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Mejiwahn, producer
Egberto Gismonti, “Baião do Acordar”
I have come to deeply revere the creativity of Egberto Gismonti’s arrangements. His pieces often convey an uncanny sense of physical space within the music. It’s as if he is notating on a three-dimensional plane. An arrangement can dive or swell or shrink or fly. Gismonti’s six-and-a-half-minute masterpiece, “Baião do Acordar,” exemplifies his style, though some credit is surely due to the extraordinary cast of musicians and engineers who brought the album, “Corações Futuristas,” into existence. As is customary with Gismonti, this composition brings together so many of his apparent influences. It’s a true fusion of Brazilian rhythmic traditions, classical orchestra, avant-garde synthesis and American jazz.
The song opens with its first few bars played in reverse, suddenly meeting its sonic mirror image. Luiz Alves’s lilting bass bobs and sways as Gismonti’s staccato piano creeps in. The drummer Robertinho dances frenetically between the two, joining them to build the graceful polyrhythmic tension that persists throughout. This alluring tension rises and falls repeatedly, and at two specific moments, the listener will feel it break. The cascading euphoria is hard to describe, yet it keeps me coming back to these remarkable sounds.
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Maria Luiza de Barros, architect and curator
Letieres Leite Quinteto, “Patinete Rami Rami”
I have great esteem for maestros and composers, and Letieres Leite represents one of those inspirations for me, leaving a living legacy that reflects the zest of Brazilian jazz on many levels. “Patinete Rami Rami,” by Letieres Leite Quinteto, is part of the album “O Enigma Lexeu” (2019), the first by this longtime ensemble. Personally, this track evokes memories of new places, awakening a sense of playfulness and movement. I love anything that makes me feel this way — as if I were lightly walking down the street, with my heart full of courage, even without knowing what awaits me at the final destination.
Every mystery has its time, and I believe that the improvisation and composition of this track are the key points of the adventure, especially with Letieres’s mesmerizing flute. Moreover, the quintet’s entire approach broadens the understanding of jazz, challenging conventions and presenting its confluences around the world, particularly within Brazil’s rich rhythmic landscape. With a classic band format but carrying all the depth of his group Orkestra Rumpilezz, the quintet — made up of Leite, Luizinho do Jêje, Tito Oliveira, Ldson Galter and Marcelo Galter — guides us through the Bahian-Brazilian-jazzistic percussive universe with vibrant blaze.
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Alexandre Matias, journalist
Elis Regina and Hermeto Pascoal, “Asa Branca”/“Corcovado”/”Garota de Ipanema”
It is difficult to choose a single song to represent Brazilian jazz. It is like trying to reduce an entire artistic production to a few minutes of recording. So I landed on three songs that, when mixed into a superb medley improvised during an encore of a show, end up summarizing the richness of our jazz.
I am referring to the final 12 minutes of the performance that Elis Regina gave at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1979. The greatest voice in Brazilian music — and one of the greatest in the world — recorded one of the best live albums alongside an incredible band formed by Hélio Delmiro (guitar), Luizão Maia (bass), Paulinho Braga (drums) and Chico Batera (percussion). Upon returning to the stage after the show ended, she reappears alongside the magician Hermeto Pascoal on the keyboard and walks through three symbols of Brazilian music: the northeastern anthem “Asa Branca,” the most emblematic song by our Robert Johnson, Luiz Gonzaga; and two bossa nova standards, “Corcovado” and the international “Garota de Ipanema,” in which the two travel freely between changes of tempo and movements that show the depth and complexity of the Brazilian musical soul. One of the high points of 20th-century music, regardless of geographical borders.
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