Mark Levine & The Latin Tinge – Off & On: The Music of Moacir Santos

If ever that a record could be likened to a comet streaking across the musical stratosphere and a long time coming at that, this one by Mark Levine, Off & On: The Music of Moacir Santos (Left Coast Clave Records 2009)would be just that. Moreover, in personifying this album, as are comets that streak past, this one would be Kohutek because it is a rare gem of a record. There are several reasons for this.

Primarily this is one of the few occasions in recent times that Moacir Santos, the rarer of two modern Brasilian masters’ music is being honored. Think Brasilian music in North America and the name of Antonio Carlos Jobim comes to mind first. Few if any artists and aficionados of the music will even recall the name of Santos. Not that he is obscure by any stretch of imagination. In fact, Moacir was a teacher and mentor to such luminaries as the guitarists, Baden Powell, Oscar Castro Neves, Joao Donato and Dori Caymmi.

Santos was born in Pernambuco, in arguably one of the culturally richest parts of (northeastern) Brasil. He began performing at three years of age and like few before him, completely inbibes the primeveal Afroethnic culture of the region. In a short period, his music acquired a singular sophistication about it, while retaining the visceral northeastern quality—in its rhythms and especially in its melodies.

Moacir Santos’ approach was melodic – in the top of the melody and its bottom—the bass lines he wrote for the lower melody. This lent an exquisite aire to his melodicism—one where the heavy surdo and pedal point was softened into unheard of melodic lines while still retaining the underbely of the bass structure. No one-not even Jobim, for all his lyricism had done this before. There is something more about Santos. The sounds he heard came from deep African canticles—also shared by Haiti and Cuba (via Haiti). Therefore, this record by Mark Levine becomes not just an offering of love and respect, but also an authentic document to Moacir Santos’ music.

The repertoire on this record is mixed. There are familiar tracks such as the superbly affectionate and primal maracatu “April Child.” Several other classic Santos creations include “Suk-Cha” and “Nana.” Others, such as “Early Morning Love” and “Kathy” may be lesser known. Everywhere the arrangements are invention and deep feelings. Santos’ angular approach to rhythm and his jazzy approach to instrumentation sends the music soaring high.

This is a highly courageous attempt at creativity by Mark Levine. To bring a musician’s work out into the open—and that too one from relative obscurity is commendable. Mary Fettig occupies Santos’ reeds chair and she does a star turn. She is superb on soprano and the fluttering beauty of the flute—especially contrasted with the contrapuntal, bellowing on the bass clarinet on “Suk-Cha” is memorable. Michael Spiro is ever so elegant—again. John Wiitala on bass and drummer Paul van Wageningen complete what is truly a magnificent group.

Tracks: Nana; Early Morning Love; Off and On; April Child (aka Maracatu); Suk-Cha; Kathy; Jeguie; Tomorrow is Mine; Haply Happy; What’s My Name (Aka Odudua *which is Toruba for “Oldest Living Ancestor”); Luonne (Aka Sou Eu); A Saudade Mata A Gente.

Personnel: Mark Levine: piano; Mary Fettig: flute, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet; Michael Spiro; percussion; Paul van Wageningen: drums; John Wiitala: bass.

Mark Levine on the web: www.marklevine.com

Review written by: Raul da Gama

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

Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet – Infinity (Patois Records 2008)

The attempt to make a thoughtful album and one that is supremely entertaining and musically superlative is perhaps one of the most daunting tasks that a musician can undertake. To find this in an album is rare and that is what makes Infinity by the Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet so much of an event that just cannot be ignored. It is usually a challenge to even explain the context of the word and phenomenon of “infinity” even for mathematically inclined people. For an artist it is even more rare to find precisely what this could mean. The temptation is always to veer towards the abstract and that is not the best way to present a musical expedition – especially as musical notes have finite pitch, tones and terminal values.

But Wallace appears to have found the exact center of the word “infinity” in meaning context and expression. The fact that he plays a trombone and that too with such unbridled genius, of course, gives him a head start. And then to discover, with Pablo Neruda, that “…everything alive has two sides/a word is one wing of silence/fire has its cold half/I love you in order to begin to love you/to start infinity again…” This is almost magical intuition. Moreover to find the sound of the past that we have never got to hear, but to find in its echoes a place for the sound of this Latin Jazz Quintet as it traverses through time and sound landscapes…with what the Brazilian world (at least) would describe as “alegria”… This too is rare and unforgettable and ingenious.

Wayne Wallace has chosen to show the connectivity of the ancient with the modern in an unbroken rhythmic line from African elements in Latin music to the American invention of jazz. Many scholars have explored this with clever theses. Many musicians also have undertaken the journey with fine results. Wallace surpasses most of them. His music is both played and recorded with a view to effect the excitement of a live performance. So even though the music may be carefully selected to pay tribute to the major idiomatic types of old and new Latin musical forms, each of these songs appears to have been performed for a very real “live” audience that has been explicitly imagined.

It is impossible to listen to the title track or “Songo Colorado,” “As Cores da Menina,” and “Cha-Cha de Alegria” without an unconscious heave of the shoulders or getting up and impulsively and with great flourish to samba or salsa. Wallace’s trombone chops are masterly throughout. But not only that, Michael Spiro sounds like a percussion ensemble every time he sets out to lay down the rhythmic lines with his rapid fire timbales, quirky cuica and rounded guiro, and also with sensuous chekere and grand excursions on the batá and conga. His solos on “Infinity” and “Songo Colorado” in particular are absolutely unforgettable. Paul van Wageningen on regular traps provides exquisite harmonic coverage. David Belove can make his bass sensual too as he plucks and slaps his way to conjuring up a string section on his own. Roger Glenn on flute and on vibes is simply marvelous. Special mention is also due for all the vocalists, especially Orlando Torriente and Jackie Ryan, who is a perfect foil for the breathy sound of the trombone.

Oddly enough the high point of the record may be the perfect vehicle for the trombone – the wonderfully mournful version of “Memories of You,” correctly attributed to Eubie Blake and Andy Razaf in the credits. And even though Wallace mistakenly attributes to “Fats” Waller in his notes to the song, this is only a minor blimp in an otherwise perfect package.

Tracks: Infinity; Songo Colorado; As Cores da Menina; Love Walked In; Memories of You; TBA; Close Your eyes; Cha-Cha de Alegria; Straight Life/Mr. Clean.

Personnel: Wayne Wallace: tenor and alto trombones, Wagner Tuba, melodica, arrangements and vocals; David Belove: bass; Murray Low: piano and keyboard; Michael Spiro: congas, batá, guiro, requinto, timbales, shekere, cuica, and percussion arrangements; Paul van Wageningen: trap drums.

Special Guests: Roger Glenn: flute and vibraphone (8); Jackie Ryan: vocal (4 & 7); Orlando Torriente: lead vocal (2); Karen Aczon, David Chaidez, Alexa Weber Morales, Jody Noble, Sakai, Stallings and Sheryl Lynn Thomas: background vocals throughout.

Wayne Wallace on the web: www.walacomusic.com | www.myspace.com/patoisrecords

Review written by: Raul da Gama