Symphony In Bossa By Minas

Philadelphia-based husband and wife duo Minas, comprised of guitarist/vocalist/composer Orlando Haddad and pianist/vocalist/composer Patricia King, have performed together over the past three decades in a variety of formats ranging from duo to ensemble to orchestra and big band. Haddad and King have combined their Brazilian and American roots to create a sound that merges north and south with big band jazz and Brazilian bossa nova – the result is an album 10 years in the making: Symphony in Bossa. This ambitious album serves as a monumental achievement for the Brazilian culture that they have dedicated their lives to preserving and spreading. The music includes fresh takes on old classics such as “The Girl from Ipanema,” “Quiet Nights,” “Triste,” “Waters of March,” and introduces three Minas originals, “Sinal Verde,” “Amazonia,” and “Only the Moon and the Stars.” Symphony in Bossa features more than 60 musicians, including The Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia, conducted by trumpeter Terell Stafford. The album is augmented by a string section and many guest artists, including Brazilians Leonardo Lucini (bass), Adriano Santos (drums), Zé Maurício (percussion), and Philadelphia’s own Larry McKenna (saxophone), John Swana (trumpet) and Tony Salicandro (flute). Orchestral arrangements were written by the late Philadelphia arranger and University of the Arts professor Bill Zaccagni (Bobby Ridell, Patti LaBelle), specifically for Minas. In 2004, Haddad & King began a collaboration with Zaccagni to create a large-scale work written specially for Minas, incorporating original compositions with traditional Brazilian repertoire and enhanced by big band and strings. “It is our hope that Symphony in Bossa expands the unique marriage of American big band jazz and Brazilian bossa nova into new musical realms,” states Haddad and King. The album is dedicated in memory of Zaccagni, who passed away in 2007, leaving Minas with the extraordinary gift of this music. “It represents some of his best writing,” comments Haddad and...

Clipper Anderson – “Ballad of the Sad Young Men”

Hidden in the basement of Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington is bassist/vocalist Clipper Anderson. Not ringing any bells? That’s because he has been a sideman, buried behind the principals on upwards of 60 recordings while recording as leader on two previous releases: And to All a Goodnight (Origin Records, 2011) and The Road Home (Origin Records, 2012). Anderson follows up this latter recording with Ballad of the Sad Young Men, his first all vocal outing performed in the intimate confines of the piano trio.Clipper Anderson’s voice is more Tony Bennett than Frank Sinatra and way more Tony Bennett than Johnny Hartman, as has been reputed. His voice is not perfect, but possesses a certain uniqueness making it an exceptional vehicle for his broad repertoire. His singing is effortless in the natural way of self-effacing singers who show no tentative self-consciousness, only pure sound and honesty. Anderson shares this trait with labelmate Jeff Baker–Baker Sings Chet (OA2 Records, 2004)–who possesses these same attractive vocal characteristics.Anderson is thoughtful in his song selection by not challenging the listener with one more “My Funny Valentine.” In fact, “It Never Entered My Mind” and “Only The Lonely” are about the most common standards on this disc of a dozen ballads. The title cut and {{Billy Strayhorn’s “Blood Count” are better examples of the deep loam of material from which Anderson draws. Instrumentally, the trio makes the unassuming and competent music necessary to accompany a vocalist, while shifting into virtuosity when called upon to solo. Anderson’s bass possesses a sure internal metronome that swings bolstered by drummer Mark Ivester equally-measured sense of time. Pianist Darin Clendenin is the soul of discretion and taste, whose solos are miniature recitals. Tastefully rendered music. (By: C. Michael Bailey (All About...

Maucha Adnet & Helio Alves

Individually, vocalist Maucha Adnet and pianist Helio Alves boast impressive résumés. She has collaborated with Charlie Byrd, Dori Caymmi, Eliane Elias, Gilberto Gil and Toninho Horta, and spent a decade touring and recording with Antonio Carlos Jobim. He’s partnered with an equally illustrious assortment of artists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Joe Henderson and Paquito D’Rivera. But the two Brazilians’ finest performances, spanning two decades, have been side-by-side. Now, at long last, Adnet and Alves have united for an album, a 14-track compendium that captures a kinship that is the musical equivalent of water and air: distinct yet vitally interdependent. Alves is the sun-dappled sea, alternately roiling and calm but consistently deep, powerful and mysterious. Adnet is the vast sky, sometimes cloudy and occasionally stormy. Together they strip bare both familiar gems (Caymmi’s “O Cantador,” Jobim’s “Caminhos Cruzados” and the near-century-old “Tico-Tico no Fubá”) and lesser-known classics (notably the Jobim film theme “Gabriela” and Edu Lobo and Vinicius de Moraes’ mournful “Canto Triste”), fully restoring their raw beauty. While Alves never falters, Adnet does stumble once. In the liner notes she admits to being somewhat challenged by the idea of singing “Waters of March” in English, and her discomfort shows. How much better, and truer to the spirit of the album, if she’d kept to Jobim’s original Portuguese lyric.  (By: Christopher Loudon, “Jazz...

Jackie Ryan – Listen Here

Now, with the flawless Listen Here, Ryan again surpasses herself. As always, her tone, phrasing and interpretive smarts are impeccable and her range sublime, but there is a fresh earthiness evident across these 14 tracks, an even richer naturalness. Never one to underplay her dexterity, Ryan covers considerable musical ground, traveling from the brass-lined fervor of her opening “Comin’ Home Baby” and testifying strut of “Accentuate the Positive” to the warm breeziness of “Anytime, Any Day, Anywhere” and the hushed beauty of the Dave Frishberg title track. Along the way, she delivers an enchanted reading of Abbey Lincoln’s “Throw It Away,” revisits the Mexican half of her heritage with the heartrending “La Puerta,” and rivals the majesty of Nina Simone on a towering “I Loves You, Porgy.” John Clayton who, in addition to playing bass (alongside son Gerald on piano and organ), served as producer...

Virginia Arts Festival Brings Jazz Vocal and Brazilian Music

Nicki Parrott is making her second visit to Hampton Roads in the past year.   She wowed all of us in attendance in an earlier stint at Virginia Beach’s Havana Nights.   Parrott is the complete musical package.   An attractive and talented bass player, she displays the poise and prescence of a rising star.   And then there is her voice, a warm and flexible instrument that beautifully shapes and colors whatever she chooses to sing.   In the past year Parrott has released four albums in Japan each celebrating a different season of the year.   She has also done a duet album with Ken Peplowski and is a member of the Les Paul Trio that performs every Monday night at Iridium in New York City.  Parrott will be at the Attucks Sat May 18th at 8pm. Sutton is making a return visit to the Virginia Arts Festival.    But this time with a twist.  She will be peforming with the always adventerous Turtle Island String Quartet.   Sutton and the Quartet have recently collaborated on Sutton’s upcoming album.   They will be featured Wednesday May 1 at the Sandler Center. Which brings me to Luciana Souza, the Brazilian born vocalist who will be showcased at the Robin Hixon Theatre in the Virginia Arts Festival building in Norfolk 8pm on May 10.  Souza has an understated quiet style, showcased so effectively on her latest album “Brazilian Duos” Volume 3.    ...

Carol Saboya -The Music of Ivan Lins and Milton Nascimento

It has always been a musical environment. Carol Saboya, the composer Antônio Adolfo’s daughter, was raised surrounded by inspired chords, scribbled scores and songs being born: The art in its full creation process. She spent three years studying singing in the United States, taking part in Sérgio Mendes’ Brasileiro CD. After returning to Brazil, she made a recording with the North American pianist Joyce Collins and participated in a tribute to Aldir Blanc, who was moved to listen to Carol featuring the song Carta de pedraat Canecão. The girl with that sweet voice and impeccable tuning started getting the media’s attention. Carol’s expected solo work came in 1998. Dança da voz, produced by Almir Chediak, awarded Carol the 1998’s as new vocalist by “Prêmio Sharp”. On the following year, she jumped into Tom Jobim’s work and recorded the album Janelas abertas, accompanied by Nelson Faria’s guitar. In 2000, it is time to make a collective unconscious visit with the cinematographic repertoire of Sessão Passatempo. In the same year, she featured Imaginária by Suely Mesquita and Mário Sève in the Brazilian Music Festival (Festival da Música Brasileira) promoted by ‘TV Globo’. The next album, Presente(2003), recovers the first album’s sophisticated and successful mix of popular and traditional music. Two years after, a new CD was released: Antonio Adolfo e Carol Saboya ao vivo/live , wich was recorded in Festival Miami. In 2008 another CD, Chão aberto, focusing on songs by brazilian young talent Mário Sève. In 2010, once again an album with Antonio Adolfo (Lá e Cá/Here and There). Mixing Brazilian and American standards by some of the most inspired composers, such as Jobim and Cole Prter. For the first time, in 2012, a solo album released in the US, the CD Belezas – The Music of Ivan Lins and Milton Nascimento. Produced and arranged by Antonio Adolfo, with a...