A plug from Joe Moore at JazzPortraits prompted me to pick up "Choros & Alegria," a collection of previously unrecorded pieces from and supervised by notable Brazilian composer and arranger Moacir Santos. The disk consists of mildly Latin-inflected large group play, often Ellingtonian or movie score-like in scope with an undercurrent of touchstone sounds associated with better-known Brazilian songsters like Gilberto and Jobim.
The music is excellent, but the musicians (not one, with the exception of a guest spot by Wynton Marsalis, what you would call famous, at least outside Brazil) are the highlight to me. In sum, this CD gives great horn, for example the memorable trombone playing on "Now I Know," some Pepper Adams-reminiscent baritone sax on "Another Thing" and nice saxes and French horn work on "Paradise," a ballad that fairly channels the melancholy of lost love. Marvelous saxophone soloing on "The Lemurians" as well, and some ear-catching trumpet and Spanish-tinged guitar elsewhere, the latter not too far from being in a league with Kenny Burrell or Wes Montgomery. "Route" is a thoroughly modern big band piece, the kind of thing you might get with the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. Thanks for the tip Joe.
No comments:
Post a Comment