Yana Purim, “Bird of Brazil”, Sonet [UK] #1010 (1989).[CD]
Produced by Arnaldo DeSouteiro & Yana Purim.
Tracklist:
1. Choro das Águas (Yana Purim/Hugo Fattoruso/Romy Bastos) 3:10
2. Bebê (Hermeto Pascoal/Yana Purim) 3:38
3. For a Distant Love (Luiz Bonfá/Yana Purim) 4:46
4. All Mine (Francis Hime/Ruy Guerra) 3:28
5. Diana (Toninho Horta/Fernando Brant) 3:32
6. Manhã de Carnaval (Luiz Bonfá/Antonio Maria) 4:45
7. Spain (Chick Corea/Al Jarreau/Artie Maren/Yana Purim) 6:02
8. Bird of Brazil (Fatima Guedes/Yana Purim) 3:55
9. Serenade (Toninho Horta/Ronaldo Bastos) 5:28
1. Choro das Águas (Yana Purim/Hugo Fattoruso/Romy Bastos) 3:10
2. Bebê (Hermeto Pascoal/Yana Purim) 3:38
3. For a Distant Love (Luiz Bonfá/Yana Purim) 4:46
4. All Mine (Francis Hime/Ruy Guerra) 3:28
5. Diana (Toninho Horta/Fernando Brant) 3:32
6. Manhã de Carnaval (Luiz Bonfá/Antonio Maria) 4:45
7. Spain (Chick Corea/Al Jarreau/Artie Maren/Yana Purim) 6:02
8. Bird of Brazil (Fatima Guedes/Yana Purim) 3:55
9. Serenade (Toninho Horta/Ronaldo Bastos) 5:28
Musician personnel and Album credits:
Yana Purim – Vocals, Arranger, Producer
Arnaldo DeSouteiro – Producer, Percussion, Arranger
Felix Grant – Liner Notes
Steve Swallow – Bass (Fretless)
Luiz Bonfá – Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Ovation), Arranger
Airto Moreira – Drums, Percussion, Congas, Vocal (Background)
Hugo Fattoruso – Piano (Acoustic), Piano (Fender Rhodes), Organ (Hammond), Yamaha DX-7, Oberheim, Mini-Moog, Roland Juno-1 Synthesizer, Arranger
Byron Miller – Bass (Electric)
Patrice Rushen – Piano (Fender Rhodes), Piano (Yamaha Electric Grand)
Toninho Horta – Guitar (Acoustic)
Sidinho Moreira – Percussion, Congas
Ayoama – Percussion
Dale Powers – Piano (Acoustic), Piano (Fender Rhodes)
Arismar do Espírito Santo – Bass (Fretless)
Arthur Maia – Bass (Electric)
Pascoal Meirelles – Drums, Simmons Electric Drums
Toninho Barbosa - Engineer
LINER NOTES and additional Album Credits (Liner Notes by Felix Grant):
Liners.jpg
Liner data.jpg
Tracklist:
Side A
1. Slow Fire (Roditi) 5:25
2. Papagaio (The Kite) (Roditi) 3:27
3. Feel Good (Thiago de Mello) 4:04
4. Molambo (Vagabond) (Jayme Florence/Augusto Mesquita) 4:23
5. Feitio de Oração (Noel Rosa/Vadico) 5:58
Side B
1. Annette's for Sure (Roditi) 3:57
2. Carolina (Chico Buarque de Hollanda) 4:06
3. Brazil, Infinity (Roditi) 4:06
4. It Was Nice Before, in the Rain (Roditi) 5:25
5. Lullaby for Kristen (Roditi) 3:46
Total Time: 44:37
1. Slow Fire (Roditi) 5:25
2. Papagaio (The Kite) (Roditi) 3:27
3. Feel Good (Thiago de Mello) 4:04
4. Molambo (Vagabond) (Jayme Florence/Augusto Mesquita) 4:23
5. Feitio de Oração (Noel Rosa/Vadico) 5:58
Side B
1. Annette's for Sure (Roditi) 3:57
2. Carolina (Chico Buarque de Hollanda) 4:06
3. Brazil, Infinity (Roditi) 4:06
4. It Was Nice Before, in the Rain (Roditi) 5:25
5. Lullaby for Kristen (Roditi) 3:46
Total Time: 44:37
Catalog Numbers:
CD Milestone MCD-9175-2
LP Milestone M-9175-1
CS Milestone 5M-9175
Musician personnel and Album credits:
Jay Ashby - Trombone
Ignacio Berroa - Drums
Phil Carroll - Artwork, Art Direction
Rafael Cruz - Percussion
Thiago de Mello - Percussion
Arnaldo DeSouteiro - Liner Notes
David Finck - Bass
Daniel Freiberg - Synthesizer
David Gahr - Photography
George Horn - Mastering
Helen Keane - Producer
Gilles Margerin - Design
Rudy Martoni - Remixing, Assistant Engineer
Ralph Moore - Sax (Tenor)
Scott Noll - Engineer, Remixing
Danílo Perez - Piano
Portinho - Percussion, Drums
Claudio Roditi - Percussion, Piano, Trumpet, Arranger, Flugelhorn, Vocals
Akira Tana - Drums
* * *
Liner Notes by Arnaldo DeSouteiro:In the music world, some artists, in order to achieve quick public recognition, seem to sacrifice their personal convictions by adopting tried and tested formulas. There are others who refuse to renounce their own aesthetic concepts and among these, Claudio Roditi stands out. He is a musician gifted with another quality, being able to reflect, when recording an album, the artistic moment he is living in. In so doing, Roditi has made of his discography a perfect document of his aesthetic evolution.
Red on Red, the album that, in 1984, inaugurated Claudio Roditi’s career as a recording artist on Creed Taylor’s Greene Street label, found him exercising his ability into the fusion of jazz and Brazilian music. Its successor, Claudio!, released by Uptown Records in 1986, showed an attempt to establish himself on the straight-ahead jazz scene, since up to that time Roditi’s fame was mostly limited to Latin-jazz circles. On Gemini Man, his 1988 Milestone debut, the trumpeter succeeded in unifying the elements that made up his musical foundation: bebop, samba, Afro-Cuban, and bossa nova. As a natural consequence of his successful experiments, Roditi now takes his ambitions to a higher plateau on Slow Fire, which is an adventurous journey into intricate rhythms and colorful moods.
Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1946, Claudio Roditi spent his childhood in Varginha, a small town in the state of Minas Gerais. “In the afternoons, I used to listen to a school band which rehearsed behind my house. From the first moment I saw a trumpet, I knew it was my instrument,” Roditi recalls.
At age thirteen, one of Roditi’s uncles introduced him to modern jazz. “Before that, I liked Dixieland, but then my interest turned to players such as Chet Baker; and in the same year, 1959, I bought Miles Davis’ Round Midnight album which,” Roditi says, “had a deep impact on me”.
Roditi returned to Rio in 1960, initiating a new stage in his musical development. “I had a great teacher, the saxophone player Aurino Ferreira, who opened my mind to one of the most important things in jazz: articulation.” In the Sixties, bossa nova was at its peak in Rio de Janeiro. “I was playing well, but, because people considered me too young, they didn’t call me to work very often.” Finally, in 1964, he was invited to his first recording date and then things began to happen.
Moving to the United States in 1970, Roditi lived in Boston for six years and studied there at the famous Berklee College of Music. After relocating to New York in 1976, he soon established a strong reputation among his peers in jazz, recording on albums by the late Charlie Rouse, Herbie Mann, Bob Mover, Michael Franks, and Dom Um Romão, among others. A turning point came in 1982, when Cuban percussionists Ignacio Berroa and Daniel Ponce, and Brazilian composer Thiago de Mello recommended Claudio to Paquito D’Rivera, with whom Roditi has developed a close musical partnership, recording several albums and touring all over the world.
Throughout the past five years, Roditi has also built a consistent solo career, of which Slow Fire is the most significant recording effort to date. This is evidenced in particular by the cohesion among the players on the session, the first-rate repertoire, the sensitive arrangements (all by Roditi) and, above all, his playing which is impeccable and more mature than ever.
That Roditi has listened to the master of the instrument is evident. His playing is firmly based in the experience that tradition offers. Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Morgan, Roy Eldridge, Clifford Brown, and Freddie Hubbard are all influences but Roditi remains committed to formulating his own identity as a jazz player. Evoking from what he has learned from the past, not merely reproducing it, is the essential trait here. Roditi’s solos are unmistakably his; they combine a great rhythmic sense with a strong melodic concept deeply rooted in his Brazilian heritage.
The trumpeter is also an inspired composer as shown by the six original tunes on Slow Fire. The title track, for instance, is an evocative ballad, on which Roditi’s superb muted playing investigates a seductive harmony. The mood here is enriched by the subtle vocal-like synthesizer work of Daniel Freiberg. The New York-based Argentinian Freiberg is one of the two great keyboardists on the album; the other is the fiery Danilo Perez, from Panama, with whom the trumpeter has recently played in Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nations All-Star Orchestra.
A meditative quality permeates “Papagaio” and “It Was Nice Before, In the Rain.” Both feature the velvet sound of Jay Ashby’s trombone sharing the front line with Roditi. These songs create a striking contrast to two contagious sambas: “Annette’s for Sure” and “Brazil, Infinity.” Propelled by the rhythmic virtuosity of Portinho, the best Brazilian drummer currently active in the United States, Roditi offers succinct solos, revealing what John S. Wilson of The New York Times once defined as “a crisp trumpet attack.” The other musician featured on these tracks is tenor player Ralph Moore, who, in Roditi’s words, “shows an enormous talent in a Brazilian context.”
Always keeping a surprise up his sleeve, Roditi reserved room to display his piano artistry on the beautiful ballad “Lullaby for Kristen.” It is a lyrical trio performance with virtuoso bassist David Finck and the consummate drummer Akira Tana.
Another exceptional original is “Feel Good,” written by Roditi’s longtime friend Gaudencio Thiago de Mello. Over an infectious samba beat, including a batucada passage, Roditi performs his solo with characteristic assurance and strength. Perfectly articulated, it confirms that, even on a very fast tempo tune, he doesn’t lack swing, feelings, dynamics, or substance.
Roditi is very much at home on three tunes that are famous in Brazil. The oldest, “Feitio de Oração,” from 1933, is by legendary samba composers Noel Rosa and Vadico and receives a surprisingly jazzy treatment, with Roditi confirming that his mastery of the flugelhorn is matched only by veterans Art Farmer and Clark Terry. The other two numbers – “Molambo”, a bolero from the Fifties, and “Carolina,” the Chico Buarque hit from the Sixties – are sung by Roditi in Portuguese. Both song contain notable rhythmic colors by Dominican percussionist Rafael Cruz.
In trying to interpret the meaning behind the album’s title, one might suggest that it is connected to the way Roditi’s career has developed – no sudden explosion but rather a slow, continuous, and consistent musical growth. This slow fire could also suggest the quality of his playing throughout the album: it is always intense, warm, and full of passion. The music burns not only in the energetic solos but on the slow and medium-tempo tunes as well. Now, let Claudio Roditi Slowfire on you.
-- Arnaldo DeSouteiro, May 1989
Arnaldo DeSouteiro, a Rio de Janeiro-based music critic, is Keyboard magazine’s Brazilian correspondent.
[Above: Arnaldo's liner notes as they appeared on the back of this LP]
Tracklist:
Side A
1. Slow Fire (Roditi) 5:25
2. Papagaio (The Kite) (Roditi) 3:27
3. Feel Good (Thiago de Mello) 4:04
4. Molambo (Vagabond) (Jayme Florence/Augusto Mesquita) 4:23
5. Feitio de Oração (Noel Rosa/Vadico) 5:58
Side B
1. Annette's for Sure (Roditi) 3:57
2. Carolina (Chico Buarque de Hollanda) 4:06
3. Brazil, Infinity (Roditi) 4:06
4. It Was Nice Before, in the Rain (Roditi) 5:25
5. Lullaby for Kristen (Roditi) 3:46
Total Time: 44:37
1. Slow Fire (Roditi) 5:25
2. Papagaio (The Kite) (Roditi) 3:27
3. Feel Good (Thiago de Mello) 4:04
4. Molambo (Vagabond) (Jayme Florence/Augusto Mesquita) 4:23
5. Feitio de Oração (Noel Rosa/Vadico) 5:58
Side B
1. Annette's for Sure (Roditi) 3:57
2. Carolina (Chico Buarque de Hollanda) 4:06
3. Brazil, Infinity (Roditi) 4:06
4. It Was Nice Before, in the Rain (Roditi) 5:25
5. Lullaby for Kristen (Roditi) 3:46
Total Time: 44:37
Catalog Numbers:
CD Milestone MCD-9175-2
LP Milestone M-9175-1
CS Milestone 5M-9175
Musician personnel and Album credits:
Jay Ashby - Trombone
Ignacio Berroa - Drums
Phil Carroll - Artwork, Art Direction
Rafael Cruz - Percussion
Thiago de Mello - Percussion
Arnaldo DeSouteiro - Liner Notes
David Finck - Bass
Daniel Freiberg - Synthesizer
David Gahr - Photography
George Horn - Mastering
Helen Keane - Producer
Gilles Margerin - Design
Rudy Martoni - Remixing, Assistant Engineer
Ralph Moore - Sax (Tenor)
Scott Noll - Engineer, Remixing
Danílo Perez - Piano
Portinho - Percussion, Drums
Claudio Roditi - Percussion, Piano, Trumpet, Arranger, Flugelhorn, Vocals
Akira Tana - Drums
LINER NOTE SCANS from the CD:
Liner-1.JPG
Liner-2.JPG
Liner-Notes.JPG
* * *
Liner Notes by Arnaldo DeSouteiro:In the music world, some artists, in order to achieve quick public recognition, seem to sacrifice their personal convictions by adopting tried and tested formulas. There are others who refuse to renounce their own aesthetic concepts and among these, Claudio Roditi stands out. He is a musician gifted with another quality, being able to reflect, when recording an album, the artistic moment he is living in. In so doing, Roditi has made of his discography a perfect document of his aesthetic evolution.
Red on Red, the album that, in 1984, inaugurated Claudio Roditi’s career as a recording artist on Creed Taylor’s Greene Street label, found him exercising his ability into the fusion of jazz and Brazilian music. Its successor, Claudio!, released by Uptown Records in 1986, showed an attempt to establish himself on the straight-ahead jazz scene, since up to that time Roditi’s fame was mostly limited to Latin-jazz circles. On Gemini Man, his 1988 Milestone debut, the trumpeter succeeded in unifying the elements that made up his musical foundation: bebop, samba, Afro-Cuban, and bossa nova. As a natural consequence of his successful experiments, Roditi now takes his ambitions to a higher plateau on Slow Fire, which is an adventurous journey into intricate rhythms and colorful moods.
Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1946, Claudio Roditi spent his childhood in Varginha, a small town in the state of Minas Gerais. “In the afternoons, I used to listen to a school band which rehearsed behind my house. From the first moment I saw a trumpet, I knew it was my instrument,” Roditi recalls.
At age thirteen, one of Roditi’s uncles introduced him to modern jazz. “Before that, I liked Dixieland, but then my interest turned to players such as Chet Baker; and in the same year, 1959, I bought Miles Davis’ Round Midnight album which,” Roditi says, “had a deep impact on me”.
Roditi returned to Rio in 1960, initiating a new stage in his musical development. “I had a great teacher, the saxophone player Aurino Ferreira, who opened my mind to one of the most important things in jazz: articulation.” In the Sixties, bossa nova was at its peak in Rio de Janeiro. “I was playing well, but, because people considered me too young, they didn’t call me to work very often.” Finally, in 1964, he was invited to his first recording date and then things began to happen.
Moving to the United States in 1970, Roditi lived in Boston for six years and studied there at the famous Berklee College of Music. After relocating to New York in 1976, he soon established a strong reputation among his peers in jazz, recording on albums by the late Charlie Rouse, Herbie Mann, Bob Mover, Michael Franks, and Dom Um Romão, among others. A turning point came in 1982, when Cuban percussionists Ignacio Berroa and Daniel Ponce, and Brazilian composer Thiago de Mello recommended Claudio to Paquito D’Rivera, with whom Roditi has developed a close musical partnership, recording several albums and touring all over the world.
Throughout the past five years, Roditi has also built a consistent solo career, of which Slow Fire is the most significant recording effort to date. This is evidenced in particular by the cohesion among the players on the session, the first-rate repertoire, the sensitive arrangements (all by Roditi) and, above all, his playing which is impeccable and more mature than ever.
That Roditi has listened to the master of the instrument is evident. His playing is firmly based in the experience that tradition offers. Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Morgan, Roy Eldridge, Clifford Brown, and Freddie Hubbard are all influences but Roditi remains committed to formulating his own identity as a jazz player. Evoking from what he has learned from the past, not merely reproducing it, is the essential trait here. Roditi’s solos are unmistakably his; they combine a great rhythmic sense with a strong melodic concept deeply rooted in his Brazilian heritage.
The trumpeter is also an inspired composer as shown by the six original tunes on Slow Fire. The title track, for instance, is an evocative ballad, on which Roditi’s superb muted playing investigates a seductive harmony. The mood here is enriched by the subtle vocal-like synthesizer work of Daniel Freiberg. The New York-based Argentinian Freiberg is one of the two great keyboardists on the album; the other is the fiery Danilo Perez, from Panama, with whom the trumpeter has recently played in Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nations All-Star Orchestra.
A meditative quality permeates “Papagaio” and “It Was Nice Before, In the Rain.” Both feature the velvet sound of Jay Ashby’s trombone sharing the front line with Roditi. These songs create a striking contrast to two contagious sambas: “Annette’s for Sure” and “Brazil, Infinity.” Propelled by the rhythmic virtuosity of Portinho, the best Brazilian drummer currently active in the United States, Roditi offers succinct solos, revealing what John S. Wilson of The New York Times once defined as “a crisp trumpet attack.” The other musician featured on these tracks is tenor player Ralph Moore, who, in Roditi’s words, “shows an enormous talent in a Brazilian context.”
Always keeping a surprise up his sleeve, Roditi reserved room to display his piano artistry on the beautiful ballad “Lullaby for Kristen.” It is a lyrical trio performance with virtuoso bassist David Finck and the consummate drummer Akira Tana.
Another exceptional original is “Feel Good,” written by Roditi’s longtime friend Gaudencio Thiago de Mello. Over an infectious samba beat, including a batucada passage, Roditi performs his solo with characteristic assurance and strength. Perfectly articulated, it confirms that, even on a very fast tempo tune, he doesn’t lack swing, feelings, dynamics, or substance.
Roditi is very much at home on three tunes that are famous in Brazil. The oldest, “Feitio de Oração,” from 1933, is by legendary samba composers Noel Rosa and Vadico and receives a surprisingly jazzy treatment, with Roditi confirming that his mastery of the flugelhorn is matched only by veterans Art Farmer and Clark Terry. The other two numbers – “Molambo”, a bolero from the Fifties, and “Carolina,” the Chico Buarque hit from the Sixties – are sung by Roditi in Portuguese. Both song contain notable rhythmic colors by Dominican percussionist Rafael Cruz.
In trying to interpret the meaning behind the album’s title, one might suggest that it is connected to the way Roditi’s career has developed – no sudden explosion but rather a slow, continuous, and consistent musical growth. This slow fire could also suggest the quality of his playing throughout the album: it is always intense, warm, and full of passion. The music burns not only in the energetic solos but on the slow and medium-tempo tunes as well. Now, let Claudio Roditi Slowfire on you.
-- Arnaldo DeSouteiro, May 1989
Arnaldo DeSouteiro, a Rio de Janeiro-based music critic, is Keyboard magazine’s Brazilian correspondent.
Eumir Deodato, "Deodato In Concert - Live at Felt Forum", CTI/CBS #ZK 45221 (1989).[CD Reissue]
Release Date in USA, Europe and Japan: August 07, 1989.
Recorded on April 20, 1973.
Musician personnel and Album credits:
Arnaldo DeSouteiro - Liner Notes, Reissue Supervision
Creed Taylor - Producer
Eumir Deodato - Fender Rhodes, Synthesizer, Arranger, Conductor
John Giulino - Electric Bass
Rick Marotta - Drums
John Tropea - Electric Guitar
Rubens Bassini - Congas, Percussion
Garnett Brown - Valve Trombone
Burt Collins - Trumpet
Gilmore Degap - Percussion, Congas
Tim Geelan - Mastering, Digital Mixing
Frank Hubach - Engineer
Joe Shepley - Trumpet
Joe Temperley - Baritone Sax
Bob James - Additional String Arrangements, Conductor
Liner Notes witten by Arnaldo DeSouteiro for this CD, released worldwide in 1989:
Since his days at Verve Records in the early 1960s, when he produced seminal bossa nova albums by such artists as Luiz Bonfá, Antonio Carlos Jobim and João and Astrud Gilberto, until his latest activities at the Greenestreet label (which thrived for a scant ten months in 1984, but gave him enough time to launch trumpeter Claudio Roditi’s solo career), Creed Taylor always expressed a special affinity for Brazilian artists.
However, none of these collaborations proved more successful than the one with Eumir Deodato, the superb composer, arranger, keyboard player and conductor, probably due to this artist’s incredible ability to fuse his Brazilian roots with jazz, pop, rock and classical elements.
Ironically, it was this same gift that harmed Deodato’s career in Brazil. After a promising start in the bossa nova days, he suffered extreme prejudice from those who found that his work transcended this style’s musical boundaries. In fact, Deodato’s decision to leave his homeland came soon after he lost his job as in-house arranger at EMI-Odeon Records in Rio de Janeiro, where, in the words of the musical director of that company, he was “writing arrangements that were so difficult they confused the singers and negatively affected the sales of the albums.”
The opportunity to move to the United States came in 1967, through master guitarist Luiz Bonfá, with whom Deodato had worked before on the soundtrack for the motion picture "The Gentle Rain." Bonfá not only paid Deodato’s ticket to New York, he also provided him with enough work so as to allow him a minimum income in his first year in New York City. In June 1967, during a session with fellow Brazilian Astrud Gilberto for her "Beach Samba" album, which included some tunes by Bonfá, Deodato completed and recorded five arrangements in six hours, something which attracted the attention of the album’s producer, Creed Taylor.
Some months later, Creed invited Deodato to score some tracks on Wes Montgomery’s album, "Down Here on the Ground," which was released to critical acclaim with particular emphasis on two tunes arranged by Deodato. After that, the eclectic youngster worked several times for Creed Taylor, on albums by Jobim, Walter Wanderley, Milton Nascimento, Paul Desmond (on whose "Summertime" album Deodato did a rare studio date as guitarist), Stanley Turrentine, once again with Astrud Gilberto, and as a member of the CTI All-Stars group. Between 1969 and 1972, he also worked with such industry greats as Frank Sinatra, Roberta Flack, and Aretha Franklin, gaining the respect of all in music circles.
By the time Creed offered Deodato the chance to cut his first solo album for CTI, the talented Brazilian was already a mature artist. As a result, "Prelude" (40695), released in the spring of 1973, became a huge success, yielding the hit “Also Sprach Zarathustra” (2001). Deodato got rave reviews and by the end of that year his awards for “Prelude” and “2001” included: Top Instrumental Album, Top Jazz Album and Top Instrumental Single in “Billboard”; Top Instrumentalist for Albums in “Cashbox”; Top New Instrumentalist and Top Singles Instrumentalist in “Record World”; and Top Orchestra Album in “Playboy”. A Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental for “2001” confirmed the acclaim.
That same year, Deodato recorded album for CTI. Despite its excellence, "Deodato 2" (40930) did not achieve the commercial success of Prelude. This ruined the relations between Creed Taylor and Deodato, and led to the artist’s departure from CTI to sign with MCA in late 1973. Creed never got over the loss.
In trying to capitalize on his former protege’s success, and possibly get additional mileage from his forthcoming MCA debut, Creed went back to the tapes of a concert Deodato and the CTI All Stars had given some months before at the Felt Forum of Madison Square Garden in New York. To his surprise (and delight!), he found that the tunes performed at the concert included two that also were on the MCA release, the one posteriously chosen as the title track, “Whirlwinds”, and another intended as the first single, “Do It Again.”
Creed also selected another tune performed at the concert, “Spirit of Summer, ” added two selections played by percussionist Airto Moreira (who had opened for Deodato at the Felt Forum), and rush-released "Deodato/Airto In Concert," which strongly diminished the impact of Deodato’s first album for MCA. In so doing, Creed also helped promote Airto, simply by not mentioning on the album cover that the two artists had played separately at the concert.
For 15 years, all the other tracks recorded at the Felt Forum remained unreleased…One listen will suffice to prove that Deodato gave particularly inspired performance on that night of April 20, 1973, before an audience consisting mostly of young people, teenagers who screamed, clapped and even danced, in the kind of participation more characteristic of rock concerts. Obviously, they were some of the first “fusion” fans, attracted to Deodato’s jazzy sound through the monster hit, “2001.”
The highly energetic repertoire performed that night included tunes which originally appeared on the "Prelude" album, and others that the arranger was still preparing to record for "Deodato 2."
The band was singularly skilled, the lineup consisting of John Tropea on guitar, John Giulino on bass, Rick Marotta on drums, Rubens Bassini and Gilmore Degap on congas/percussion, Burt Collins and Joe Shepley on trumpets, Garnett Brown on trombone and Joe Temperley on baritone sax.
A master on grooves, Deodato displays his dexterity to make the horn section swing along over funky, strong rhythms. In fact, it is interesting to note that the horn riffs on “September 13” and “Baubles, Bangles And Beads” are more reminiscent of R&B recordings than of jazz dates.
As a keyboardist, Deodato is equally capable of intense, very personal statements. Not only does he perform notable solos on “Do It Again” (an irresistible version of Steely Dan’s hit) and “Spirit of Summer” (a Deodato original in a haunting arrangement full of luminous orchestral textures, in which his keyboard work reveals a provocative harmonic imagination, with an exemplary use of dissonant chords), but he steams a bit further by building a tune on a three-note motif and a few chord changes on “September 13,” so titled because it was first recorded on that day in 1972 for “Prelude”.
Creed Taylor originally had no title for “Whirlwinds”, since that tune was untitled at the time of the Felt Forum concert, but because it showcased John Tropea’s powerful approach he called it “Tropea” (in a review of "Deodato 2," DownBeat called Tropea “a master of pithy guitar…the most forthright new guitarist since Mahavishnu John McLaughlin”). The other musician featured on “Whirlwinds” is Brazilian Rubens Bassini, an incredibly underrated percussionist who worked with Deodato from 1973 to 1979, before joining Dave Grusin with whom he played up until his death in 1985.
After performing the best conga solo I have ever heard on a contemporary jazz recording, Bassini returns to the front line for a fiery interplay with Degap and Marotta on the frenetic “Skyscraper”, which also includes an exciting Garnett Brown solo. The concert ends, of course, with Deodato’s adaptation of “Also Sparch Zarathustra”, without the slow intro heard on "Prelude."
Nowadays, Deodato no longer performs live (the last time he gave a concert was in 1976 at Carnegie Hall), and it only adds to the specialness of this collection, which contains electrifying samples of his creative heyday.
--Arnaldo DeSouteiro
(“Keyboard” magazine - USA)
December, 1988
Release Date in USA, Europe and Japan: August 07, 1989.
Recorded on April 20, 1973.
Tracks:
1. Do It Again (Becker/Fagen) 6:37
2. September 13 (Cobham/Deodato) 7:26
3. Baubles, Bangles and Beads (Forrest/Wright) 4:44
4. Whirlwinds (Deodato/Tropea) 8:40
5. Spirit of Summer (Deodato) 5:31
6. Skyscrapers (Deodato) 12:31
7. Also Sprach Zarathustra (Richard Strauss) 11:02
1. Do It Again (Becker/Fagen) 6:37
2. September 13 (Cobham/Deodato) 7:26
3. Baubles, Bangles and Beads (Forrest/Wright) 4:44
4. Whirlwinds (Deodato/Tropea) 8:40
5. Spirit of Summer (Deodato) 5:31
6. Skyscrapers (Deodato) 12:31
7. Also Sprach Zarathustra (Richard Strauss) 11:02
Musician personnel and Album credits:
Arnaldo DeSouteiro - Liner Notes, Reissue Supervision
Creed Taylor - Producer
Eumir Deodato - Fender Rhodes, Synthesizer, Arranger, Conductor
John Giulino - Electric Bass
Rick Marotta - Drums
John Tropea - Electric Guitar
Rubens Bassini - Congas, Percussion
Garnett Brown - Valve Trombone
Burt Collins - Trumpet
Gilmore Degap - Percussion, Congas
Tim Geelan - Mastering, Digital Mixing
Frank Hubach - Engineer
Joe Shepley - Trumpet
Joe Temperley - Baritone Sax
Bob James - Additional String Arrangements, Conductor
* * *
Liner Notes witten by Arnaldo DeSouteiro for this CD, released worldwide in 1989:
Since his days at Verve Records in the early 1960s, when he produced seminal bossa nova albums by such artists as Luiz Bonfá, Antonio Carlos Jobim and João and Astrud Gilberto, until his latest activities at the Greenestreet label (which thrived for a scant ten months in 1984, but gave him enough time to launch trumpeter Claudio Roditi’s solo career), Creed Taylor always expressed a special affinity for Brazilian artists.
However, none of these collaborations proved more successful than the one with Eumir Deodato, the superb composer, arranger, keyboard player and conductor, probably due to this artist’s incredible ability to fuse his Brazilian roots with jazz, pop, rock and classical elements.
Ironically, it was this same gift that harmed Deodato’s career in Brazil. After a promising start in the bossa nova days, he suffered extreme prejudice from those who found that his work transcended this style’s musical boundaries. In fact, Deodato’s decision to leave his homeland came soon after he lost his job as in-house arranger at EMI-Odeon Records in Rio de Janeiro, where, in the words of the musical director of that company, he was “writing arrangements that were so difficult they confused the singers and negatively affected the sales of the albums.”
The opportunity to move to the United States came in 1967, through master guitarist Luiz Bonfá, with whom Deodato had worked before on the soundtrack for the motion picture "The Gentle Rain." Bonfá not only paid Deodato’s ticket to New York, he also provided him with enough work so as to allow him a minimum income in his first year in New York City. In June 1967, during a session with fellow Brazilian Astrud Gilberto for her "Beach Samba" album, which included some tunes by Bonfá, Deodato completed and recorded five arrangements in six hours, something which attracted the attention of the album’s producer, Creed Taylor.
Some months later, Creed invited Deodato to score some tracks on Wes Montgomery’s album, "Down Here on the Ground," which was released to critical acclaim with particular emphasis on two tunes arranged by Deodato. After that, the eclectic youngster worked several times for Creed Taylor, on albums by Jobim, Walter Wanderley, Milton Nascimento, Paul Desmond (on whose "Summertime" album Deodato did a rare studio date as guitarist), Stanley Turrentine, once again with Astrud Gilberto, and as a member of the CTI All-Stars group. Between 1969 and 1972, he also worked with such industry greats as Frank Sinatra, Roberta Flack, and Aretha Franklin, gaining the respect of all in music circles.
By the time Creed offered Deodato the chance to cut his first solo album for CTI, the talented Brazilian was already a mature artist. As a result, "Prelude" (40695), released in the spring of 1973, became a huge success, yielding the hit “Also Sprach Zarathustra” (2001). Deodato got rave reviews and by the end of that year his awards for “Prelude” and “2001” included: Top Instrumental Album, Top Jazz Album and Top Instrumental Single in “Billboard”; Top Instrumentalist for Albums in “Cashbox”; Top New Instrumentalist and Top Singles Instrumentalist in “Record World”; and Top Orchestra Album in “Playboy”. A Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental for “2001” confirmed the acclaim.
That same year, Deodato recorded album for CTI. Despite its excellence, "Deodato 2" (40930) did not achieve the commercial success of Prelude. This ruined the relations between Creed Taylor and Deodato, and led to the artist’s departure from CTI to sign with MCA in late 1973. Creed never got over the loss.
In trying to capitalize on his former protege’s success, and possibly get additional mileage from his forthcoming MCA debut, Creed went back to the tapes of a concert Deodato and the CTI All Stars had given some months before at the Felt Forum of Madison Square Garden in New York. To his surprise (and delight!), he found that the tunes performed at the concert included two that also were on the MCA release, the one posteriously chosen as the title track, “Whirlwinds”, and another intended as the first single, “Do It Again.”
Creed also selected another tune performed at the concert, “Spirit of Summer, ” added two selections played by percussionist Airto Moreira (who had opened for Deodato at the Felt Forum), and rush-released "Deodato/Airto In Concert," which strongly diminished the impact of Deodato’s first album for MCA. In so doing, Creed also helped promote Airto, simply by not mentioning on the album cover that the two artists had played separately at the concert.
For 15 years, all the other tracks recorded at the Felt Forum remained unreleased…One listen will suffice to prove that Deodato gave particularly inspired performance on that night of April 20, 1973, before an audience consisting mostly of young people, teenagers who screamed, clapped and even danced, in the kind of participation more characteristic of rock concerts. Obviously, they were some of the first “fusion” fans, attracted to Deodato’s jazzy sound through the monster hit, “2001.”
The highly energetic repertoire performed that night included tunes which originally appeared on the "Prelude" album, and others that the arranger was still preparing to record for "Deodato 2."
The band was singularly skilled, the lineup consisting of John Tropea on guitar, John Giulino on bass, Rick Marotta on drums, Rubens Bassini and Gilmore Degap on congas/percussion, Burt Collins and Joe Shepley on trumpets, Garnett Brown on trombone and Joe Temperley on baritone sax.
A master on grooves, Deodato displays his dexterity to make the horn section swing along over funky, strong rhythms. In fact, it is interesting to note that the horn riffs on “September 13” and “Baubles, Bangles And Beads” are more reminiscent of R&B recordings than of jazz dates.
As a keyboardist, Deodato is equally capable of intense, very personal statements. Not only does he perform notable solos on “Do It Again” (an irresistible version of Steely Dan’s hit) and “Spirit of Summer” (a Deodato original in a haunting arrangement full of luminous orchestral textures, in which his keyboard work reveals a provocative harmonic imagination, with an exemplary use of dissonant chords), but he steams a bit further by building a tune on a three-note motif and a few chord changes on “September 13,” so titled because it was first recorded on that day in 1972 for “Prelude”.
Creed Taylor originally had no title for “Whirlwinds”, since that tune was untitled at the time of the Felt Forum concert, but because it showcased John Tropea’s powerful approach he called it “Tropea” (in a review of "Deodato 2," DownBeat called Tropea “a master of pithy guitar…the most forthright new guitarist since Mahavishnu John McLaughlin”). The other musician featured on “Whirlwinds” is Brazilian Rubens Bassini, an incredibly underrated percussionist who worked with Deodato from 1973 to 1979, before joining Dave Grusin with whom he played up until his death in 1985.
After performing the best conga solo I have ever heard on a contemporary jazz recording, Bassini returns to the front line for a fiery interplay with Degap and Marotta on the frenetic “Skyscraper”, which also includes an exciting Garnett Brown solo. The concert ends, of course, with Deodato’s adaptation of “Also Sparch Zarathustra”, without the slow intro heard on "Prelude."
Nowadays, Deodato no longer performs live (the last time he gave a concert was in 1976 at Carnegie Hall), and it only adds to the specialness of this collection, which contains electrifying samples of his creative heyday.
--Arnaldo DeSouteiro
(“Keyboard” magazine - USA)
December, 1988
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