Grupo Falso Baiano – Viajando Choro e Jazz (Independent 2008)

Of the many non-Brasilian ensembles in the United States besotted with “choro,” the music of Brasil and, not simply drawn to it, but actually performing it, Grupo Falso Baiano may very possibly be the finest. The quartet of Jesse Appelman (mandolin), Zack Pitt-Smith (woodwinds), Brian Moran (guitars and cavaquinho) and Ami Molinelli (pandeiro and percussion) focus their attention on Brasilian “choro,” on Viajando: Choro e Jazz, a record that consists of 13 tracks sweeping across a hundred years of “choro.”

What is remarkable about this record is the consistently fabulous and contemporary treatment of “choro”. Some of the older “choro,” in fact, such as “De Coração a Coração” and on “Carioquinho” and other Waldir Azevedo compositions, as on Bonfiglio de Oliveira’s “Alzira,” as on Jacob do Bandolim’s “Biruta” and others, the classical music played with bare feet and calloused hands truly comes to life. Remarkably the music also sounds fresh as the “choro” written by more recent masters -Hermeto, Baden Powell and Hamilton de Hollanda.

There is a wonderful synergy between Appelman, Moran, Pitt-Smith and Molinelli. This is what drives the music in the truest tradition of Brasilian lament. Not only are the string players virtuoso instrumentalists just as Zack Pitt-Smith is with his horns, but they appear to dance around each other in a fabulous interplay that is worthy of the best “choro” bands put together by Hermeto and de Hollanda. Molinelli can slap the pandeiro as well as the finest percussionists. On Baden Powell’s “Canto de Ossanha” she holds her own with Michael Spiro, who also guests on conga.

Here, too, the classic rondo form of the “choro” gets its finest showcase. This is true of all the tracks on the record, but Baden Powell’s composition, just as Hermeto’s “Viajando Pelo Brasil” before that are the highlights of the art of “choro” of today. The AABBACCA form and changing keys are superbly highlighted, as is the form on “Arrasta-Pé,” Azevedo’s offering with which Grupo Baiano close the set. But while the documentary nature of the record gives it considerable weight, the joie de vivre of the musicians and their virtuosity of the highest order is what makes this a first class record. If this were the group’s debut, the sophomore offering would be even more eagerly awaited.

Tracks Listing: De Ben com e Vida; Carioquinha; Beliscando; Irmãos Super Mario; Samba de Lua; Biruta; De Coração a Coração; Aquarela na Quixaba; Alzira; Viajando pelo Brasil; Conversa de Baiana; Canto de Ossanha; Arrasta-Pé.

Personnel: Zack Pitt-Smith: woodwinds; Jesse Appelman: mandolin (except tracks 9 & 10); Brian Moran: steel and nylon string guitars, cavaquinho; Ami Molinelli: pandeiro, zabumba, percussion. With Guests: Jovino Santos Neto: accordion (10, 13), melodica: (4); Mike Marshall: mandolin (7); Eva Scow: mandolin (7, 9, 10); Jorge Alabe: percussion (8); Michael Spiro: congas, percussion, birdcalls (4, 8, 12); Brian Rice: tamborim (4).

Grupo Falso Baiano on the web: www.grupofalsobaiano.com

Review written by: Raul da Gama

Samba Meets Boogie Woogie (Adventure Music 2008)

This is a truly remarkable recording and features fifteen tracks that make for a stellar tribute bossa nova, before it became the Bossa Nova. These fifteen tracks were all written and most of them were performed during the 1940s and 1950s. There have been many recordings that purport to pay tribute to various historic periods in music, but none have been so exquisitely rendered in the modern context and performed with such panache. Although credit for this Samba Meets Boogie Woogie must go largely to Mario Adnet for the arrangements and musical direction, and also to Alfredo del-Penho for the repertoire research, every performer here also deserves to be credited for his or her contributions. For in the end it is not just this remarkable music that is the highlight of this record, but also the musicians who have pulled it off.

The title of the recording suggests a collision of cultures. This is an explosion between the musical folk art of Brazil and American – and by inference, European – popular song and dance music. But this suggestion is only ironic, even misleading. What is more acceptable is to hear how the music of Brazil reacted and responded to the “invasion” of the popular music of the United States and Europe. Here is the evidence: A roistering extravaganza of the music of Haroldo Barbosa, Denis Brean, Janet de Almeida, Heitor dos Prazeres, Gordurinha, Jackson do Pandeiro and others tongues firmly in cheek as they reacted with typical Brazilian “alegria” to American song.

It is a sort of gentle cutting contest where musicians of the 40s and 50s between the samba that infused all of Brazilian life and the affectations of rock and roll. In “Chiclete com Banana,” for instance, Almira Castilho wrote, “I’ll only put bebop in my samba/when I see Uncle Sam playing the tamborim/If he picks up a pandeiro and a drum…” The irony contained in this song is something that echoes throughout the record. It is a gentle sort of irony that sets the record straight. It is almost as if the musicians of the Brazilian 1940s and 1950s were saying that this bossa nova begat the boogie woogie. The gentle irony of Castilho’s song is echoed in the words – not to mention the music – of the other tracks as well. “Baiana no Harlem,” and “Boogie Woogie na Favela” are other fine examples of the music that will certainly go a long way into making this record one of the most significant documents of Latin American music in 2008.

It is impossible to single out any specific performances on the record, or any one or two musicians who make this record stand out from the many that were released in that year. This is because the record is an ensemble cast recording. Everyone contributes in some way shape or form – whether it is vocally or instrumentally. But deserving of special mention are Rodrigo Campello, who plays seven-string guitar, Marcos Nimrichter, on accordion, trombonist Vittor Santos, Hamilton de Holanda on mandolin and Nicolas Krassik on violin. They keep the instrumental voices fresh. And their brief soloing is imaginative yet all too brief. Also Mario Adnet and Alfredo del-Penho have undertaken a task that is not based on a well-known period in Brazil’s musical history and turned it into a spectacular affair. They have succeeded in bringing to life a rare and little-known period in Latin American music one that may actually grow to become a very popular one, the more this record is played. And for this they deserve a huge round of applause.

Tracks: Adeus America (Farewell America); Boogie Woogie do Rate (The Rat Boogie Woogie); Eu Sambo Mesmo (I Samba); Baiana no Harlem (Baiana in Harlem); Conversa de Samba (Samba Talk); Tintim por Tintim (Bit by Bit); Boogie Woogie na Favela (Shanty Town Boogie Woogie); Eu Quero um Samba (I Want a Samba); Morena Faceira (Naughty Brunette); Nada de Rock Rock (No More Rock Rock); Pra que Discutir com Madame (Why Argue with a Madam); Malandro em Paris (Rascal in Paris); O Trombone do Tribuza (Tribuza’s Trombone); Chiclete com Banana (Chewing Gum with Banana); Brasil Pandeiro (Brazilian Pandeiro).

Personnel: Monica Salmaso; Roberta Sa; Maucha Adnet; Mario Adnet; Alfredo Del-Penho; Ze Renato
Featuring: Hamilton de Holanda; Cristovao Bastos; Jovino Santos Neto; Armando Marcal; Vittor Santos; Jesse Sadoc; Jorge Helder, Ze Luis Maia; and many others.

Samba Meets Boogie Woogie on the web: www.adventure-music.com

Review written by: Raul da Gama

Jovino Santos Neto & Weber Iago – Live (Adventure Music 2008)

The most striking aspect of this package is its utter perfection. Artists always strive for this no matter what, but as Eric Dolphy once suggested after a particularly wonderful recording a short time before he died in Sweden, the magic is so fleeting that if you miss the moment it is gone forever. Fortunately there was the recording that Dolphy had just completed – a radio broadcast on Swedish Radio – that captured the magic forever. And now there is this record by two virtuoso pianists and towering musicians. Live at Caramoor captures the many moments of sheer perfection that were exchanged between Santos Neto and Iago throughout the concert at the Caramoor Jazz Festival, Katonah, New York on July 28, 2007.

The moments are musical – when hands, both left or right, hands extended by Jovino Santos Neto or Weber Iago onto the keyboards of their respective pianos picked out notes and phrases… solos that meandered around melodic ideas… or brave new harmonics were created that stunned the senses. Some magical moments had simply to do with the purely sonic experience because the hand crafted Fazioli pianos – that Santos Neto and Iago played – sounded as if the notes were always meant to paint songs into sonic canvases. And there was that ultimate moment of absolute magic when Joe Lovano joined these piano masters on stage to bring the great Brazilian master Antonio Carlos Jobim back to life with a stirring rendition of “Wave”.

Weber IagoPerhaps this was exactly what was expected – or at least hoped for – when Jim Luce of the Caramoor Festival invited Santos Neto and Iago to perform there. It sounded like that. Iago opened the set with his own composition appropriately entitled “Navigator,” a brooding (opening) track that painted the broad, expansive strokes of the concert. Then, “Alone Together” follows and this is almost completely unrecognizable from the original, which is truly amazing because that says this is jazz made new seemingly from the air. Then Jovino Santos Neto makes his appearance and what better way than with a track from the songbook of his dear friend and compatriot a master of surprise, Hermeto Pascoal, “Balaio”. The Brazilian artistry continues unabated – and a mood swing ensues: saudades is in the air. Pixinguinha and Vinicius de Moraes’ “Lamentos” is one of those songs that is not just performed, it sounds as if the notes themselves weep.

The Caramoor is a perfect setting for the next set and the masterful version of “Choro pra Nos” – with more mood-swinging pianissimo. Also more of that “alegria” with “Ser Feliz” and a meandering, masterful journey across a beautiful soundscape on Weber Iago’s tantalizingly brilliant, “O Fim do Comeco”. That is just before Jovino Santos Neto picks up that quirky reed keyboard instrument he plays so well, the melodica and because of its almost clown-like tones “Desafinado” is most appropriate – right down to the pitchy, off-key glisses as Santos Neto slides through the melody while Iago makes the harmonics sing in tune. And then the surprise: Joe Lovano joins the piano masters to close the perfect evening with Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Wave”. This music will be remembered as one of the finest live performances in jazz piano repertoire. Musicians of towering stature, a memorable program and pianos so perfect their sound will echo in the memory for a long time to come.

Tracks: Navegante (Navigator); Alone Together; Balaio (Basket); Lamentos (Laments); Choro pra Nos (Choro for Us); Ser Feliz (Being Happy); O Fim do Comeco (The End of the Beginning); Desafinado (Out of Tune); Wave.

Personnel: Jovino Santos Neto and Weber Iago: pianos; Joe Lovano: soprano saxophone (9).

Jovino Santos Neto on the web: www.jovisan.net

Weber Iago on the web: www.myspace.com/weberiago

Review written by: Raul da Gama