Sara Serpa
(voice, Fender Rhodes , piano); Andre Matos
(guitar, electric bass, cymbal). Also Greg
Osby (soprano sax); Leo Genovese (melodica, kosikas, bombo legiiero, piano, toy
guitar; Pete Rende (prophet keyboard)
(Review
by Ann Alex).
Pin back your ears for
something delightful when you listen to this CD. Ethereal, flowing,
interweaving harmonies and rhythms that suggest jazz as JS Bach may have written
it, with hints of the sound of free jazz on some tracks. Sara Serpa sings sweet-voiced vocalese on
most tracks, and all the music except Vanguard
and Se Me Va La Voz is written by either Serpa or Matos. Lyrics for another 2 tracks (in Spanish or Portuguese,
not sure) are by a poet Alberto Caeiro, and the final track ‘Earth’ has music by Serpa, set to a
poem by e.e. cummings.
For instance the first
track, Primavera, is a wordless
celebration of Spring, with ‘La Da’ type vocals cut across by the guitar, then
the voice is double-tracked, the sound made me smile, and I guess this would be
fun to do. Tempo follows, and this
has Serpa singing slow, smooth, harmony with herself, and a church music feel
from the keyboards. Rios has rich Spanish guitar; then comes call and response
involving sax and melodica, and deeper-voiced singing and free jazz elements on
Choro. Kubana features staccato guitar with the whole band and the free
feel returns with Nuvem and
percussive keys and percussion. 14 tracks in all, every one worth listening to.
I’d be glad if anyone out there could tell me
what kosikas and bombo legiiero, mentioned among the instruments above,
are. The names sound like percussion.
Whatever, the whole CD is a gem, especially for those with adventurous tastes
who like something a bit different. The CD was planned originally as a
straightforward acoustic duo but as Serpa and Matos became more involved in
experimenting with the music, this CD was the result.
Primavera is released on
April 25 via Inner Circle Music.
Ann
Alex. 
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