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Jazz Shorts
The intuitive interplay between Stefano Bollani and Hamilton de Holanda (piano and bandolim) showcase the virtuosic genius of two uniquely gifted artists, on an elegant Brazilian repertoire by Ernesto Nazareth, Pixinguinha, Baden Powell, Vinicius de Moraes, Edu Lobo, Chico Buarque, Jobim, and Piazzolla, plus compositions by the artists themselves. O Que Será (ECM) is a superbly conceived live date recorded at Jazz Middelheim in Antwerp in August 2012.Michael Stone runs through a pile of great jazz from around the world.
Classical harp and urbane voice place Cristina Braga (who is first harpist of the Orquestra Sinfônica do Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro) in an enchanting jazz category of her own fine tuning. On Samba, Jazz and Love (Enja) she essays a fetching array of archetypal composers (Vinicius de Moraes, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Candeia, Caetano Veloso, Moacir Santos), with restrained backing by the Modern Samba Quartet (trumpet and flugelhorn, vibraphone, percussion and double bass), taking Brazilian jazz into new territory.
David Buchbinder (trumpet, flugelhorn) teams with Cuban pianist Hilario Durán on Walk to the Sea (Tzadik), a set of original works by the artists, with Afro-Cuban, Jewish, North African and classical inflections (flute, clarinet, tenor and soprano sax, guitar, tres, oud, violin, viola, bass, batá, congas, chekere, riq, frame drum, dumbeq, drum kit), plus singers Michal Cohen and Maryem Hassan Tollar: Levantine jazz for the 21st century.
Vibraphonist-percussionist-composer-bandleader Brian O'Neill's third Tiki outing as Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica Quartet is a quirky bricolage of George Gershwin, Miguel de Falla, Chano Pozo, Dizzy Gillespie, Cal Tjader, Peggy Lee and O'Neill's own offerings (e.g., “Would You Like Bongos with That Fugue?”). Where Here Meets There (Tiki) is a grooving George and Jane Jetson, Skypad Apartments muzak, Orbit City lounge music, tea party antidote for any starport in the asteroid storm.
Joe Fielder's Big Sackbut is three trombones, a tuba, and slide trumpet (courtesy of Steven Bernstein). Sackbut Stomp (Multiphonics Music) offers an embouchure workout on Roger Miller's “King of the Road,” Chano Pozo and Gil Fuller's “Tin Tin Deo,” Bennie Wallace's “Eight Page Bible” and Fielder originals. There's brassy blast attitude from Africando collaborators Fielder and Luis Bonilla, Ryan Keberle (Catharsis, Maria Schneider) and tuba man Marcus Rojas (Sly & Robbie, Henry Threadgill, Lionel Hampton, John Zorn, American Symphony Orchestra). Deep tone on the bone phone.
Former director of and pianist with the Israeli Army jazz band, now New York based, Uri Sharlin (piano, wurli, accordion) and The DogCat Ensemble employ a palette of flute, bassoon, bass clarinet, guitar, bass and percussion on mostly original material on Back to the Woods (Folk Dune-Naxos) with Eastern (“Night Swim,” “One for Frankie,” “Munday by Night”), Brazilian (“Baião” and Hermeto Pascoal's “Dia #342”), reggae (“The Real DogCat”), funk (“Don Quixote”) and ambient (“Monte Verde”) strains.
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