Players - Downbeat

Nicole Henry
The Very Thought Of You
BANISTER 3017
AAA
Nicole Henry offers wise programming
to frame her modest,
bluesy pipes. Balancing her set
between three piano trios, with a
few guest guitars entering late in
the set to introduce plectral color,
Henry keeps the listener focused on the vicissitudes of mood and repertoire,
rather than the distraction of excessive solos.
The Miami-based singer’s intense vibrato and singsong, blues-drenched
melodic variants on “That’s All” and “Almost Like Being In Love” that
open The Very Thought Of You make her vocal presence a cheerful, if
slightly breathless, tonic. She shifts the mood toward standards before she
volleys her main thrust with a redirection toward quiet soul balladry.
“I Found You” spins out in a lengthy form to hypnotic effect, “All That
I Can See” redoubles the intensity and “All The Way” seals her direction
toward Vegas melodrama. Except for a quick and earthy “Gonna Lock
My Heart,” Henry’s quivering, heartfelt set never looks back, and she
closes with three leisurely takes on oldies, a churchy “At Last,” an intimate
“The Very Thought Of You” and “Make It Last.” —Fred Bouchard
The Very Thought Of You: That’s All; Almost Like Being In Love; I Can’t Be Bothered Now;
Waters Of March; What’ll I Do; I Found You; All That I Can See; All The Way; I’m Gonna Lock My
Heart; At Last; The Very Thought Of You; Make It Last. (50:55)
Personnel: Nicole Henry, vocals; Brian Murphy, Mike Orta, Jaui Schneider, piano, keyboard;
Mariana Martin (4), Manny Lopez (6), Aaron Fishbein (7), James Bryan McCollum (7), guitar; Jamie
Ousley, Paul Shewchuk, bass; Danny Burger, Orlando Hernandez, David Chiverton (7), drums;
Sammy Figueroa (4), percussion.
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Ordering info: banisterrecords.com
Roberto Occhipinti
Yemaya
ALMA 12132
AAAA
Canadian bassist Roberto Occhipinti
turns in an often dazzling set on his
third album as a leader, recorded in
Toronto, Moscow and Havana. Plus,
two pieces are straight from Brazil:
His bass sings the lead on Djavan’s
“A Ilha,” wrapped in the strings of the Globalis Symphony Orchestra and
topped with Kevin Turcotte’s gorgeous flugelhorn solo; and Occhipinti
sounds the opening lines and high-flying first improvisation on
“Maracatres” by Jovino Santos-Neto.
Yemaya is hardly a bass-dominated project, though, as the emphasis is
on the leader’s arrangements, including his own compositions. This
includes “Mank,” with its 5/4 meter and tricky, cross-cutting brass, woodwind
and rhythm-section lines, and “El Otro Tipo,” one of five tunes benefitting
from the creative propulsion of drummer Dafnis Prieto.
The album also features the buoyant “Herbie’s Mood,” inspired by
Hancock and penned by Cuba-born pianist Hilario Duran; and the light
“Bernardo’s Tango,” a tribute to Italian film director Bertolucci, written by
tenor saxophonist Phil Dwyer. Occhipinti sends listeners off with
“Yambu,” an Afro-Cuban groove fest dedicated to the late drummer and
percussionist Pancho Quinto. —Philip Booth
Yemaya: Maracartres; Mank; Yemaya; El Otro Tipo; A Ilha; The Shadow; Herbie’s Mood;
Bernardo’s Tango; Yambu. (50:58)
Personnel: Roberto Occhipinti, bass; Hilario Duran, piano; Phil Dwyer, tenor saxophone; Kevin
Turcotte, trumpet, flugelhorn; Les Allt, flute; Al Kay, trombone; John Johnson, bass clarinet, alto
saxophone; various others.
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Ordering info: almarecords.com
66 DOWNBEAT April 2009
Sonantes
SIX DEGREES 1148
AAA 1 /2
Beto Villares »
SIX DEGREES 1152
AAAA
These two records,
both of them largely
producer-driven
efforts, cast broad
nets to challenge the
narrow perceptions of
what we think of as
Brazilian music. Yet
as varied and ambitious
as they are, they’re also unified and consistent.
Sonantes is a recent project helmed by producer Rico Amabis
(known for his membership in the São Paulo production crew
Instituto), bassist Dengue and drummer Pupillo (both of mangue beat
pioneers Nação Zumbi). Despite being studio-bound, the music conveys
a beguiling intimacy and energy. The popular vocalist Céu functions
as the primary voice, lending her smoky, almost torchy croon to
ballads and more uptempo numbers. (Northeastern folkie modernist
Siba and MC Bnegão also add their vocals). But the real star is the
song-to-song variety. From the brassy sound of jacked-up frevo on
“Frevo De Saudade” to the dubby, lilting and seductively atmospheric
“Defenestrando,” Sonantes effortlessly juggles and reshapes familiar
and obscure Brazilian forms, boldly threading in generous heapings
of hip-hop, rock, electronica and dub. The record works because the
compositions are so solid, which leaves any stylistic schizophrenia as
an afterthought, as the melodies and arrangements dictate all of the
particulars.
The eponymous debut of Beto Villares—which was released in
Brazil five years ago under the name of one of its finest tunes,
“Excelentes Lugares Bonitos”—splits the difference between singersongwriter
turf and production extravaganza. Villares has served as a
conventional producer for important singers like Céu and Zelia
Duncan (the current voice of Os Mutantes), created the score to the TV
series “City Of Men,” and, perhaps most importantly to this record, he
worked with ethnomusicologist Hermano Vianna in surveying and
recording examples of the infinite folkloric styles of his homeland.
Villares also draws on a wide variety of guest vocalists—including
Duncan, Céu, Siba, Pato Fu’s Fernanda Takai and MC Rappin’
Hood—but the record never feels like anything less than the vision of a
single talent.
Villares covers as much territory as Sonantes, and while he doesn’t
shy away from electronic production, the emphasis is on live instrumentation
that vibrantly brings in folkloric sounds within a modern
palette. Villares holds tighter to Brazil’s most well-known forms. The
bossa nova and samba, deployed in gorgeous arrangements, look back
to their golden era (the sweet vocal harmonies on “Lume” point
straight to Quarteto Em Cy) without sounding nostalgic. But his real
accomplishment is combining styles in a way that’s logical and
respectful. It’s as if his song-collection experience with Vianna gave
him a fresh perspective, funneling the mentality of a forward-looking
songwriter through rural forms that have endured through decades of
change. It’s a gem. —Peter Margasak
Sonantes: Carimbó; Miopia; Toque De Coito; Mambobit; Looks Like To Kill; Defenestrando;
Quilombo Te Espera; Itapeva; Braz; Frevo De Saudade. (35:09)
Beto Villares: Incerteza; Excelentes Lugares Bonitos; Rio Da Bossa Nova; Nó Dend’Água; Aboio;
Nação Postal; Um Dia Desses; Meio Dia Em Macapá; Redentor; África Lá; Santo Negro; Festa Na
Roça; Medo; Prá Acabar; Lume. (44:41)
»
Ordering info: sixdegreesrecords.com