In review--Latin Quartet

-

Benjamim Taubkin, Sergio Reze,
Zeca Assumpcao and Joatan Nascimento
Trio + 1
Adventure Music
Trio + 1 marks another splendid release on the Adventure Music label. Brazilian pianist Benjamim Taubkin hooked up with drummer Sergio Reze, bassist Zeca Assumpcao and trumpeter Joatan Nascimento, the +1 in the group, resulting in a sizzling Brazilian jazz recording with a global signature.
The opener, The Desert is Here comes with an ironic title because there is nothing dry or vacant on this lush track. A lilting piano riff is eventually picked up by trumpet, developing into a gorgeous musical conversation. Arabic tones mesh with Latin American ambiance on this long- play track. Baianinho features swinging bass and drums with a New Orleans-style trumpet motif. It is a real challenge not to stand up and dance to this piece.
In the liner notes, Taubkin described the recording process. The musicians recorded 3 takes of 2 tracks for each session then the tracks that showcased the sound of the whole group landed on the CD. Room was left for musicians to solo and improvise on the main themes, while seducing listeners' ears with sparkling trumpet and shimmering piano anchored by double bass and a lot of cymbal, reminiscent of waves crashing on a shoreline.
The re-interpretation of Baden Powell/Vinicius Moraes' Solace (also covered by Astrud Gilberto, Virginia Rodrigues and Celso Fonseca, among others), expanded the notion of space and clocking in at 12 minutes and 2 seconds, the musicians closed out the album on a high note.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction to Peyote Songs & The Native American Church

-
Image
Father Peyote: Songs of the Native American Church Introduction to the Peyote Church Ceremony This is an archival article written in 2003.  It's not updated.  For more recent recordings, go to Canyon Records website, http://www.canyonrecords.com When some people speak of Native American ceremonies, the peyote ceremony or the ingestion of the hallucinogen peyote (contains mescaline) usually surfaces. However, there is too much false information being passed around in the non-native community surrounding peyote meetings. The first thing people need to know about the Native American connection to peyote is that the plant is sacred medicine ingested as a sacrament during healing ceremonies of the Native American Church. The second thing, people need to know is that the Native American Church is not a set structure like the Christian Church. The peyote meeting could take place in a Navajo hogan or a teepee. And finally, since the peyote meeting does in part derive from Nat
Read more

The Practice--Treasure Hunt from the book Whole Music

-
Image
Excerpt from Whole Music The Practice: Musical Treasure Hunt Similar to treasure hunts from our childhood, I’m going to send you on a music treasure hunt in which the pleasures are many.  Pretend that you are a song catcher visiting other cultures where you collect new sounds. While I mentioned sound healers earlier, another important player with music preservation are ethnomusicologists who combine cultural anthropology with music preservation.  Two famous song catchers are the late Alan Lomax, and the world beat drummer Mickey Hart.  I recommend learning more about these song catchers through books, and documentaries. 1) Step One-- Head over to YouTube, and look up the following music traditions: ·          Aboriginal Didgeridoo ·          Finnish Runo-Songs (Traditional singer) ·          Gregorian chants ·          Griot Music of Mali (Acoustic, not pop music) ·          Sanskrit Chants Sung by Hindu Indians in Context (aka Kirtans)
Read more

Talking about Timbre

-
Image
Wikipedia As I mention in my book Whole Music , when I was a child I fell in love with timbre and the voices of the individual instruments we listened to in music class.  Each instrument conjured a specific emotions or feeling in me.  The French horn caused me to feel majestic and the cello invoked melancholy.  My moods would shift with each instrument that I heard and my moods would shift quickly. Today, I listen to more than timbre, but I have an understanding of how tone, frequencies of the tone and timbre (the color of the tone) affect me on all levels.  And I wonder what listening to an entire symphony does with its many voices, themes, keys, musical passages etc... In the concept of "whole music" I prefer not to separate musical components, but in the case of this post, I will present solo instruments for your listening and feeling pleasure. If you keep a music journal (and I hope that you do by now), write down the emotions that come up with each instrument.  R
Read more