(Review by Steve T)
Back in the days of
jazz-funk, I was really into acoustic guitarist Earl Klugh though - in
hindsight - as a disciple of George Benson and his association with Bob James they were always going to condemn him to
the scorn that would subsequently be heaped on smooth jazz.
On first hearing
this, I was immediately reminded of Mr Klugh, though those who summarily
dismiss smooth jazz need not be put off. Like everything else, the boundaries
of what constitutes smooth jazz is not a fixed point but is fluid amongst
listeners and many who generally hate the sub-genre may find lots to enjoy.
Although his native
Brazil permeates everything here, he's classically trained and also studied at
Berklee alongside Pat Metheny and Gary Burton and has played and recorded with
Airto, Flora Purim, Dom Um Romao and others.
Santos E Demonios has an acoustic guitar/ flute
front-line - and the flute will play a prominent role throughout - with
percussion well to the fore.
The title track
features more flute and a classical string quartet.
Nereids follows and, at a little over a
minute long, features fine choral vocals from Claudia Villela.
Morro da Paixao is my favourite track, featuring a
prolific three piece horn section giving propulsion and a slight big band feel,
a flugelhorn solo following the guitar solo, the leader comping behind it with
the sax and trombone chipping in.
Simpatica is an acoustic guitar, piano duet
and I've recently had my head turned to the possibilities of this line-up.
Pixinguinga returns to a classical format, heavy
on woodwinds (flute, bass clarinet and oboe) and no rhythm section.
Velha Amizade returns a standard rhythm section
plus under-stated percussion, flute and Peixoto switching between acoustic and
electric, though firmly on the acoustic side of semi-acoustic.
The penultimate
track is Noturna and is a solo
acoustic guitar piece which could have been Steve Howe on an early Yes album.
Finally, it's back
to some oomph with Balao De Tres,
with a great catchy melody, flute coming in for the second run through.
At forty six
minutes, it's a nice length for an album and, with plenty of variety on offer,
this is the best album I've reviewed in some time and by a long way.
Already available
on CD and digital.
Steve T.
Ricardo Peixoto - acoustic and electric guitars.
Ken Cook, Marcus Silva (piano); Cliff Hugo, Scott Thompson, Aaron Germain (bass); Rafael Barata, Kendrick Freeman, Mike Shapiro (drums); Bob Afifi (flute); Paul McCandless (soprano sax); Harvey Wainapel (bass clarinet); Jesse Sadoc (flugelhorn); Marcelo Martins (tenor sax); Aldivas Ayres (trombone); Paul Hanson ( bassoon); Kyle Bruchman (oboe), Rob Reich (accordion); Luiz Brasil (tenor guitar, percussion); John Santos, Brian Rice, Ricardo Guerra (percussion); Bernardo Bessler, Priscilla Platea Rato (violins); Marie Christine Bessler (viola); Marcus Ribeiro de Oliveira (cello); Claudia Villela (voice).
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