Anat Cohen's Brazilian Collaborations

Anat Cohen & Marcello Gonçalves
Outra Coisa: The Music of Moacir Santos
Anzic Records

Anat Cohen and Trio Brasileiro
Rosa Dos Ventos
Anzic Records

One of the most prominent clarinetists in jazz today, the Israeli born Anat Cohen has been delving into the richness of Brazilian music for some time. Now she has two new releases of Brazilian music, recorded in recorded in Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia as close collaborations with native musicians. Since Anat first visited the country in 2000, Brazil has become a home away from home for her, a frequent destination for her to explore in depth music that has captured her heart.Her previous seven albums as a leader have included Brazilian classics and original pieces she composed under the influence of Brazilian music. Marcello Gonçalves, the 7-string guitarist who collaborated with Cohen on "Outra Coisa: The Music of Moacir Santos," says about her, "Anat has such a great passion for Brazil. She speaks Portuguese far better than I speak English. More than that, Anat can play Brazilian music better than many Brazilian musicians. Her accent is perfect."

As indicated by its title "Outra Coisa: The Music of Moacir Santos" is devoted to the music of the innovative composer, arranger and educator who influenced countless Brazilian musicians including Baden Powell and Sergio Mendes. For this recording, Gonçalves arranged a dozen Santos pieces from their large-ensemble scores into intimate, lyrical duets, with Anat often employing the clarinet's rich lower register and Gonçalves channeling the orchestral textures of the originals into his 7-string guitar (which has an extra bass string). The two recorded besides each other and without headphones to allow the music sound as natural as possible.

There is playfulness during the opening "Amphilbious," with the two musically dancing with each other whether playing in unison of interweaving their lines and the warmth and sportive quality of Cohen's clarinet and the spirited solo from Gonçalves with Cohen comping is delightful. In contrast, "Coisa No. 1" is a beautifully played ballad with the two exchanging leads and one appreciates the tone of Gonçalves' guitar as well as his playing on this gorgeous sounding duet. "Nanã (Coisa No. 5)" is perhaps Santos' most famous composition having been recorded over 100 times, and after some almost hard guitar chords emulating the horns on the original, turns into a light-hearted duet full of lyricism warmth, and wit with Cohen's soaring phrases complimented by the nimble mix of chords and single note runs. It is followed by the lovely, wistful "Coisa No. 9," and then the two have some fascinating interplay on "Mae Iracema." The joy and camaraderie the two have for each other, Santos' music and Gonçalves' arrangements is evident throughout this stunning recording. I suspect some, like I already have, will start to explore Santo's own recordings after hearing this.

Cohen's musical encounter with Trio Brasileiro is similarly delightful. The trio was formed in 2011, and is dedicated performing traditional choro music (a music contemporaneous with ragtime) as well as their own compositions that put a contemporary spin on choro. The group comprises percussionist Alexandre Lora (whose array includes the pitched "hand pan"), guitarist Douglas Lora and Dudu Maia, one of Brazil's finest mandolinists (who plays a special 10-string bandolim mandolin on "Rosa Dos Ventos"). Cohen expresses part of the allure of choro, "As with the style of early New Orleans jazz, choro functions on group polyphony where everyone has a role yet it's open and free-spirited, with simultaneous melodies happening. It can be groove-oriented like a party, or it can be full of saudade, of longing. It was actually choro that brought me back to the clarinet after years of concentrating on the saxophone." There are differences of course between Cohen's duets Gonçalves and the interaction she has playing with this trio, but the results are very similar in the lively recorded performances.

The playful and lively sounds here opens with "Baião Da Esperança," which is the first sample of the interplay between the Trio and Cohen with Alexandre Lora's percussion accenting her and the stringed instruments. Maia and Cohen are the focus as Douglas Lora's percussive guitar here serves as a foundation for Cohen's clarinet flourishes and Maia's dazzling mandolin runs. "Pra Você, Uma Flor," is a more pensive performance with its lyrical quality a result of the the intricate interplay of the musicians. Douglas Lora composed the first two, while Maia wrote the lively "Das Nieves," while Cohen's "Valsa Do Sul," opens with the warmth of Cohen's clarinet followed by nimble guitar and mandolin runs. Alexandre Lora's "Flamenco," evokes images of Flamenco dancers and guitars with the composer's hand percussion and the guitar of his brother, while the title track is a delightful duet by Cohen (with swoops and swirls in her playing) and Alexandre Lora.

There are also the fascinating evocation of Indian classical music with its characteristic drone on “O Ocidente Que Se Oriente,” while Maia's appealing, "Lulubia," has Cohen embellishing the simple guitar accompaniment and Maia's spare mandolin lead. Like Cohen's duets with Marcello Gonçalves, the collaboration of Cohen and Trio Brasileiro is not simply marvelously played, but also makes for captivating listening.

I received downloads of both from a publicist. Here is Anat Cohen and Marcello Gonçalves.

Tom McDermott's Bamboula

While thought of a ragtime and traditional new Orleans jazz pianist, Tom McDermott is a pianist who resists such easily categorization. Certainly his performances of a Scott Joplin rag or a Jelly Roll Morton stomp as well as his playing in various classic New Orleans ensembles might foster that view  However, we are talking about a person also conversant with the classical-blues-funk fusion of one James Carroll Booker and very adept at the Brazilian cousin of ragtime, Choro. To the previous items,  add that McDermott is as intriguing a composer as a marvelous pianist. Some of you may be aware of him from his appearances on the HBO drama Tremé.

This leads us to a marvelous retrospective of recordings by McDermott over a span from 1994 to 2011, Bamboula (Minky Records). This was curated by Van Dykes Parks, a person of certain fame himself. In his brief appreciation of McDermott, Parks compares McDermott to the pioneering New Orleans composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk. In the manner the rhythms of Congo Square marked that composer's work, the rhythms of Cuba and Latin America similarly infuse the work of McDermott. This recording contains 16 selections from albums by McDermott. They include solo selections, duets and marvelous ensemble recordings with his close musical associate Evan Christopher, trombonist Rick Trolsen and several Brazilian musicians.

I can't think of a better McDermott recording to make casual listeners better take note than the title track, his marvelous arrangement of Gottschalk's most famous composition. It is performed at a brisk tempo with with an irresistible hot rhythm with McDermott's fluid and clean ragtime-laced playing along with marvelous trombone and clarinet. Opulence contrasts with its stately classical flavor with some lovely soprano sax. This track is followed by a playful ragtime-flavored duet with Christopher, Irresitîvel. On Scott Joplin's Heliotrope Bouquet, McDermott steps away from the piano as Christopher and Trolsen are supported by the Brazilian string players (Caio Marcio is outstanding on seven-string guitar). Patrick Harison's accordion supplies a gypsy jazz flavor to Musette in A Minor.

For Brenda is a lovely original rag on which McDermott, with his lovely playing, evokes the graceful charm of Joplin.  The interplay with Christopher on another duet, La Manege Rouge, displays their empathy for each other. Its back to Brazil for a rendition of Joplin's The Chrysanthemum with fresh rhythmic accents, while another duet with Christopher, Tango Ambiguo, (translated as ambiguous tango) with its subdued tempo is especially lovely. Lost Rio is a wistful solo piano performance, while the closing Santa Teresa is another spirited original choro with wonderful playing by his Brazilian and New Orleans associates (Henry Lentino is scintillating on bandolin). 

Van Dyke Parks has curated a terrific introduction to Tom McDermott's recordings on Bamboula. The sixteen selections provide listeners a chance to experience the depth and range of McDermott's piano playing and compositions. I would not be surprised if this leads many to delve further into his recordings and music. Highly recommended.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is a video of Tom McDermott & Evan Christopher performing duets at the New Orleans Record Store, Louisiana Music Factory.

 

After All These Years McDermott and Christopher are Almost Native

It is easy to label both pianist Tom McDermott and clarinetist Evan Christopher as traditional jazz musicians, but both transcend that simple label.McDermott, a pianist rooted in ragtime and Jelly Roll Morton, has also become renown for his interpretations of the Brazilian choro idiom and the music of New Orleans legend James Booker. Christopher has become one of the most highly regarded clarinet players today and is a 2011 Jazz Journalists Association nominee, who has also exhibited abilities to excel beyond traditional jazz as evident by his European gypsy jazz recordings and his intriguing interpretations of modern jazz including a marvelous medley of Ornette Coleman’s Lonely Woman and Ramblin’, and John Coltrane’s After The Rain.

The new album by the pair, Almost Native (Threadhead Records) takes it title from the fact that someone asked Tom if he was born in New Orleans, and after he answers he moved there in 1984, they respond, “”Oh, well you’re almost a native then.” This latest recording is a duo recording of originals by the pair, eight by McDermott, and two by Christopher that displays the considerable empathy between them which enhances the lyricism at root of both their styles.

The music moves from the wistfulness of the opening Tango Ambiguo (Ambiguous Tango), the indigo charm of Christopher’s slow Waltz For All Souls which evokes George Lewis’ bluesy playing, the raggy playfulness of Le Manège Rouge (The Red Merry-Go-Round), to the the atmospheric Spooky Blues (For Booker)/Quite Enough Blues, with McDermott’s spare, restrained playing effectively setting the mood. There is a bit of cheeky humor for “The Don’t-Mess-With-My Two-Step, a piano solo, followed by a delightful and playful, Chorando Em Paris (Playing Choro In Paris). The last original recording here is a march, March of the Pony Girls, which exhibits all the warmth and humor the two exhibit throughout this.

A bonus track, the lively Irresistível (Irresistible), derives from McDermott’s New Orleans Duets and concludes a thoroughly charming recording. It is available from www.louisianamusicfactory.com, cdbaby, itunes and other sources. Tom McDermott’s website is www.mcdermottmusic.com and Evan Christopher's website is www.clarinetroad.net. 

Evan Christopher and Tom McDermott doing an in-store performance
at the Louisiana Music Factory on Decatur Street in New Orleans.