Marisa Monte is not what one would call a conventional performer – despite having a very successful career spanning nearly three decades (yes, her debut was released in 1989), reports suggest she was not very happy with the idea of releasing a compilation of her greatest hits. However, since her contract with Universal Music (which merged with EMI in 2011) required a compilation, the solution was to gather a selection of lesser-known songs that appeared as duets on albums by other performers or in movie soundtracks – plus a few that had never seen the light of day until now.
Slightly the perfectionist that she is, this is not a hastily thrown together compilation, but a carefully curated selection of songs. Some of these tracks may be well-known to World Music fans, such as her duet with David Byrne on Jobim’s classic “Waters of March” that appeared on the first album Red, Hot and Rio in 1996 – it’s a welcome update of bossa nova compositions, filled with electronic sounds and the Afro-Brazilian percussion of Carlinhos Brown. Another is the smooth ballad “Ilusion,” a bilingual duet (English/Portuguese) with Mexican singer Julieta Venegas from her MTV Unplugged album.
Among the highlights is “Nu Com a Minha Musica,” a composition by Caetano Veloso originally featured on the criminally overlooked Red, Hot & Rio 2, a celebration of the Tropicalia Generation led by Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Tom Zé, and others. Also great is “Chuva No Mar,” a duet with Portuguese fado singer Carminho.
Because Monte is such a versatile singer, many fans do not realize how good she is at singing traditional samba – in fact, she has made considerable efforts to record samba vocals, and “Volta Meu Amor” and “Dizem Que o Amor” are excellent examples of this – she loses herself in the music without any pretense and emerges with very pleasant moments.
I first encountered the sounds of pianist David Feldman as part of the Brazilian side of Scott Feiner’s “Pandeiro Jazz” project (he recorded his second album of this concept with a Rio-based band). A few years later, he participated in drummer Duduka Da Fonseca’s contemporary trio. In recent years, I heard he was performing in the United States, but I had not had the chance to see him live.
Despite his name sounding English, Feldman was born in Rio and lived in New York for several years after graduating from the New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music until returning to Brazil, where he has a solid career both as a band leader and as a sideman with artists like Leny Andrade, Maria Rita, and Leo Gandelman, to name a few.
On “Horizonte,” Feldman showcases his bossa nova skills on tracks like “Tetê,” a smooth samba that evokes memories of Jobim’s mid-career with a touch of Dorival Caymmi, featuring guitarist Toninho Horta on guitar and vocals. “Esqueceram de Mim no Aeroporto,” however, goes in a more contemporary direction. Marcio Bahia’s drums have rich polyrhythms that perfectly complement Feldman’s groove – bassist Andre Vasconcelos enthusiastically fills the background with his bass line (plus a competent solo in the middle).
“Ceu e Mar” follows a similar direction – a modern piece with clear samba jazz influence, especially via the rhythm section, which maintains the feeling of Rio even as Feldman takes the music elsewhere. “Sliding Ways,” on the other hand, sounds like a jazz homage to samba de gafieira, the type played in dance halls in Brazil. Trombonist Raul de Souza is a guest, giving the track a captivating feel rarely found in jazz albums these days.
ERNEST BARTELDES
Freelance Writer
https://ebarteldes.wordpress.com