#luis bonfa

[louxosenjoyables]

Seville

Luis Bonfa

[myrecordcollections]

Stan Getz, Luis Bonfa

Jazz Samba Encore

@ 1963  Germany Pressing

***

Here's some more bossa nova from Stan Getz when the bloom was still on the first Brazilian boom. This time, however, on his third such album, Getz relies mostly upon native Brazilians for his backing. Thus, the soft-focused grooves are considerably more attuned to what was actually coming out of Brazil at the time. Two bona fide giants, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Luiz Bonfá (who gets co-billing), provide the guitars and all of the material, and Maria Toledo contributes an occasional throaty vocal. Getz injects more high-wailing passages into his intuitive affinity for the groove, even going for some fast bop on "Un Abraco No Getz," and Bonfá takes adept care of the guitar solos against Jobim's rock-steady rhythm. Clearly Jobim's songwriting contributions -- "So Danco Samba," "How Insensitive," and "O Morro Nao Tem Vez" -- would have the longest shelf life, and though the album didn't sell as well as its two predecessors, it certainly helped break these tunes into the permanent jazz repertoire. Avid bossa nova fans will certainly treasure this album for the lesser-known Bonfá tunes.

[dustedmagazine]

Listed: Shane Parish

Shane Parish knows a few things about changes. Born Shane Perlowin, he grew up in the sticky flatlands of Florida and settled in the higher, dryer environs of Asheville, NC. He formed the Ahleuchatistas, a high-energy electric instrumental outfit that took its name from a Mexican revolutionary movement and a Charlie Parker tune, in 2002, and has been its sole consistent member (currently drummer Ryan Oslance is the other half of the band). In Asheville, Shane earns his crust as a guitar teacher and has made his cultural impact as the curator and coordinator of improvised music at a succession of venues. He’s demonstrated his responsiveness on recordings with Jacob Wick, Tatsuya Nakatani, Frank Rosaly, and Tashi Dorji, but also articulated a personal improvisational language that aspires to the formal coherence of folk songs and classical compositions on solo recordings like Odei and his Tzadik debut, Undertaker Please Drive Slow (reviewed on Dusted here). Along the way he’s acquired a different surname, a family, and a dress-up gig entertaining tourists at Asheville’s Biltmore Estate.       

Remembering Mr. Rogers (1994/1997), Charlie Rose

"We get so wrapped up in numbers in our society.The most important thing is that we're able to be one to one. At the moment. If we can be present to the moment with the person that we happen to be with at the moment. That's what's important.” I personally regard Fred Rogers perhaps the way many people do the Dalai Lama. A giant of a man who has made the world safer for millions of children and adults. And not a bad composer in his own right!! When Charlie Rose asks him, “Who has made a difference in your life?” Mister Rogers answers: “Oh, a lot of people. But, a lot of people who have allowed me to have some silence. And I don't think we give that gift very much anymore. I am very concerned that our society is much more interested in information than wonder. In noise, rather than silence.” 

Where the Heart Beats: John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists by Kay Larson

Having spent a large part of my college days reading and writing about John Cage for my BA in philosophy, I was super stoked when this biography was published in 2013. It features my favorite writing about Cage’s life and the global community of artists that he inspired. It delves deep into the Zen philosophy that informed his life and work, and draws lines connecting the various artists with whom he came into contact.      

The Complete Folkways Recordings, 1958 by Joseph Spence

Bahamian guitarist, Joseph Spence, mumbles and growls improvisatory variations on the themes of his repertoire throughout each performance.  While his playing is hard-driving, he doesn’t ride the pulse to death with a bass note on every quarter note. I once read that his style is “rolling” like the ocean he was surrounded by, as opposed to the American players whose feel mimicked the driving straight lines of the railroad trains. The music is constantly morphing and breaking into jagged angles, full of his own idiosyncratic ornaments that get recycled into subtly shifting permutations, while never losing the implied pulse. These songs could go on all day long and that would be a great day of head bobbing, indeed.  

What Happened Miss Simone? by Liz Garbus  

The 2015 documentary about Nina Simone is an intense emotional roller coaster about one of the greatest musical geniuses to grace our planet with her presence. Her life was a struggle marked by trauma and abuse. Her militant politics were uncompromising, as she responded to the daily violence and injustice perpetrated against black people by our racist society. Her pain found expression in the all-consuming, overwhelming intensity of her performances. As a virtuoso pianist, she seamlessly fuses Bach with the blues and jazz to produce the most kaleidoscopic and dazzling improvised fantasies imaginable.    

King of the Klezmer Clarinet by Naftule Brandwein  

A traditional Klezmer song performance cycles through a handful of themes a few times and then the song is over. Any fresh perspective brought to these tunes must happen with subtle changes in articulation, ornamentation, tone, and dynamics. Naftule Brandwein plays with such whimsy and abandon within the confines of this restricted form. The way he toys with the composed melodies keeps them alive and interesting for each cycle through. I have often thought about how his glissandi and trills can be realized on guitar. A great role model for avoiding stagnation within a context of repetition.  

Tallahassee, The Movie, parts 1 - 4 by Courtney Chappell 

In this piece of cinéma vérité the director takes us with her as she returns to her childhood hometown, ostensibly to work on an art project with a childhood friend. It explores themes of failure, trauma, nihilism and friendship against the backdrop of a mundane college town in Florida.  

Solo in Rio 1959 by Luiz Bonfa 

One of my favorite solo guitar outings, full of syncopated rhythms, incredible contrasts in tone, lyrical use of chromatic harmony. You get the sense there is nothing this guy can’t do. The guitar as drum. The guitar as orchestra, in the Segovia sense. He paints a rich and colorful picture of life going by with his instrument, as in the inventive tone poem, “A Brazilian in New York”, where he live scores his spoken narrative about walking through the city. “Murder” is an angular and varied improvisation that sounds incredibly modern, as if parts of it could have been played by Mary Halvorson or Thomas Bonvalet.  

His Great Songs by Atahualpa Yupanqui

The legendary Argentinian folk singer and guitarist’s playing is dark, lyrical and virtuosic, and he has the voice of an angel. In his hands, the instrument becomes a sparkling stream of water flowing. He blends classical technique with flamenco and folkloric traditions, performing breathtaking instrumentals and providing intricate accompaniment to his velvety vocalizations.    

Doris by Cindy Crabb 

A prolific handmade zine chronicling the adventures of a lifer punk rock political activist, dealing with issues around abortion, sexual abuse, masculinity, feminism, anarchism, and mental health. Often, the stories are accompanied by Crabb’s stylized cartoon drawings. For me, her short stories have a kinship with the realism and inner life revelations of Carson McCullers.  

Thelonious Himself by Thelonious Monk 

There is nothing quite like Monk alone. Brad Mehldau explained it well, even if a bit overly academically, in his liner notes to his own 2006 album, House on Hill. The internal logic of a piece is inherent in Monk’s improvisations, which flow naturally out of the theme. When anyone else plays a Monk tune, they superimpose their own jazz education, background and inclinations into the improvising. While this is unavoidable, and not a bad thing altogether, hearing the singular artist alone is a total immersion into his peculiar genius.  

Canticles of Ecstasy by Hildegard von Bingen performed by Sequentia  

This music was the soundtrack to the birth of my daughter. Haunting holy vocal music from the 12th century and some of the finest drone-based music ever composed. Transcendent. 

Paris is Burning by Jennie Livingston

Documentary about the New York gay ballroom scene in the late 1980’s. A candid and deep study in counterculture, persona, and fame. Dorian Corey, a drag queen whose insights are featured prominently throughout the film leaves us with these words, “You left a mark on the world if you just get through it… you don’t have to bend the whole world. I think it’s better to just enjoy it, pay your dues, and enjoy it. If you shoot a arrow and it goes real high, hooray for you.”  

[johnkatsmc5]

Luis Bonfa "Jacaranda" 1973 Brazil Latin,Soul  Samba Bossa Jazz Fusion  features Eumir Deodato!...a  Samba Bossa classic....

full

https://vk.com/wall-134835653_399

One of Bossa Nova's original exponents updates his sound with the assistance of Airto, Stanley Clark and Idris Muhammad to arrangements by Deodato. This is heavyweight Brazilian Jazz fusion with some beautiful solo guitar.......... After the initial shockwaves of Miles Davis' seminal fusion recordings began to settle, jazz rock fusion began to become a genre unto itself. What Miles had created as a way of opening both the disciplines up to one another -- in the same manner that bossa nova and rhythm and blues did in the 1960s -- created a slew of musical possibilities before fusion closed in on itself in the later 1970s and became its own restrictive genre, full of sterile, workmanlike chops, and endlessly repetitive rhythmic constructs. But perhaps no one, not even Weather Report's Joe Zawinul or Creed Taylor at CTI realized the full aesthetic and panoramic potential of fusing seemingly disparate elements together in an entirely new tapestry, the way that Brazilian composer and guitarist Luiz Bonfá did on Jacarandá in 1973. His collaborators, producer John Wood and arranger/conductor Eumir Deodato, assembled a huge cast of musicians in both New York and Los Angeles, and came up with nothing short of a grooving, blissed-out masterpiece of fusion exotica. The cast of players is in and of itself dizzying: Airto, Deodato, Bonfá on acoustic guitars, Stanley Clarke, Wood, Mark Drury, Ray Barretto, John Tropea (on electric guitars), Bill Watrous, Randy Brecker, Idris Muhammad, Jerry Dodgion, Sonny Boyer, Phil Bodner, Maria Toledo, and many others -- including full string and horn sections. The ambitious Deodato charts opened up the principals and brought hard Afro-Cuban rhythms, softer Brazilian ones, funky riffing soul and R&B interludes, and classical themes and variations, as well as sophisticated jazz harmonics and syncopation to a collection of tunes by Bonfá and others. Sound like a mess? Hardly. This is one of the most disciplined and ambitions recordings to be issued during that decade. Here Bonfá's gorgeous palette of samba and bossa melodies is married to film score dynamics, lush romantic cadenzas, smoking jazz grooves and cultured extrapolations of folk and popular music schemas. creating a stunning mosaic of color, release, pastoral elegance and bad-ass, intoxicating, polyrhythmic Latin soul vistas. While the entire album flows form front to back with seamless ease, there are a few standouts. The opener, "Apache Talk," features Barretto's congas creating a bottom for Muhammad's brushes and snare, as Clarke's bass plays one note insistently and hypnotically before Wood's Rhodes and finally Bonfá's 12-string come shimmering in with a funky urgency that is underscored by Tropea's bluesy fills. When the horns finally enter, the entire thing is popping and grooving on its own punchy axis. It's a wonder that Gilles Peterson hasn't picked up on this cut yet. Elsewhere, Bonfá's velvety tropical read of Enriqué Granados' "Dance No. 5," with its slippery classical guitar and extended harmonic palette, is a whispering wonder of sensual delight. The minor-key riffing in "Strange Message" that becomes a full-blown soundtrack-esque anthem is a wonder, and the jazzy soul of the title track with Drury's popping stand-up bass playing counterpoint to Bonfá's 12-string before Muhammad and Wood kick it on the funky side is breathtaking (Man, if Ralph Towner could only play 12-string like this, he might have been a contender!),   Review by Eli Schoop ............................... To many, jazz has always been seen as a form of music based on technicality and instrumentality. It's not rare to have excessively long solos and shows of skill in otherwise brilliant displays of musical prowess, tediously lengthening the song to the point where it's gratuitous. Even though jazz as a genre is one of the most storied in all of music culture, it isn't nearly as popular as others due to much of its content being bloated, this being the case even for the staples of jazz. Enter Luiz Bonfa, Brazilian guitarist and jazz aficionado. After his work in the 50s and 60s with such jazz pioneers including Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto, and Eumir Deodato, Bonfa turned to jazz fusion as a way to showcase his brilliance on the guitar and lend exposure to the newfound subgenre, made renowned by Miles Davis and his recordings at the turn of the 60s. What results is one of the most sublime jazz records of the 70s, and a fantastic introduction to the world of Luiz Bonfa. But of course, as is the jazz standard, Bonfa didn't just record this superb album by himself. Indeed, the personnel of Jacaranda is a testament to how far collaborative efforts can bolster a creative piece. There are almost 50 musicians credited on this LP, not to mention the producers and sound mixers that weren't directly involved in the music, but must of spent countless polishing and perfecting the album. The range of talent on Jacaranda is hugely noticeable on tracks like "Don Quixote", where all of the instruments featured add up to a beautiful arrangement compounded by Bonfa's exquisite guitar-playing. The flute weaves in and out, emulating a songbird, backed by the ethereal harmonic chants lending the song an air of godliness, while the congas and the bass provide a solid rhythm, bringing it back down to earth. Frankly, it's quite remarkable that Bonfa was able to write excellent compositions while still having to direct all this talent, which speaks volumes about the amount of respect he commanded as a musician. It then makes sense how Jacaranda, unlike many other jazz records, doesn't feel forced or devoid of emotion. Take the Bonfa-only "Song Thoughts" as a suitable example of its earnestness. The Italian-style strumming and ambient atmosphere make it a departure from the samba-influenced fusion of the previous songs, yet it fits in between more upbeat tracks with ease, in part due to the wholly relaxing mixture of lead and rhythm guitar. "Empty Room" is another standout that breaks free of conventions and highlights how Bonfa's mixing of genres lead to a terrific end product. The soft acoustic guitar and piano that accompanies the intro devolves into chaos, as trumpet and string section into one big jumbled mess. But the calm after the storm Bonfa induces is evident, and soon, grooves between erratic guitar and the restless rhythm section forces a thrilling yet subdued crescendo. The record ends not with an all-out explosion of sound, but what seems like a jam session. Fitting perhaps, as this really is a love letter to jazz fusion and Bonfa utilizing all of his contemporaries on Jacaranda works masterfully. By the end of "Sun Flower", it's apparent that whilst straying from the commonplace sounds of jazz in that era, the work done here by Bonfa and crew fittingly crafts an album worthy of standing alongside the pinnacles of genre. Very rarely are the dynamics of the record skewed too heavily in favor of any one musician as well. Although Bonfa is obviously the star, his willingness to lend credence to others' performances suits flawlessly Jacaranda, and even though the summation of the LP is an album with Bonfa's name on it, he couldn't have done it without the performances of his peers. Jacaranda certainly isn't the only of its kind, but it has stood as the crowning achievement of Luiz Bonfa, and with an artist as accomplished as him, that's no small feat............... Personnel: Luiz Bonfá (guitar, vocal), Eumir Deodato (piano, electric piano, keyboards), John Wood (electric piano), Stanley Clarke (electric bass), Mark Drury (bass), Idris Muhammad (drums), Richard O'Connell (drums), Airto Moreira (percussion), Ray Barretto (conga), John Tropea (electric guitar), Sonny Boyer (tenor sax), Phil Bodner (flute, oboe, english horn, clarinet), Romeo Penque (flute, bass clarinet, baritone sax), Jerry Dodgion (flute, alto sax), Randy Brecker (trumpet, flugelhorn), Burt Collins (trumpet), John Frosk (trumpet), Marky Markowitz (trumpet), Marvin Stamm (trumpet, flugelhorn), Wayne Andre (trombone), Garnett Brown (trombone), Bill Watrous (trombone), Tony Studd (bass trombone), Jim Buffington (french horn), Peter Gordon (french horn), Harry Lookofsky (violin), Harry Cykman (violin), Max Ellen (violin), Paul Gershman (violin), Emanuel Green (violin), Harry Katzman (violin), Harold Kohon (violin), Joe Malin (violin), David Nadien (violin), Gene Orloff (violin), Elliot Rosoff (violin), Irving Spice (violin), Alfred Brown (viola), Harold Coletta (viola), Selwart Clark (viola), Emanuel Vardi (viola), Charles McCracken (cello), George Ricci (cello), Alan Shulman (cello), Gloria Lanzarone (cello), Alvin Brehm (arco bass), Russell Savakus (arco bass), Sonia Burnier (vocal), and Maria Helena Toledo (vocals) Tracks: A1 Apache Talk A2 Jacaranda A3 Gentle Rain A4 You Or Not To Be A5 Strange Message B1 Don Quixote B2 Song Thoughts B3 Danse V B4 Empty Room B5 Sun Flower

[saltineofswing]

[studpup]

I haven’t uploaded anything in a ridiculously long time, but I’ve been told I need to get going again lol

So... Here’s one of my absolute favourite songs of all time and this is probably my fave version. It’s just perfection. Enjoy!

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr44DAw4aT0)

[kameleonid]

[jazzwhatever]

Awesome latin jazz fusion album from 1973!