Winner of ‘Best Brazilian CD released in the US’ for 2007 by the Brazilian International Press Awards, this album features pianist Antonio Adolfo with his vocalist daughter Carlo Saboya in a live set of swinging Brazilian jazz and Bossa Nova gems!

Brazilian Music Profile: Antonio Adolfo and Carol Saboya

Although he is acclaimed internationally for his work as a pianist, composer, arranger, and educator, Antonio Adolfo has not gained due recognition among US audiences, primarily because his recordings were rarely available in the States, except as imports. That is sure to change with the release of ‘Antonio Adolfo and Carol Saboya Ao Vivo/Live’ (on the newly formed label Points South Records), on which Adolfo shares the stage – literally and figuratively - with his daughter, vocalist Carol Saboya.

“We are very different, myself and my dad,” explains Saboya. “My music is more dedicated to sung Bossa-Nova while he’s more focused on instrumental Brazilian Jazz. But the concert’s concept, combining Samba Jazz and Bossa-Nova worked out well for us and the audience.”

‘Ao Vivo/Live’ was recorded live during the Festival Miami 2005, on the University of Miami campus. According to Adolfo, “This is truly a live CD. It captures exactly what happened, without any post production work after the fact. Carol’s singing and presentation were so genuine that they didn’t need any enhancement in the studio.”

‘Ao Vivo/Live’ captures the truly spontaneous feel of the best live performances. In fact, Adolfo and Saboya rehearsed just twice with the other players on the CD – Claudio Spiewak on acoustic and electric guitars, Gabriel Vivas on double bass and Carlomagno Araya on drums. Together, the five musicians take on an impressive repertoire of songs by Antonio Carlos Jobim, George Gershwin, Dori Caymmi, Gilberto Gil, and Brazil’s jazz pioneer, Pixinguinha, as well as Adolfo’s own “Sa Marina,” better known internationally as “Pretty World”.

Many of the songs the group performs on ‘Ao Vivo/Live’ were recorded previously by Carol Saboya, who has released six very successful CDs in Brazil and Japan. Mauricio Maestro’s arrangement of “Meu Limao, Meu Limoeiro,” a classic Brazilian folk tune, was originally created for Saboya’s Sessao Passatempo; the classic “Bonita,” was included on her 1998 tribute recording to its composer, Antonio Carlos Jobim. Later in the show, Saboya sings “Passarim,” a new arrangement of Maestro’s original arrangement of the song, from Sessao Passatempo, without any accompaniment at all, truly highlighting the richness and purity of her voice. And “Sa Marina,” written and arranged by Adolfo, was previously included on one of Saboya’s Japanese releases.

Antonio Adolfo grew up in Rio de Janeiro in a musical family – his mother was a violinist in the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra. He began to study music when he was only seven years of age, eventually learning from such legendary musicians as Eumir Deodato and Nadia Boulanger, and by seventeen, he was performing professionally.

During the 1960's, Adolfo made his mark as one of the stars of the burgeoning Bossa Nova scene, leading his own trio and touring with singers Elis Regina and Milton Nascimento. Adolfo has since gone on to compose songs that have been recorded by such artists as Sergio Mendes, Stevie Wonder, Herb Alpert, Earl Klugh, Dionne Warwick and many others. His body of work encompasses some 35 recordings, many of which have won international awards including Brazil’s Sharp Award and the Brazilian International Press Award (the latter, most recently, for Ao Vivo.) He has also composed for television and film, and has released an instructional video, Secrets of Brazilian Music, and the books, Brazilian Music Workshop, and his latest, Phrasing in Brazilian Music.

A strong advocate for music education, in 1985 Adolfo created his own school in Brazil, and he was the Latin American section coordinator for the IAJE (International Association For jazz Education) for nearly a decade.

Following in her father’s musical footsteps, Carol Saboya also began to perform professionally while still a young child. At only eight years old, she was featured on the CD ‘A Menina e a TV’, and also performed on projects by Erasmo Carlos and Angela Ro Ro. After three years living and working in the US, during which she was featured on Sergio Mendes’ CD, Brasileiro, she returned to Brazil to record her first solo CD, ‘Dança da Voz’. Released in 1998, the CD earned Saboya Brazil’s coveted Sharp award for ‘Best New Pop (MPB) Female Singer.’ Saboya has since released six CDs in Brazil and Japan, and in 2006, she was awarded the Spain’s Tabaiba de Oro award as best singer.

Showcasing the impressive talents of two generations of Brazilian music royalty, ‘Ao Vivo/Live’ will serve as a long-overdue introduction of both an emerging young vocal talent and an established master of Brazilian song to North American audiences, who are certain to feel that it was well worth the wait.