O Som Do Jazz, Infinita Bossa
Featured Album
Bossa Nova and Samba enhanced by rich jazz voicings
Bossa Nova and jazz have always had a connection that has encouraged reciprocal borrowing. Brazilian and American musicians were quick to share extended harmonic language (jazz to Bossa) and rhythmically sophisticated phrasing (Bossa to jazz). Tom Jobim and Joao Gilberto showed great jazz instincts, and Stan Getz, Paul Desmond and Cannonball Adderley took to Bossa Nova easily (the music made Getz very wealthy in the bargain).
Into this fertile cultural mix we can now add O Som Do Jazz, whose Infinita Bossa focuses on Bossa Nova and Samba, while incorporating arrangements by trombonist David Manson that are enhanced by rich jazz voicings. The group, which features the voice of Andrea Moraes Manson, has a deep and subtle understanding of how this idiomatic blend works best. Moraes Manson has obviously learned much for Elis Regina, but she allows herself to float inside the arrangements, making Infinita Bossa not so much a vocalist-plus-band as a complete integration: She doesn't control the band and they don't control her. John Stephan, who engineered O Som Do Jazz, does a first-rate job in capturing the intimacy of Moraes Manson's voice. There are a number of tunes here that will be well known to anyone familiar with Brazilian music. "Berimbau," "Corcovado" and "Manha de Carnaval" are all classics, and they are handled with aplomb. I like the way Moraes Manson turns the flame up to just the temperature on "Berimbau." She's able to make small modulations in volume count. The band is given a number of instrumental features, and these serve to help the program's pace. David Manson has a very conversational tone on trombone. This relaxed vocal quality suits the music particularly well.
