Jovino Santos Neto – Veja o Som/See the Sound (Adventure Music)

There comes a time in the life of a pianist, when the lure of a solo project is strong and he or she inevitably gives in. Having thus satisfied the yearning the musician is struck by an even more daunting task: the thought of a duo program, made even more alluring when there is an opportunity to duet with more than one musician and instrumentalist. Such an extravagance is rarely passed up so it is no surprise to find the wonderful world of pianist Jovino Santos Neto illuminated and festooned with duets with no less than twenty musicians as he makes this extraordinary album, Veja o Som (See the Sound), so named when the remarkable Airto Moreira let it slip after the spectacular duet take made it to the album. To be accorded the privilege of playing with practically anyone he wished to play with is rare indeed for any musician and says a lot about his or her relationship with the record label. And Adventure Music once again lived up to its name as well, by going the distance with Santos Neto this time. So what did the pianist do with this privilege?

First off, the program meanders into a maze of great music, with surprises at every turn. It is almost as if Santos Neto hopped onto a futuristic craft and began his journey through ether, suddenly encountering music and musicians with whom to play it. The surprises are breathtaking and the fact that it took two CDs to realize the dream is indicative of the fact that Jovino Santos Neto chose to choke the listening audience with gold in a bejewelled ornament of a double CD. The second remarkable aspect of the program is the outstanding playing of Santos Neto. His ability to switch from soloist to a supportive role is remarkable. That he is a fine soloist is beyond doubt. His palette is awash with the soft hues of many colors. He plays with great sensitivity, with phrases and lines that flow in whorls and ever widening circles. His approach to song is holistic, seemingly one that emerges from a beguiling place where he hears all music in the totality of the soundscape where it exists as if in an entirely fluid state.

Some of these turn the melodies inside out—Jobim’s “Insensatez,” a duet with the ethereal voice of Gretchen Parlato is one such. He can be puckish and play also with a wry, bouncy sense of humour: The breezy track, “Santa Morena,” played with mandolin wizard, Mike Marshall and Hermeto Pascoal’s spectacular; “February 1” with Anat Cohen is another. Frequently he reinvent melodies by diving in to a magical space and emerging with ideas that seemed impossible until now: Two fine examples of this are “Aquelas Coisas Todas,” with the deep brooding and yet sensuous tenor saxophone of David Sanchez and Moacir Santos’ classic, “April Child,” which is bravely and completely re-imagined with the impossibly brilliant sound of Vittor Santos’ trombone. But the most remarkable tracks of all are those that appear to be almost completely spontaneous inventions. “Veja o Som” with Airto Moreira’s remarkable volley of sounds of nature, including his primordial voice, the haunting “Sonora Garoa” with the magnificent voice of Mônica Salmaso and the ethereally beautiful “Cruzando o Sertão” with the percussionist, Luiz Guello are the crowning glory of the whole project.

Surely this must be one of Jovino Santos Neto’s most remarkable albums. It certainly is a wonderful follow-up to that spectacular piano duet album he did with Weber Iago for the same label, Live at Caramoor, where his pianism was just as spectacular. Here, however, Santos Neto is driven to invent with a remarkable array of musicians, especially voice artists, something Brasil has a surfeit of. Whatever will the pianist be up to next? Perhaps an album with the great Hermeto Pascoal, with whom Santos Neto spent time as Director of Music, would be the only thing that could cap this experience.

Tracks: CD1: Aquelas Coisas Todas (All of Those Things); Santa Morena (Dark-skinned Saint); Insensatez (How Insensitive); O Que Vier Eu Traço (Bring it On); Caminhos Cruzados (Crossed Paths); Veja o Som (See the Sound); Flor de Lis (Upside Down); February 1; Gloria; Nature Boy; CD2: Ahlê Sonora Garoa (Sonorous Drizzle); Morro Velho (Old Mountain); Cruzando o Sertão (Crossing the Hinterland); Feira de Mangaio (Street Bazaar); Canção do Amanhecer (The Dawn Song); April Child; Joana Francesa (Joana the Frenchwoman); Canto de Xangô (Xangô Chant); Alegre Menina (Gabriela’s Song).

Personnel: Jovino Santos Neto: piano, bamboo flute, flute, melodica; David Sanchez: tenor saxophone; Mike Marshall: mandocello, mandolin; Gretchen Parlato: voice; Paquito D’Rivera: C clarinet; Bill Frisell: electric guitar; Airto Moreira: voice, percussion; Tom Lellis: voice, shaker; Anat Cohen: soprano saxophone; Danilo Brito: mandolin; Joe Locke: vibraphone; João Donato: electric piano; Mônica Salmaso: voice; Ricardo Silveira: acoustic guitar; Luiz Guello: Pandeiro, effects, congas, djembe; Toninho Ferragutti: accordion; Joyce Moreno: voice; Vittor Santos: trombone; Paula Morelenbaum: voice; Gabriel Grossi: harmonica; Teco Cardoso: flutes.

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

Review written by: Raul da Gama

Tom Lellis & the Metropole Orch. – Skylark (Adventure Music 2009)

On Skylark, Tom Lellis celebrates the grand age of singers and song. This was probably not his intention at all, but fortunately, it also turned out that way. Lellis is a fine singer, fashioned from quite the classic mould of singers – like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Barry Manilow. He is a narrative singer and as some of the best storytellers go, he has a wonderful intonation. In fact, he is flawless in this department and never misses a beat. That is, of course, because he has a perfect sense of timing as well – in the same rhythmic sense like that of Miles Davis… “In” at just that right moment to make the perfect sound with “just” that right word, intoned with perfection.

Then there is also the other small matter of having one of the finest orchestras providing the musical backdrop for this record. The Metropole Orchestra of the Netherlands is large and peopled with some of the most sensitive musicians around. Under the guidance of Vince Mendoza it is rightly a first call large ensemble for musicians seeking to make records– whether vocal or instrumental ones – with, well large ensembles. The pianist, Jim Beard recently made the excellent Revolutions (Sunnyside Records, 2009) with TMO. However, for this project, the wonderful John Clayton has taken over the baton from Mendoza and he does a fine job here.

Skylark must have been a challenge, even for a singer of the stature of Tom Lellis. Nevertheless, he pulls it off with such surefootedness that it appears he was born for this musical adventure. Much thought has also gone into the selection of the repertoire. There are just eight songs here, but the mix of standards – Hoagy Carmichael’s “Skylark” and Antonio Carlos Jobim’s Portuguese “Falando de Amor/Tema de Amor” with a Chick Corea chart, “Straight up and Down” and Herbie Hancock’s “Tell Me a Bedtime Story,” a song by Toninho Horta and three exquisite charts by Lellis himself – is truly inspired. For good measure, Lellis has also written lyrics for all the other songs – except the Jobim chart and “Milton’s Moment” which is vocalized wordlessly.

This too is quite an achievement for Lellis. He is no small talent when it comes to his capacity to write either. This is because he is a gifted narrator and gets into character like all fine lyricists do. The extra challenge here is to create lyrics after the fact. The Metrople Orchestra also gets sizeable credit all through the performance of these difficult songs. There is an elastic sense of give and take between the orchestra musicians and Lellis in the passages where they play behind the singer. When it comes time for a solo, the gliding fluidity between characters – Lellis and the soloist is perfect. In “Mountain Flight,” for instance, the exchanges between the vocalist and trombonist Bart van Lier are breathtaking. So are the ones between flugelhorn player, Ruud Breuls and Lellis on “Straight up and Down” and pianist, Hans Vroomans and the singer on “Tell me a Bedtime Story.”

“Milton’s Moment” is probably one of finest elegiac moments on this record. Lellis vocalizes – in perfect Nascimento style, almost exactly mimicing that unmistakable falsetto – the voice of Milton Nascimento. Such a device is hard to pull off. Milton Nascimento is one of a kind and now, it appears, so is Tom Lellis as he celebrates the seemingly limitless possibility of the human voice to glow from bronze to gold.

Tracks: Then to Heart; Skylark; Straight Up and Down; Mountain Flight; Milton’s Moment; Tell Me A Bedtime Story; Falando de Amor/Tema de Amor; Love Is.

Personnel: Tom Lellis: voice. The Metropole Orchestra: 1st Violin: Rami Koch*, Emo Ohal*, Arlia de Ruiter*, Denise Koenders, Linda Dumessie, Denise Ruyters, Pauline Terlouw, Erica Korthals Altes, Davis Peijnenborgh (* concertmasters); 2nd Violin: Merijn Rombout, Herman van Haaren, Noortje Koch, Lucja Domski, Simone Viestra, Wim Kok, Elisabeth Cats, Marianne v.d. Heuvel; Viola: Aimee Versloot, Mieke Honingh, Anne Marie v.d. Bogaard, Julia Jowett, Michale Klier; Cello: Hans Bonsel, Olof Groesz, Wim Grin, Bastiaan van der Werf; Bass: Eric Winkelmann, Arend Leifkers; Flute: Friederike Darius, Janine Abbas, Mariel v.d. Bos; Oboe: Martin de Ruiter, Willem Luijt; Saxophone: Leo van Oostrom, Marc Scholten, Leo Jenssen, Dick Vennik, Max Boeree; Horn: Roel Koster, Wim Timmermans; Trumpet: Jan Oosthof, Jan Hollander, Henk Heijink, Ruud Breuls; Trombone: Bart van Lier, Paul Woesthuis, Jan Elsnik; Bass Trombone: Martin v.d. Berg; Percussion/Drums: Eddy Koopman, Herman Reiken, Mike Schaperclaus, Arno van Niewenhuize (drums), Cees Kranenburg (drums); Jazz bass: Lex Bolderdijk; Guitar: Rob Langereis; Bass guitar: Jan Hollestelle; Harp: Rosetty de Ruiter-Verwoerdt, Joke Schonewille; piano/Synthesizer: Hans Vroomans, Cor Bakker; Conductor: John Clayton.

Tom Lellis on the web: www.tomlellis.com

Review written by: Raul da Gama