It’s been a busy year for Bossa Nova’s 50th anniversary celebration. Dozens of new albums and compilation reissues have captured the headlines with their pronouncements of the ‘genuine Bossa beat’. In fact, Bossa Nova has become such a part of our American culture that sometimes it’s easy to forget where it came from in the first place.
That’s why this album is such a treasure, and a real ‘sleeper’. The cover art won’t grab you, and most of the reviews will tell you that this is ‘Milton Nascimento’s new CD’ and pretty much leave it at that. But there’s more to this recording than first meets the ear. A lot more.
Five decades ago, the Rio beach districts of Copacabana and Ipanema were populated with dozens of small bars and nightclubs, and the thousands of active middle-class teens who dressed up and turned out.
Jazz mingled with Samba, and Bossa Nova found its voice. Back in the day, you could step into any of these clubs to catch a set with the Tamba Trio (left), Bossa Jazz Trio, Zimbo Trio or the Jongo Trio or the Sambalanço Trio (with Cesar Camargo Mariano and Airto) or the Donato Trio. Or the Madfredo Fest Trio, Antonio Adolfo’s 3-D or even Bossa Três.
Beginning to see a pattern? These are the groups that drove the Bossa beat deep into the Carioca night. A recent article in the Miami Herald brought that era into sharp focus: ''Try to imagine the experience of a teenager in Brazil turning on the radio and hearing that coming out, against the background of everything they'd been hearing before -- how right on the moment it was and yet completely different and new. It was like turning on Ed Sullivan and seeing Elvis gyrate. It was wild.''
And 50 years ago, Antonio Carlos Jobim was its pioneer.
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Two generations removed, the trio on ‘Novas Bossas’ is a stellar result of that magical time, a living legacy for Jobim. It starts with his son the guitarist, Paulo Jobim, and then is passed on to his grandson the pianist, Daniel Jobim. Paulo Braga joins as Bossa Nova’s consummate drummer: he toured with Antonio Carlos Jobim for 15 years. Bassist Rodrigo Villa anchors this all-acoustic group, whose artistic reference on ‘Novas Bossas’ is a comfortable homage - honest and heartfelt.
Milton Nascimento’s gift here is twofold. His voice remains vibrant and he uses it to great effect. It’s a rare chance to see him in the role of interpreter – an even greater challenge when the music comes from a maestro such as Jobim. And while the playlist also includes three of Nascimento’s best-known songs - plus one penned by Jobim’s early songwriting partner Vinicius de Moraes – it’s clear that the role Nascimento has chosen to play here is as part of the supporting cast. The lead clearly belongs to the music.
With the US tour almost at an end, the group will focus on its European leg – on to Paris, then the French Riviera…
On stage, Daniel wears a thin-brimmed Panama in honor of his granddad. Seated at the piano, he sways side to side as an angular counterpoint to Nascimento’s easy center-stage stance.
And then, life imitates art.
Daniel lowers his head towards the keyboard to softly sing an introduction to one of Milton Nascimento’s own songs: sounding so much like Antonio Carlos Jobim that it catches you off guard – even when you’re prepared for it. A gracious showing of respect from one voice to another for the spirit of Jobim.
- Scott Adams, Connectbrazil.com
From The Label:
Legendary Brazilian composer, arranger, singer, pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim used to say that Milton Nascimento was the only singer capable of reaching the original pitches of his compositions. Story has it that it was in the town of Diamantina, Minas Gerais, that João Gilberto rehearsed to exhaustion the acoustic guitar beat that would be key to bossa nova’s birth, in Rio de Janeiro. Nothing could be more appropriate, therefore, than Milton Nascimento joining the Jobim Trio to celebrate the genre’s 50th anniversary with the September 30th Blue Note Records release, Novas Bossas. The album is co-produced by Chico Neves and also includes a guest appearance from bassist Rodrigo Villa.
The seeds for Novas Bossas were planted last year in honor of what would have been Jobim’s 80th birthday year. Milton Nascimento and the Jobim Trio performed together at Rio de Janeiro’s Botanical Garden, in a concert paying homage to the supreme maestro. The event was a reunion of artists longtime acquainted and Novas Bossas is one more chapter of this story, one that is already more than four decades strong. This collaboration celebrates the timeless artistry of Jobim bringing his classic songs and sounds to new audiences.
