José Medrado - Kumbaya

Topic: Religious Uses
José Medrado, a spiritist medium, uploaded videos of Combaiás [1] he conducted at his City of Light centre in Salvador, Brasil, in 2012 and 2013.

Allan Kardec developed spiritism into a codified set of beliefs from observing attempts by spiritualists to contact the dead in the nineteenth century. [2] Chico Xavier gave the religion greater exposure in Brasil in the late 1960s and early 1970s when he appeared on television. [3] In 2010, nearly 84,500 in Salvador, or 3.24% of the city’s population, claimed to be spiritists. [4] Salvador is the capital of Bahia, which was the port of entry for the slave trade. [5]

Spiritists believed the world was composed of spirits that temporarily inhabited bodies where they faced challenges and ordeals. When a body died, the spirit transferred to another body. Each incarnation of the spirit was an improvement over the previous one, and the changes continued until the spirit reached perfection. [6]

The compulsion of spirits for self-improvement led to better social relationships. Some spirits, however, were malevolent. A number of healing treatments were done by mediums contacting those spirits. [7]

Spiritists believed anyone could contact spirits, but it took training and practice to become skilled. The communication could come from hearing voices, having visions, or from inspired writings [8] like those of Xavier. [9] Medrado was a médiun pintore who created pictures when he was in a trance. [10]

Notes on Lyrics
Language: Medrado used "kumbaya" as both a word and a song. He used the term to describe the meetings he held on the first Tuesday of every month. [11] In January 2012, he said he was "explica e realiza o Kumbaya." Google translated that as: "explaining and performing the kumbaya." He used an English-language recording of "Kumbaya" in the last part of his program.

The videos were in Portuguese, which I do not understand. If anyone does speak the language, I would love to know what Medrado was saying. What follows are surmises based on treating his videos as "silent" movies with music.

Form: his meetings had three parts. He began by talking to the group. Then the audience stood for a short break. The third part began with a recording of a vocal ensemble singing a hymn with guitars and other instruments, then "Kumbaya was played. He spoke over both records.

Theme: if his statement of January 2012 can be used as a guide, he was describing what would occur in the first part, and then performing in the third. Judging from the use of lighting and smoke, he was trying to dramatize contact with a spirit.

While he painted under the influence of a spirit, these videos adhered to a script that provided lighting and sound technicians with cues. All three followed the same form, but the first, was done in an outside pavilion and relied on lecture practices. The second, which was done in a studio, was dramatic and used techniques borrowed from black-and-white films. The last, also done with a studio audience, was less dramatic.

Notes of Music
He used a recording of Helmet Lotti’s version of "Kumbaya." The singer’s voice had the trained qualities of José Carreras, but the instrumental and choral accompaniment differed from the recording discussed 4 August 2017.

The other record was one of those that sounds familiar, though it may have been the orchestration that gave that impression. If anyone recognizes it, let me know.

Notes on Performance
Opening: a few lines of "Kumbaya" were played while the video displayed a picture of Mendrado with the words "Kumbaya do més de maio 2012."

Footage followed of Medrado talking in a room with a backdrop of painted sunflowers. This was the setting for the 2013 video. A long table was covered in white. Three ornate wooden chair backs stood between the table and painting. He was wearing a red-stripped polo shirt and slacks, and pacing from side to side. He brought the fist of one hand down into the palm of the other.

Part 1: at 0:10 the scene changed to a table covered with a white table cloth and objects, possibly, vases at each end. Sets of spotlights sat at each of the table, facing the audience, although only one could be seen at the beginning. The light was dim and purple, so the color scheme was black, purple, and white.

A voice began using intonations typical of a Shakespearean actor. Medrado could barely be seen as he moved in front of the table. The first time he said the word "Kumbaya" the word scrolled on the screen from the bottom up. The light increased enough to see him as a shadow. A fan was blowing the end of the table cloth.

Part 2: at 3:31 the crowd began making noise. He walked back and forth in front of the table without saying anything. Light gradually increased, and the camera panned the audience from the rear.

Part 3: at 4:05 modern-style hymn music started. He began talking as the audience settled down. His voice changed to that of a man addressing a large crowd. Color scheme was black, white, and gray before low lights in back flashed and smoke began. He still was a shadow with one or both arms raised high. Light in the smoke sometimes turned green, red, or purple.

5:31. The camera pulled back as a green laser-type light began flashing across the stage and audience from a high location on the far right side of the platform, as seen by the audience. Sometimes when he stopped speaking, he had his arms stretched out to the side. By the eighth minute, some in the audience were standing in silhouette.

8:23. First record ended, and he continued to talk. Color scheme again was shades of gray tinged with purple.

8:34. Second record began with an instrumental introduction as the scene remained unchanged and he talked.

9:00. Kumbaya verse began. Medrado’s voice became louder with the background shadowy from smoke-filled light. White floor spots were stronger, and the green laser occasionally flashed. He paused longer between his words and raised his arms over his head in the silences. He resumed talking when the first verse began, and the light turned purple.

When the kumbaya chorus began again, the word scrolled across the screen and the camera drew close to show Medrado from the waist up. Again, he was not speaking, but only moving his arms above his shoulders. He spoke to the "senhor" on the third line, and stopped when the repetition of the chorus began. The spotlights started flashing on and off, leaving moments of darkness.

Again, Medrado talked during the verse. The spotlights stopped flashing and returned to creating a shadowing gray background. When the final set of choruses started, he stopped speaking, raised his arms, and the lights resumed flashing. He became an indistinct black area in the smoke. When he spoke, the scene cleared a bit. He could be seen standing and gesturing without speaking until the third line of the last repetition.

Notes on Movement
He gestured with his entire arms, either raising one or both over his head, stretching them out into a vee, or lowering them to shoulder height. The first recalled images of labor leaders and politicians speaking at rallies. The second and third carried overtones of Christ on the cross.

He sometimes walked as he talked, and stood still when he wanted to increase his emphasis.

Notes on Performer
Medrado was born in 1961 into "humble" circumstances [12] in a "radical" Roman Catholic family. He saw his first spirit, a dead grandmother, when he was seven-years-old, and organized his first spiritual center when he was 17. [13] Soon after he would begin studying philosophy at the Universidade Católica do Salvador. After graduation, he worked for the Regional Court of Labor [14] and expanded his spiritist center to include medical care, an orphanage, and a school. He was 27 when he began his paintings. [15]

Availability
YouTube. "José Medrado e o primeiro Kumbaya de 2012 (03.01.2012)." Google translated as: "José Medrado and the first Kumbaya of 2012 (03.01.2012)." City of Light, Salvador, Brasil, 3 January 2012. 16.11 minutes.

YouTube. "José Medrado e o Kumbaya da primeira terça-feira do mês de maio na Cidade da Luz." Translated by Google as: "José Medrado and the Kumbaya of the first Tuesday of the month of May in Cidade da Luz." City of Light, Salvador, Brasil, 1 May 2012. 12.51 minutes. This is the one described in detail.

YouTube. "José Medrado e o Kumbaya do mês de março, na Cidade da Luz (05.03.2013)." Translated by Google as: "José Medrado and the Kumbaya of the month of March, in Cidade da Luz (05.03.2013)." City of Light, Salvador, Brasil, 5 March 2013. 10.38 minutes.

End Notes
1. Camila Mello. "Médium baiano José Medrado é um dos mais populares do Brasil." Posted on different blog sites.

2. Wikipedia. "Spiritism." Kardec was the nom de plume for Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail.

3. Wikipedia. "Chico Xavier."

4. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. Census, 2010. Cited by Wikipedia. "Salvador, Bahia."

5. Wikipedia, Salvador.

6. Wikipedia, Spiritism.

7. Wikipedia, Spiritism.

8. Wikipedia, Spiritism.

9. Wikipedia, Xavier.

10. Wikipedia in Portuguese. "Psicopictografia."

11. Mello.

12. Wikipedia in Portuguese. "José Medrado."

13. Mello.

14. "José Medrado." Cidade de Luz website.

15. Mello.