Steve Slagle - Rio Highlife

Styles: Saxophone Jazz 
Year: 1985
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:24
Size: 92,8 MB
Art: Front

(6:57)  1. Highlife
(4:41)  2. Saidas E Bandeiras(Exits and flags)
(6:20)  3. Santa Monica
(7:40)  4. General
(7:59)  5. Cor de Rosa(Rose coloerd)
(6:44)  6. Beira Do Mar(Next to The Sea)

Born 18 September 1951, Los Angeles, California, USA. Starting out playing saxophones while still very young, Slagle moved to the opposite side of the country where he studied at the Berklee College Of Music. Subsequently, and through the 70s, he worked with artists as diverse as Stevie Wonder, John Scofield and Machito. In the early years of the next decade he was with Woody Herman’s band, playing tenor saxophone, and also worked with Lionel Hampton, playing alto, and Charlie Haden, Carla Bley, Steve Kuhn, and Mingus Dynasty. At the end of the 80s he was musical director for the Ray Barretto Band. His first album as a leader was released in 1983, and during the 80s he often worked with a quartet featuring Jaco Pastorius (bass), Mike Stern (guitar) and Adam Nussbaum (drums). In the following decade Slagle recorded several sessions for SteepleChase Records, with musicians including Tim Hagans and Ryan Kisor (trumpets), Kenny Drew Jnr. (piano), Cameron Brown (bass), and Gene Jackson (drums). Slagle also co-leads a group with Dave Stryker (guitar), and works as lead altoist and chief arranger with the Mingus Big Band. A brilliant stylist, who also plays soprano saxophone and clarinet, Slagle’s work indicates his abiding interest on the transitional music that followed hard bop into free jazz, although he is at his considerable best when he underpins these latter-day forms with the essence of the blues. His striking technical mastery of his instruments is always evident but it is never used for its own sake. Although adept on all the instruments in his arsenal, Slagle is perhaps must interesting on alto, where his sinuous solo lines create a musical atmosphere that is both demanding and compelling in its intensity. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/steve-slagle-mn0000033922/biography               

Personnel:  Steve Slagle  alto saxophone, soprano saxophone;  Nico Assumpção bass;  Luiz Avellar keyboards;  Carlos “Bala” Gomes drums;  Ricardo Silveira guitar

Rio Highlife

---

Ricardo Silveira - Storyteller

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 46:29
Size: 106.4 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz, Brazilian jazz
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[5:29] 1. Francesa
[0:28] 2. Upon A Time (Interlude)
[5:00] 3. Storyteller
[4:10] 4. Island Magic
[5:51] 5. Still Think Of You
[5:26] 6. The Puzzle
[4:51] 7. Fountains
[4:14] 8. After The Rain
[5:03] 9. Always There
[5:23] 10. That Day In Tahiti
[0:29] 11. Upon A Time (Reprise)

Ricardo Silveira moved from Verve/Forecast to Herbie Mann's Kokopelli label with Storyteller, an NAC/pop-jazz effort that isn't great but has its moments. This CD isn't the gem that Silveira, a gifted guitarist with a healthy appreciation of Pat Metheny, is quite capable of delivering. But despite its shortcomings, Storyteller is an improvement over 1992's Small World, his last project before leaving Verve/Forecast, and offers some noteworthy writing and playing. The album could have used less production, and the use of drum machines on some tunes doesn't do Silveira any good. But the Brazilian guitarist has some noteworthy moments on the melancholy "Still Think of You," the intriguing "The Puzzle," the Caribbean-flavored "Island Magic," and the lively title song. Silveira is capable of a lot more, but again, this album does have its moments. ~Alex Henderson

Storyteller

---

Ricardo Silveira - Ricardo Silveira Organ Trio (With Vanessa Rodrigues & Rafael Barata)

Size: 138,7 MB
Time: 59:53
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Brazilian Jazz
Art: Front

CD 1: Stufio Recordings
01. Cochise (4:05)
02. A Historia De Lily Braun (6:49)
03. A Medida Do Meu Coraçao (7:08)
04. Batucada (4:17)
05. Canto De Ossanha (9:12)
06. Memphis Underground (6:57)
07. No Regrets (6:43)
08. Reflexoes (5:57)
09. Amazon River (8:41)

CD 2: Live Recordings
01. Samba E Amor (10:56)
02. Body And Soul (11:18)
03. Polo Pony ( 8:25)
04. Francesa ( 9:11)
05. You Don't Know What Love Is ( 9:03)
06. One-Eyed Monster ( 6:37)
07. Eu E A Brisa ( 8:05)

The career of guitarist Ricardo Silveira is a rock solid one. As an all-round musician he has performed on countless (recording) dates ranging from MPB, Bossa Nova, fusion, jazz, pop, … Ricardo Silveira (Rio de Janeiro, 1956) spent a few years in Boston to study at the Berklee College of Music, where a basis was formed for his future career. In New York he absorbed the jazz scene and certainly didn’t forget the classics: Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, Pat Martino, Grant Green and other guitar legends who often found comfort in an organ trio setting. Back in Brazil, Ricardo soon became one of the country’s most wanted guitarists. Most of the time he can be found in the studio or on tour with the finest vocalists in Brazil. But yet, there’s still time for a solo career. Recently we heard him in duet with Vinícius Cantuária (RSVC) and also with guitarist Roberto Taufic (Atlânticos) And now he surprises us with this extraordinary double-album: Organ tRio.

Back to basics: the tradition of the legendary jazz organ trios. A simple line-up: guitar, Hammond B-3 organ and drums. How nostalgic can one get? To add to the nostalgia, the CD package breathes the air of the old jazz labels. In fact: by looking at the old fashioned CD cover, you can already figure what musical sentiment you can expect. The ever attentive package designer Maria Camillo did a respectful job with it!

The first notes of CD 1 confirm it: we’re in for two hours of fine authentic jazz. Ricardo already found a partner in crime with drummer Rafael Barata (Rio de Janeiro, 1980). The drummer seems to be everywhere in the music scene of Brazil. At his young age he performed with a who-is-who in Brazilian music. He was also house drummer in Rio’s premier jazz club, Mistura Fina, where he accompanied a long list of visiting international jazz stars. The third member of the tRio came by surprise. Canadian organist Vanessa Rodrigues introduced herself to Ricardo via email. Because she mentioned that trumpeter Randy Brecker gave her Ricardo’s email address, he got interested and soon discovered the exceptional talent of the organist. She had recently relocated in Rio which made it easy to make Ricardo’s wish come true: an organ trio!

CD 1 was recorded in 2012 in a studio in Niterói, across the bay from Rio. To get in the right mood, the album’s opener is “Cochise,” by Latin music composer Ray Santos (1928, New York). This song ruthlessly brings us back to the atmosphere of the sixties and the seventies when the sound of Hammond B3 organs happily whirred through the air of smoky jazz clubs. Vanessa Rodrigues proves to be the right choice; she’s able to recall the sound of organ traditionalists.

The repertoire covers a wide variety of international styles that were popular in that era; soul jazz, groovy jazz, Bossa Nova, Afro-samba. And most of all some beautiful ballads, like the standards we find on disk 2 (the live recordings). “Body and Soul” (1930, music by Johnny Green) and “You Don’t Know What Love Is” (1941, Gene de Paul and Don Raye) show their immortality in the long renditions by the trio. But there are also many Brazilian compositions that show an unmistakable jazz competence. Along with a few originals by Vanessa and by Ricardo, this set of CDs sounds more than interesting from note one till the very last one. It’s funny to hear to hear Tom Jobim‘s “Polo Pony,” a relatively unknown composition of his. He composed “Polo Pony” in 1970 for the movie “The Adventurers,” but it’s seldom recorded. After the surprising inclusion of the song on Mario Adnet’s Jobim Jazz album (2007, also reviewed here on MúsicaBrasileira) it’s good to hear it here again as a true up-tempo jazz classic.

Ricardo Silveira Organ Trio CD 1
Ricardo Silveira Organ Trio CD 2

---

Ricardo Silveira & Vinicius Cantuaria - RSVC

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 44:17
Size: 101.4 MB
Styles: Latin jazz, Guitar jazz
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[4:15] 1. Preciso Falar Com Você (We Need To Talk)
[5:44] 2. Sessão Das Onze (Wanderley)
[5:03] 3. A La Dori
[4:41] 4. Perritos
[4:24] 5. Pé Direito (Right Foot)
[4:11] 6. Dia De Sol (Sunny Day)
[5:47] 7. Mais Nada (Nothing More)
[2:07] 8. Matuto
[3:50] 9. É O Fim (It's The End)
[4:10] 10. Trilha Polar (Polar Trail)

RSVC is the first ever collaboration of two amazingly talented Brazilian guitarists, Rio de Janeiro based Ricardo Silveira and Brooklyn based Vinicius Cantuária, featured here in a series of duets. Recorded in Rio, and co produced by the players and Eduardo Chermont, RSVC features six original compositions and also features the vocals of Vinicius as well as the debut vocal performance by Ricardo, who is primarily known for his wonderful guitar skills. Singer, guitarist, composer, drummer, and percussionist, Vinicius Cantuária is a well-known Brazilian musician who moved to New York in the mid-90s. He has proved himself in a number of fields, directly or indirectly linked to Brazilian music as leader of the rock band O Terco and later as one of the most important downtown New York figures, collaborating with artists such as Brian Eno, Laurie Anderson, Brad Mehldau, Arto Lindsay, Bill Frisell, Marc Ribot, David Byrne and Ryuichi Sakamoto. For over thirty years, guitarist Ricardo Silveira has earned international acclaim by bridging the music of his native Brazil with contemporary American jazz. In constant demand as a studio musician and musical director, Silveira has collaborated with countless masters and is equally renowned as a composer and solo artist.

RSVC

---