Cary Kilner
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Cary Kilner's Picks: Volume 30
This month we shall do a dive into some Brazilian musics. When I first moved to Boston from Detroit in 1970, there was a contingent of great Brazilian players at Berklee. Most were already fully formed, like Claudio Roditi and Victor Brazil, and merely needed to go to a school to acquire a green-card in order to stay in the country and perform. The blend of American jazz with Brazilian folk rhythms has created a whole new musical/art form. Stacey Kent – Chanson legere, One Note Samba & Little Boat She is a wonderful subdued and breathy singer. This first track has a wonderful a-tempo introduction with guitar alone, then goes into time as a classic mellow bossa nova at 1:30. In the second track she has a great small group behind her in a live performance with an accompanying music video. You can hear and see that she plays nice acoustic guitar as well. Originally written by Jobim, his own performance of One Note Samba was done as a bossa nova, which is slower than a samba. The third track is another classic bossa nova that became an American hit back in the early 60s. The album cover shows her with the Brazilian acoustic guitarist who wrote it, and who accompanies her alone until the brief tenor solo that sounds like Stan Getz. https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=1AZ5c_EsmWA&list=RDAMVMNQttL53NaNw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYdrhTL3VBk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0Dbh36edt4 Eddie Daniels – Depois dos Temporais (Beyond the Storm) This is an absolutely gorgeous track on a tune by Brazilian singer Ivan Lins. The arrangement is magnificent, featuring smooth jazz artist and film composer, Dave Grusin whom we have heard before. And it is very moving with the strings, the production, and the poignant call and response between piano and clarinet. Eddie is the jazz clarinetist of our time; beautiful sound and phrasing. We previously heard him with the Mel Lewis/Thad Jones Big Band in Week #6, as well as in Weeks #15 & #23. Clarinet is regarded as the most difficult wind instrument to learn well and is the precursor to playing all other single reed instruments. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI49gj1nqtI Ivan Lins and Lee Ritenour For comparison, Ivan Lins and Lee Ritenour play the previous tune in a live performance video. Absolutely gorgeous! The tune ends with a nice Lee solo along with Ivan scat-singing. I consider Ivan Lins (and Djavan) the “Stevie Wonder” of Brazil for their writing, composing, and singing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3d8pQyAxRU John Fedchock – Havana (big-band and quartet) Let’s end with more of this fine trombonist (coming from JJ Johnson) whom we heard previously last month (#30) and also in Week #20. Amazing arranging in his New York Big Band; is it his writing? I believe this rhythm is considered a choro (or a bion, although I cannot find this term in Wiki). You will see how a certain beat is emphasized within the bossa nova framework. For comparison I’m also giving you the live quartet performance, which is more of a true bossa nova. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=D14yj3qxRZc&list=RDD14yj3qxRZc&start_radio=1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwMFpMw6EUA |
