Marcelo Paganini & Paulo Levi—
Brazilian techno-jazz in Paris

Marcelo Paganini is a multi-instrumentalist and composer born in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, and living in Paris. He studied theory at the Conservatório de Belo Horizonte, musicology (abandoned in the second year) at the Sorbonne, and musical computer technology at Ircam. He's been programming synthesizers for the past 15 years and is a self-taught player of acoustic, electric, and synthesized guitars, bass, keyboards, harmonica, drums, cavaquinho (he has a special 5-string model), as well as singing. A musician open to all styles, Paganini's experience includes playing in a symphony orchestra, leading a funk/rock band, and arranging an eclectic array of compositions. He records in his home studio, where technology is an indispensable element in most productions.

The disc Paulo Levi & Marcelo Paganini (independent) is the result of the composer's having met a talented and compatible saxophonist. Born in Belém, Pará, Paulo Levi plays soprano, alto, and tenor sax, as well as transverse flute. According to Paganini, Levi is a "tropical Coltrane of the year 2000." Levi lives in New York and often plays in Asia, particularly in Hong Kong and Japan. Says Paganini of their joint effort, "Paulo Levi understood my music perfectly and navigates easily in the universe I created, tracing a path that is uniquely his."

Paulo Levi & Marcelo Paganini opens with "Isabel," the instrumental version of a song for which Márcio Borges (a member of Milton Nascimento's clube da esquina) wrote lyrics in French. It's a tribute to Paganini's "black mother," Dona Isabel, who died two months after the composer's move to Paris. This beautiful ballad is arranged for improvised alto sax accompanied by keyboard. Paganini composed the second tune, "Central Park," in the U.S. when he became acquainted with "New York City in general and Tibério Nascimento in particular." This exploration of the boundaries between contemporary music, improvisation, and Brazilian music may be, according to Paganini, the Brazilian answer to Charles Ives' "Central Park in the Dark." Joining Levi's sax and Paganini's acoustic guitar is George McIntosh's flute, representing the wind—symbol of nature and magic—that blows through the park and refreshes the streets of Manhattan before returning to the park. "Chantal" is a bossa nova Paganini dedicated to his future wife, arranged for sax, pandeiro, and guitar. "Trindade" is a showcase for electric guitar, sax, and bass, featuring labyrinthine harmonies. The composer recalls, "When French bassist Jean-Marc Jafet saw the sheet music, he said, `I've never seen a chord grill like that.' He recorded the music on the first take. His improv has a rare intensity. I bought a sampler so I could add the best drumming possible. Peter Erskine's CD Living Drums was perfect." Paganini composed "To Be Away" as an exercise in harmony while studying at the Sorbonne, following for once the rules that he's always shunned as a composer. Here he plays midi drums, electric bass, keyboards, and electric guitar in an improvisational dialogue with the saxophone. "Mariane" is dedicated to a French flutist who used to play in a Brazilian band. Jean-Marc Jafet again provided a bass solo, while the rhythm bass is played by Paganini. Levi's sax was overdubbed years later. The arrangement functions like a clock: during the elaboration of the theme, the instruments play melodic and harmonic phrases that are independent of each other. "Oriental" was inspired by a phone conversation with Márcio Borges. The idea was to write a melody of seven notes on top of a 6/8 measure. All the phrases of the theme have seven notes. Levi overlaid several tracks of soprano and alto sax. "Natasha" is another of Paganini's platonic loves, a French photographer. It was written in Marseille under the influence of the sea, the old port, and a piano bar with a certain band. As in "Trindade," Paganini cut, pasted, and synchronized Peter Erskine's drums, using equipment available at the time. He calls it his doctoral thesis in sampling and sequencing. He believes this is the track that sounds most live on the disc. The track contains the only (improvised) keyboard solo on the CD. The disc concludes with "Maraca Tu," a swinging number with interesting measure changes: 3/4 is followed by a maracatu in 4/4 and an uncommon 15/16 during the bridge. Paulo Levi, playing tenor sax, "flies like a humming bird on top of all these changes, as if it were the easiest thing in the world," says the composer. "We recorded this music in less than four hours, including the hour he came in and the hour he left. He'd never heard the music before."

Kimson Plaut—An American
pianist with bossa brasileira

Kimson Plaut isn't the first American musician to play Brazilian music, but he's one of the select few who play it as if they were Brazilian. A prolonged residence in Brazil contributed to his profound knowledge—not just of music, but of Brazilian culture, history, and the Portuguese language. Possessing a BA in composition from Yale and an MA in ethnomusicology from the University of Washington, Kimson researched the musical traditions of the Xavante people in Mato Grosso before returning to Brazil, where he lived for over a decade, immersing himself in the music and the culture, performing in a wide variety of musical settings, recording, touring extensively, and heading his own jazz groups in Recife, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro.

Since his return to New York a decade ago, Kimson has toured regularly in Europe, Asia, South America, Australia, Canada, and the Caribbean, as well as throughout the U.S. In addition to being the pianist for Johnny Almendra and Los Jovenes del Barrio, Kimson has performed and recorded with Brazilian vocalists Astrud Gilberto, Bebel Gilberto, Pery Ribeiro, Ana Caram, and Gabriela Anders; the Latin jazz groups of Patato Valdés, Luis Bonilla, and Ray Vega; and American artists such as Blood, Sweat & Tears and Joan Osborne. He has also recently arranged a symphonic suite for the late Tito Puente and performed on Broadway in Paul Simon's musical The Capeman.

Kimson's handsomely produced solo CD Ubatuba (LPC Music LPC 01/96) displays his compositorial and arranging acumen alongside many inspired performances by a cast of illustrious guests. The opening track, "Lacraia," is a piano, saxophone (Steve Sacks, Aaron Heick), trombone (David Sacks), guitar (Romero Lubambo), and percussion (Café) tour de force inspired by the styles of two fine pianists—Cidinho Teixeira and Michel Camilo. The rhythm alternates between partido alto and straight-ahead samba. "Ubatuba" is the name of the composer's favorite beach town on the São Paulo coast, a place that he says forever transformed his life. Performed by piano, guitar (Paul Meyers), and percussion, the tune is a mellow bossa nova, with "more than a hint of Antonio Carlos Jobim, who sadly passed away while we were finishing up the recording," recalls Kimson. "Mercado Modelo" is a baião in a style reminiscent of Dori Caymmi or Edu Lobo. It begins and ends with Café playing the berimbau, in homage to the capoeiristas who gather outside the Mercado Modelo in Salvador. Steve Sacks plays flute, and Kimson adds both piano and the de rigueur accordion, backed by typical nordestino clip-clop percussion. The coda was inspired by Hermeto Pascoal & Quarteto Novo. Kimson calls the next track, "Rice and Beans" (Feijão com Arroz), "my attempt at writing a chorinho. It was the most involved piece we recorded, some five pages long. Paquito [D'Rivera, who plays clarinet] came early to the studio, ran through it three or four times while the engineer was setting up, and proceeded to nail it completely. A brilliant musician." Rice and beans being the most basic dish in the Brazilian diet, the title refers to the typical everyday Brazilian atmosphere of the track, with Romero's 7-string guitar and cavaquinho adding that downhome flavor. "Camburi" was named after another beach town in São Paulo State, known for its surfing. "Back twenty years ago, it could only be reached by a gravel road through mountains and jungle. Steve Sacks wrote this dreamy arrangement for four alto flutes and his brother David on trombone," says the composer. Romero appears again on guitar. "Porto de Galinhas" is the oldest tune on the record, named after a beach in the northeastern state of Pernambuco, where the composer "camped under the palms and watched the full moon rise out of the sea. But the rhythms here—ijexá [the music of Bahian afoxé Carnaval blocks], baião, and samba—span the coast from Ceará to Rio." Augmenting the piano and percussion are flute (Steve Sacks) and soprano sax (Andy Middleton). "Luquillo," the newest tune on the record, falls into the Latin jazz category. Tells Kimson, "The trumpet solo was played by one of the great old Latin session players, Puchi Boulong, and the percussion was recorded by my colleague Johnny Almendra. The whistling at the end is the sound of the coqui—the little tree frog which symbolizes the island of Puerto Rico." Kimson, Puchi, and Johnny are joined by Lewis Kahn and David Chamberlain, both on trombone. "Considerando" is the lone vocal track, sung by the First Lady of Brazilian Jazz, Leny Andrade. Recalls Kimson, "When we approached Leny about recording, she suggested three or four tunes, and we chose this beautiful samba-canção by Edu Lobo and Capinam. Like Paquito, Leny was totally professional and a joy to work with in the studio. With few words, she communicated to the bass player and drummer exactly how she wanted them to back her up. She then had a cafezinho, smoked a cigarette, hawked up some phlegm, and laid the song down in two takes. We were in awe." Ubatuba ends on an upbeat note with "Samba Queens," described by the composer as a jam tune based ("very loosely!") on the changes of "Chega de Saudade."

Continued