped to found an iconic genre of music that defines an entire nation.  CUH-RAZY.

(For more information on Carlos Lyra, click here for a great, recent article about him in the NY Times.)

As an aside:  As you may know, I took a Portuguese conversation class through Arlington Adult Ed in the spring.  My teacher was from a city close to Rio and loves music.  We spent every class talking about different artists, listening to the music, reading the lyrics and singer biographies out loud.  All I could think was how much extra credit I could earn if she knew what I was doing that night.

Kate, me, Jimmy, and Steve during the show

Carlos and Kay Lyra singing together, accompanied by Kay's husband Mauricio

 I've learned a valuable lesson in all this.  Just say yes and be open to every opportunity.  Carpe diem. Seize the day.   You never know when a trip to see Terminator Genisys could turn into this:

Jimmy, me, Kay, Mauricio, Kate, Carlos, Carlos' wife, and Steve