Two recent Mario Adnet releases from Adventure Music
Adventure Music , the label started by Mike Marshall that continues to expose North Americans and the rest of the world to great current Brazilian music, has released a torrent of great music, which I hope to cover over several blog entries. In the meantime, the latest release is from Mario Adnet, and is entitled Jobim Jazz. The CD focuses on brass arrangements of thirteen Jobim compositions. Yet, despite the big band sound, the rhythm section, driven along by Adnet's guitar work, remains distinctly and authentically Brazilian. In this sense, Jobim Jazz manages to truly combine the jazz and Brazilian idioms without promoting one aesthetic over another.
So, while there is a jazzy aesthetic to pieces such as "Tema Jazz" or "Surfboard," they are far above the sound of many hackneyed arrangements of this type of music heard at the time of its popularity in the U.S. in the late '50s and early '60s. These are really fresh-sounding arrangements by a musician who understands Jobim's work from a Brazilian cultural perspective very well.
The brass effect can be striking, as on the opening "Domingo Sincopado," which basically recalls American big band performances based on Latin rhythms that were suave, urban, and sophisticated. At other times, as on "Quebra Pedra" it can be more subtle, with the horns trading off lead voice with accordian and Adnet's guitar. This is a masterful CD that anyone who enjoys Jobim or Brazilian music will enjoy. Ditto if you like big band Latin or are interested in arranging.
Last year Adnet released a disc of his own original work entitled From the Heart. That disc featured Adnet playing new arrangements of his tunes from mostly the 1970s, with one brand new track (the title track). Joining Adnet is a stellar cast of musicians, including pianist Marcos Nimrichter, percussionist Armando Marcel, trombonist Vittor Santos, guitarist Ricardo Silveira, and many others. Santos is a welcome presence with his warm trombone sound (Santos also has a disc under his own name on the Adventure label--more about that in a subsequent post).
"Walking Song," a recent composition, makes excellent use of Joao Donato's piano work and some gentle flugelhorn and trumpet playing by Jesse Saddoc. "I started to write this song at the end of the 90s" says Adnet in his liner notes, "and I could imagine, even then, the touch of Joao Donato's piano." Other standout tracks include "Salsatlantic," a previously unrecorded composition, and two compositions by others--Claudio Santoro's "Paulistana #1" featuring the gorgeous wordless vocals of Monica Salmaso, and Guarnieri's "Danca Negra."
Along with other artists who keep Brazilian music alive at its roots while finding new ways to express themselves musically, Mario Adnet shows the staying power of Brazilian music. I think Brazilian music works so well in a jazz context because, like jazz, it is a combination of many elements, some of which it shares with jazz. There are African and Carribean influences, and on top of that there are Portuguese elements as well as influences of indigenous peoples. Like jazz, Brazilian music finds ways to bring new musical elements in without diluting the main vein of whatever it is that defines the music.
So, while there is a jazzy aesthetic to pieces such as "Tema Jazz" or "Surfboard," they are far above the sound of many hackneyed arrangements of this type of music heard at the time of its popularity in the U.S. in the late '50s and early '60s. These are really fresh-sounding arrangements by a musician who understands Jobim's work from a Brazilian cultural perspective very well.
The brass effect can be striking, as on the opening "Domingo Sincopado," which basically recalls American big band performances based on Latin rhythms that were suave, urban, and sophisticated. At other times, as on "Quebra Pedra" it can be more subtle, with the horns trading off lead voice with accordian and Adnet's guitar. This is a masterful CD that anyone who enjoys Jobim or Brazilian music will enjoy. Ditto if you like big band Latin or are interested in arranging.
Last year Adnet released a disc of his own original work entitled From the Heart. That disc featured Adnet playing new arrangements of his tunes from mostly the 1970s, with one brand new track (the title track). Joining Adnet is a stellar cast of musicians, including pianist Marcos Nimrichter, percussionist Armando Marcel, trombonist Vittor Santos, guitarist Ricardo Silveira, and many others. Santos is a welcome presence with his warm trombone sound (Santos also has a disc under his own name on the Adventure label--more about that in a subsequent post)."Walking Song," a recent composition, makes excellent use of Joao Donato's piano work and some gentle flugelhorn and trumpet playing by Jesse Saddoc. "I started to write this song at the end of the 90s" says Adnet in his liner notes, "and I could imagine, even then, the touch of Joao Donato's piano." Other standout tracks include "Salsatlantic," a previously unrecorded composition, and two compositions by others--Claudio Santoro's "Paulistana #1" featuring the gorgeous wordless vocals of Monica Salmaso, and Guarnieri's "Danca Negra."
Along with other artists who keep Brazilian music alive at its roots while finding new ways to express themselves musically, Mario Adnet shows the staying power of Brazilian music. I think Brazilian music works so well in a jazz context because, like jazz, it is a combination of many elements, some of which it shares with jazz. There are African and Carribean influences, and on top of that there are Portuguese elements as well as influences of indigenous peoples. Like jazz, Brazilian music finds ways to bring new musical elements in without diluting the main vein of whatever it is that defines the music.
1 Comments:
I'm a brazilian jazz lover. Mario is a amazing musician. What do you have about south africans jazz players?
Visit: http://jazzseen.blogspot.com/
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