There’s No Better Time Of Year To Celebrate Brazilian Jazz
The Brazilian Jazz Appreciation Showcase highlights Brazil’s musical creativity. Each handpicked song is destined for your personal playlist.
Presented by AccuRadio
The Brazilian Jazz Appreciation Showcase
Where to begin? Let’s start with Ary Barroso’s ‘Brazil’ (‘Aquarela do Brazil’) from 1939. His bands were an easy match for Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw. Even then, Brazil stood as a cross-culture cousin. Barroso’s song went to #1 on America’s music charts.
Bossa Nova gave us Jazz Samba, then Deodato’s jazz fusion. The Berklee College of Music nurtured a generation of Brazilian Jazz stars, paving the way for today’s generation of homegrown Brazilian and American jazz.
I started Connect Brazil for fans like you and to support the musicians who create the music we love, including the fine musicians on this list. If you are new to Connect Brazil, welcome!
There’s a lot to enjoy with this Showcase. You’re welcome to share it with your friends. Then, reach out to these musicians on their socials to say “thank you”!
Scott Adams, Midday Host
The Sounds of Brazil’s streaming station at Connect Brazil
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- Watch for July’s Hot Brazilian Summer Sambas Showcase!
The Brazilian Jazz Appreciation Showcase
Ella & The Bossa Beat and Ryan DeHues | ‘Spring Love’
Finally, Spring! And our streaming station’s playlist reflects it. Bright, sun-kissed melodies adding to the warmth of Brazil. Bossa Nova’s perennial style reminds us that love is in the air. This year, the change of seasons welcomes an original duet from Ella & The Bossa Beat with Bossa crooner Ryan DeHues.
Ella penned ‘Spring Love’ especially for the two of them to sing and the intimacy is unmistakably romantic. It’s a jazzy, irresistible throwback to the memories of Springs gone by and to the promise of what lies ahead:
Dancing closely, my love comes slowly, in your arms the world fades away. My heart… will sing… my love… with you. I found Spring…
- Read about Ella and Ryan, the true life inspiration for ‘Spring Love’, plus the lyrics here.
Ella & The Bossa Beat and Ryan DeHues
Ella & The Bossa Beat
Ryan DeHues
Buy ‘Spring Love’ Here | Amazon | Apple Music | Spotify
Listen free: XODO | New Music: Brazil | Bossa Nova Love Affair | Our Streaming Station
Johnny Britt | ‘Cherie Je Taime’ from Midnight In Paris
There’s no doubt that Bossa Nova is where Brazil meets jazz, and Brazil’s most favorite rhythm keeps evolving. One of its most exciting trends is Urban Bossa, with each new song bringing new melodic and rhythmic ideas to explore.
Both create the pattern for ‘Cherie Je T’aime’ and the effect is a tropical groove so compelling that you can’t help but be drawn in. Britt’s vocals bring a touch of Motown magic to the lyrics: He started out as the youngest musical director for The Temptations. Britt’s trumpet lays down with sensual expression. He is classically trained at Conservatoire de Versailles in Paris. Now you’re beginning to get the idea.
The 12 instrumental and vocal tracks found in Midnight In Paris are inspired by his Parisian experiences and the city’s thriving music scene. Especially Jazz, R&B, and Bossa Nova. ‘Cherie Je T’aime’ is where it all comes together.
- Johnny Britt has led an amazing life in music. Learn more about him with our 10 Questions With Johnny Britt.
Johnny Britt
Buy it here: Amazon Music | Apple Music | Spotify
Listen free on: Bossa Nova Love Affair | Brazilian Jazz | New Music: Brazil | Our Streaming Station
Gregory Abbott – ‘Como Em Casa (Brazil Is Inside Of Me)’
Have you ever received a picture postcard from Brazil? If so, you probably thought “that lucky so and so”. If not, well, luck is on your side because Gregory Abbott has just delivered a singing telegram straight to your heart.
In fact, it’s better than that. This song takes us on a guided tour to the places he’s grown fond of:
Soaring high in the clouds, first time to Rio. The emerald waters reaching for the sky. I’d always heard of the Christ on Corcovado. Protecting the bay below with arms held wide.
Abbott’s heartfelt travelogue carries tonal touches that will tempt you to pack your bags. From its breezy vocal chorus to the soaring strings, Abbott’s amazement and gratitude caress every phrase.
Headed for the beach? Settle in, press ‘repeat play’ and let Gregory Abbott sing his story. After a while, you’ll realize that he’s taken you halfway there.
- Read the passionate story behind this song!
- Listen to the streaming debut along with the official video release of ‘this song ‘Como Em Casa (Brazil Is Inside Of Me)’ on Friday, April 11.
Gregory Abbott’s ‘Como Em Casa (Brazil Is Inside of Me)’
Buy it here: Amazon | Bandcamp | SoundCloud | Apple Music | Spotify
Listen free on: Bossa Nova Love Affair | Brazilian Jazz | New Music: Brazil | Our Streaming Station
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Connect Brazil Recommends:
The Brazilian Jazz Appreciation Showcase
The Charlie Rouse Band | ‘Cravo e Canela’ from Cinnamon Flower – The Expanded Edition
Connect Brazil continues to expand on its cultural mission by taking the lead for Brazilian music during the Smithsonian’s Jazz Appreciation Month. This story, plus the one that follows below, is another step forward.
By the mid-70s, Charlie Rouse was on his own. The hard bop saxophonist had left the highly acclaimed Thelonious Monk Quartet and now found himself in the studio with a brace of Brazil’s most talented jazzers.
With him was one of Manhattan’s most sought-after engineers, George Klabin.
The result was Rouse’s jazz fusion album, Cinnamon Flower and he soon found a label to release it. But, the label’s owner made significant changes to the recording. Overdubs, edits and cutting solos to be more commercially appealing. So the original recording was never released. Until now.
Klabin’s Resonance Records will release both versions of the album in a 2-CD set in early July. Here’s a golden opportunity for fans to compare them.
Two singles will be released in the weeks ahead and you’ll hear them on Connect Brazil’s streaming station and on our streaming channels. Watch for our in-depth feature story on Cinnamon Flower in our July Showcase!
- Now, please continue to the next story, because George Klabin has breaking news to share!
The Charlie Rouse Band – Cinnamon Flower – The Expanded Edition on Resonance Records
Listen free: Brazilian Jazz | The Milton Nascimento Channel | Brazilian Jazz Instrumentals | XODO | Our Streaming Station
George Klabin – Preview for the Heart of Brasil Radio Show
A new radio show is coming soon to Connect Brazil’s live streaming station. Beginning in July, Grammy-winning label owner George Klabin will host a 90-minute weekly show, Heart of Brasil.
The word ‘unique’ is used all too often, but here it could not be more accurate. As explained here, “Klabin’s Heart of Brasil will feature rare and unreleased Bossa Nova and Brazilian Jazz recordings from Brazilian music’s most dynamic and creative period, the early 60s through the 70s.”
Many of these will be publicly heard for the first time at Connect Brazil.
“The music I’ll play is from my personal collection, including many records no longer available. And you’ll hear my stories about the songs and musicians I play. Just like we’re talking right now,” Klabin said during our interview.
Even the debut of Heart of Brasil was given careful consideration. July is a special month for Brazilian jazz. It marks Joao Gilberto’s recording of ‘Chega de Saudade’, Bossa Nova’s first single. So ‘stay tuned’!
- Meet Heart of Brasil host George Klabin in this exclusive interview.
Cecy Santana – ‘Smile’
Yep. We are living in turbulent times. Please show me a place in history when that wasn’t true.
But if you are a Brazilian jazz fan, then all you have to do is to let the lyrics from Antonio Carlos Jobim’s ‘Felicidade’ be your guide: Tristeza nao tem fim, felicidade, sim. “Sadness has no end, but happiness does.”
That’s why we celebrate the good times, and why it’s important to choose to be happy.
But we all need a little help sometimes, so let a smile be your umbrella. Specifically, Cecy Santana’s ‘Smile’. And this Brazilian jazz tune is 100% all her own. Everything you hear on this song is Cecy. No instruments of any kind were used in the recording.
‘Smile’ is her way of reminding us of the importance of being happy. Cecy’s been thinking about recording a cappella for a while and taking a cue from Bobby McFarren is all that she needed.
So get ready to enjoy Cecy’s ‘Smile’. The official video (which is a family affair) releases by the end of the month. See, you’re smiling!
Cecy Santana
Listen free: XODO | New Music: Brazil | Women Of Brazilian Song | Our Streaming Station
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Stanley Turrentine – ‘Salt Song’ from Salt Song
April is Jazz Appreciation Month and here’s another standout Brazilian jazz album with April roots. This time, from 1971 and the emergence of Jazz Fusion, fueled by Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew on Columbia a year earlier.
But at CTI Records, Creed Taylor (who produced Getz/Gilberto) was experimenting with a different kind of fusion. And it involved another one of his early signings, Brazil’s Milton Nascimento.
Two years earlier, Taylor released Nascimento’s iconic album, Courage. And in 1971, he gave two songs from Courage to tenor sax star, Stanley Turrentine.
‘Vera Cruz’ was recorded first, for Gilberto With Turrentine. Salt Song followed a few months later to give Brazilian jazz fans the title track (Nascimento’s ‘Canção do Sal’) as a pioneering twist for jazz fusion and Brazil.
Deodato’s Prelude came in 1973. Flora Purim and Airto joined Chick Corea’s Return To Forever in 1972 while pianist Antonio Adolfo’s Brasuka led the 70s fusion movement in Rio de Janeiro. Now you know.
So, press play on ‘Salt Song’ and experience it for yourself.
Stanley Turrentine
Buy it here: Amazon
Listen free: Brazilian Jazz | Bossa Nova Love Affair | Brazilian Instrumental Jazz | Our Streaming Station
Nyron Higor – ‘Ciranda’ from Nyron Higor
About halfway up the coast from Salvador to Recife, Maceio sits like a jewel on the tropical Atlantic. Its pristine beaches are dotted with natural coral-lined pools, so maybe it’s no surprise that Maceio means “spring waters” in the indigenous language of the Tupi nations.
A timely translation for our Springtime Showcase celebrating Brazilian jazz. Because Maceio’s thriving, vibrant culture is a hybrid hotbed for American jazz and Brazilian music of all kinds. It’s Djavan’s hometown.
It’s also home to a young man with impressive multi-instrumental talents driven by a jazzy musical vision. Both are works in progress for Nyron Higor and we’re fine with that.
‘Ciranda’ opens this all-too-short self-titled album, and it’ll pull you in before you can count to ten. Yes, there’s a subtle hint of lethargic Frevo, floating under Tico Lima’s trombone. Bruno Burle and Batata Boy produce, but the rest is purely Higor and the result is magically organic, and somewhat unfinished to make it perfect.
The label says “raw intimacy, …joy and longing.” We say Nyron Higor could be a real sleeper for Brazilian Jazz fans.
Nyron Higor
Buy it here: Amazon
Listen free: Cafe Copacabana | Sunday Brazilian Brunch | Women of Brazilian Song | Our Streaming Station
Salena Jones – ‘Useless Landscape’ from Salena Sings Jobim With The Jobims
The Spring of ’95 found me in Rio. That’s when I was handed this CD by Heitor Araujo, a Brazilian label exec who was very happy to share the story behind this historic Brazilian jazz album. “This is the last album that Jobim ever recorded!” he exclaimed.
Antonio Carlos Jobim died unexpectedly the previous December, so Araujo’s news was, well, shocking. He continued, “and it includes his son Paulo and his grandson Daniel.”
Recorded in Rio de Janeiro in late April 1994, the studio credits impress. But the star of this amazing album is the American jazz singer who’s lived abroad for most of her life.
Her career started by winning the coveted Apollo Theater talent contest in Harlem. And her first contract carries her birth name, Joan Shaw. A musical makeover in the mid-60s led to a very clever name change, Salena Jones.
Her explanation illustrates her talent and creativity but if you want a hint before reading, just press ‘play’ on the video above. You might guess right!
- Here’s Salena with the answer: “I loved Sarah Vaughan so much and adored Lena Horne’s elegance; I put them together as ‘Salena. ‘ It looked good. And I kept Joan in ‘Jones. ‘” And that’s how Salena Jones was born.”
Salena Jones
Buy it here: Amazon
Listen free: XODO! | Bossa Nova Love Affair | Brazilian Jazz Instrumentals | Our Streaming Station
Quadro Nuevo – ‘Bei den Jupaú’ from Happy Deluxe
Why do we celebrate Brazil during Jazz Appreciation Month? Because a good case can be made for Brazil’s international outreach when it comes to great music. And much of Bazil’s music carries an organic, jazzy sound.
So, off we go to a parking lot in Salzburg, Austria. That’s where four young musicians created one of Europe’s most celebrated jazz groups, Quadro Nuevo. Three decades and 22 albums later, Happy Deluxe gives us this song, ‘Bei den Jupaú’ for our streaming station and it’s since become one of the most popular instrumental songs of the past 12 months.
The band, which has toured across the world (including Carnegie Hall), recently added Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro to their travels. And a visit to nature’s paradise on Ilha Grande (not to be missed!) inspired several songs for this album, including ‘Bei den Jupaú’. It features special guests Chris Gall, guitarist Paulo Morello, and percussionist Marco Lobo.
Beautiful Brazilian jazz from Austria, recorded in Rio and enjoyed by you, wherever you happen to be today. Oba!
Quadro Nuevo
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The Brazilian Jazz Appreciation Showcase
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