Musical Snapshot III

It’s been a long time I don’t bring a musical snapshot. Actually, it’s been more than 5 months since my last one. Wow. Because of that, it’s kind of difficult to summarize everything I’ve been listening to. My addiction to jazz is getting stronger every day. I bought Ken Burns’ Jazz documentary (quite nice!). During my vacation in Brazil, I had the chance to buy quite many albums from brazilian artists. I also tried some african and mexican stuff. So, here it goes…

Jazz

Shit, the list is so long that I don’t know where to start… Freddie Hubbard, Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, John Coltrane, Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, Cannonball Adderley, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, Max Roach, Kenny Dorham, Ornette Coleman, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, … I’ve listened to more than one album with each of those guys. I have some special remarks though. Hubbard’s Straight Life album is just amazing (featuring an all-star band with Hancock, Henderson, Benson, Carter, and DeJohnette). I became a big fan of Joe Henderson after listening to his Inner Urge album – very Coltrane-ish. He even has the same sidemen than in Coltrane’s most famous albums: McCoy Tyner and Mr. Elvin Jones. Sonny Rollins’ Saxophone Colossus is a great album. I took some time to listen to Coltrane’s My favourite things some more times (this one only loses to A Love Supreme, my personal favourite jazz album). Ornette Coleman’s Tomorrow Is the Question! is quite interesting too. Got the classic Savoy Live Sessions of Charlie Parker, the roots of bebop (such Koko, Ornithology, and so on). Here’s the winners list:

• Inner Urge (Joe Henderson)
• Straight Life (Freddie Hubbard)
• Red Clay (Freddie Hubbard)
• Somethin’ Else (Cannonball Adderley)
• My Favourite Things (John Coltrane)
• Complete Savoy Live Recordings (Charlie Parker)
• Saxophone Colossus (Sonny Rollins)

African

I’m from the most african state in Brazil. African culture is simply part of me. I listened a lot to two Richard Bona albums. Quite musical stuff. The afrobeat of Femi Kuti is really nice.

• Tiki (Richard Bona)
• Reverence (Richard Bona)
• Shoki Shoki (Femi Kuti)

Mexican

Federico was really kind and sent me some really cool initial references of Mexical music. This is just the beginning of my research on the mexican world.

• La Sandunga (Lila Downs)
• De México y del mundo (Chavela Vargas)

Brazilian

During my vacation in Brazil, I had the opportunity to buy quite many albums from brazilian artists. Got two new Mônica Salmaso’s albums. I’m a big fan of her. I finally managed to buy Max de Castro’s Samba Raro. This is one of the electronic music albums I’ve ever listened to. Really nice compositions, high quality arrangements. The latest Djavan album Matizes is quite boring. Carlinhos Brown’s A gente ainda não sonhou is cool. Highlights:

• Céu (Céu)
• Iaiá (Mônica Salmaso)
• Noites de gala, samba na rua (Mônica Salmaso)
• Samba Raro (Max de Castro)
• Nêga (Luciana Mello)
• A gente ainda não sonhou (Carlinhos Brown)