João Donato Trio's Amazonas—the pope of
Brazilian jazz returns to his roots

João Donato needs no introduction. He is probably the single greatest name in Brazilian jazz. A cult figure for many decades, in recent years Donato re-emerged in full force. Since 1995 he's released a fistful of memorable recordings, including Coisas Tão Simples (EMI/World Pacific) and five CDs on Lumiar Discos, including Café com Pão, the Jobim tribute Só Danço Samba, and the 3-volume Songbook João Donato. With his new disc Amazonas (Elephant Records ER-203), Donato returns to the piano-trio formation that marked the debut of his solo recording career in the early '60s. In those days, his sidemen were Tião Neto (bass) and Milton Banana (drums). This trio accompanied João Gilberto at Viareggio (Italy) in 1963 and recorded the legendary LPs A Bossa Muito Moderna de Donato e Seu Trio and Muito à Vontade (both available on cheaply produced CD reissues with the distinct look of pirate knockoffs). On Amazonas, Donato is joined by two equally accomplished sidemen: Jorge Helder, who's one of Rio's most sought-after studio bassists, and veteran bossa nova drummer Claudio Slon, whose own Leviev-Slon Quartet can be heard on the CD Jive Sambas and who also plays in Aloisio Aguiar Trio's To Jobim With Love (both CDs were released on Elephant's sister label Vartan Jazz).

Like every Donato album, Amazonas is a delight. Here the pianist treats us to eighteen of his compositions—some previously recorded by him and (in their lettered versions) by the likes of João Gilberto, Gal Costa, Chico Buarque, Emílio Santiago, João Bosco, and Rosa Passos; others less known. Yet this album is far from being a rehash of old material. The new interpretations are quite different from what we've come to know as the Donato style. Since his youth, Donato has been a rapid-fire pianist. Here he chooses to take it easy. Never have we heard Donato so relaxed. A perfect example is "Mentiras," in which the pianist glides airily over the keys in a trance-like reverie. Compared to the "Sambolero" in A Bossa Muito Moderna, the new recording is slow and mild. But that isn't to say that Donato has lost his edge; he's still capable of picking up the tempo when necessary, as in the classic "A Rã," but the playing is sparer than ever, and the spaces between the notes are more pronounced. Beyond the familiar melodies await lesser known charmers sporting beguiling titles like "Glass Beads," "Sugar Cane Breeze" (quoting the famous cha-cha-chá "Esperanza"), and "Like Nanai" (Nanai, Elizeth Cardoso's guitarist and a member of the vocal group Namorados da Lua, was responsible for Donato's coming to the U.S. in 1959; he came for four weeks and stayed 12 years). Helder and Slon enhance the mellow atmosphere by gently weaving a subdued rhythmic carpet under the piano.

While the disc's music, playing, and sound reproduction are all exemplary, the Amazonas package graphics leave much to be desired. This great artist deserved far better.

Tutty Moreno's Forças d'Alma—where
jazz and Brazil are inseparable

Bahian drummer Tutty Moreno is most often seen and heard accompanying his wife, singer/composer Joyce. However, he has carved out a separate career as a jazz musician in predominantly instrumental settings. In 1996 he joined reedman Teco Cardoso (another fixture in Joyce's band), pianist Mozar Terra, and bassist Sizão Machado in creating Quarteto Livre. This quartet released the CD Pra Que Mentir? (Lumiar Discos), in which they dressed MPB standards by monstros sagrados like Noel Rosa, Tom Jobim, Joyce, Moacir Santos, and Zé da Zilda in jazz clothing, as well as featuring several original compositions by Mozar Terra.

Tutty's most recent release is Forças d'Alma (Forces of the Soul) from Malandro Records (MAL 71013). On this disc, he joins soulful forces with bassist Rodolfo Stroeter (the engine behind Pau Brasil, artistic director of Orquestra Jazz Sinfônica of São Paulo State, a busy producer, and another Joyce bandmember), young pianist André Mehmari (winner of the prestigious Prêmio Visa for Instrumental MPB and responsible for this disc's string arrangements), and ace saxophone/clarinet player Nailor "Proveta" Azevedo. As in Pra Que Mentir? the repertoire of Forças d'Alma consists—this time entirely—of tunes composed by the lions of MPB, with a special place of honor given to another baiano, Dorival Caymmi, who's represented with four classics: "A Lenda do Abaeté"; "Só Louco", "João Valentão"; and "A Vizinha do Lado." Joyce vocalizes with the band in "Baracumbara" and "Forças d'Alma"—both composed by her. Of the remaining four pieces, two ("Alegria de Viver" and "Imagem") were written by Luiz Eça, one ("Samba Novo") by Durval Ferreira, and one ("Sanfona") by Egberto Gismonti. The chief interest here lies not so much in listening to these well-known tunes but in hearing them so expertly transformed into new creations at the hands of Tutty and his brilliant cohorts.

Nilson Matta & Hendrik Meurkens' Encontros—
An uncommon bass & harmonica duet

There's nothing like a harmonica to convey saudades, so it's not surprising that this instrument appears time and again in Brazilian music. Contrabass and harmonica are not a run-of-the mill combination, and when the instrumentalists who wield them are Nilson Matta and Hendrik Meurkens (who also plays vibraphone and marimba), the results are nothing less than dazzling. In their CD Encontros (Meetings), released this summer by Malandro Records (MAL 71015), the pair regales us with their individual compositions, augmented by two standards by Tom Jobim and one by Hermeto Pascoal. Joining this meeting of the minds are superb pianist Helio Alves and drummer Duduka da Fonseca. Special guests include monster guitarist Romero Lubambo (like Duduka, he's Nilson's partner in Trio da Paz), pianist Dado Moroni, percussionist Café, and vocalist Maucha Adnet (a longtime member of Jobim's band).

Meurkens contributed four compositions: the lyrically evocative bossa nova "Summer in San Francisco"; the lively choro "Chorinho No. 2"; the jazz ballad "Junity"; and the tone poem turned bossa nova "Prague in March," in which he demonstrates his mastery of the vibraphone. Nilson Matta weighs in with the jazz samba "Baden," dedicated to the great guitarist and incorporating a Bach prelude; the bossa nova "Rosa"; the ecological statement within a jazz ballad "Forests (Let Them Be Free)"; and another bossa nova, "This is for Luisa" (previously recorded by Trio da Paz). Both the arrangements and Maucha Adnet's singing rescue Tom and Vinicius' war horses "Amor em Paz" and "Chega de Saudade" from the obvious. Hermeto Pascoal's baião "O Ovo" closes the disc on a chaotically virtuosic note.

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Daniella Thompson is a writer and researcher specializing in music
and culture, with an emphasis on Brazil. Her writings have been
translated into French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese and
published in North America, Europe, and Brazil.

She publishes almost daily in Daniella Thompson on Brazil.