Marabeau's Jazz Club

Marabeau Jazz Restaurante
SCLN 216 Bloco C loja, 22 - Brasília - DF, 70875-530

by Claudio Botelho
O local situa-se no finalzinho da Asa Norte, na comercial, aqui em Brasília, sendo sua entrada na lateral do Bloco C, da 216. Em relação à rua principal daquela área, seu piso ficaria no subsolo, não fora um decaimento do terreno, no sentido frente - trás da edificação, que em sua parte mais baixa, nivela-se com a entrada do ambiente.
“À entrada, uma árvore de luzinhas azuis ilumina uma placa que define o local: ‘ Mara Beau, Restaurante”. O motivo de nossa ida e de mais alguns amigos: o aniversário do titular deste blog. Havíamos sido convidados para comemorar aquele dia ouvindo o que mais gostamos de ouvir: JAZZ!
Dentro, à direita, um baixo elétrico (um Fender Jazz, me parece), duas guitarras e um banco alto, com um micro encosto, para um crooner. Por detrás, uma bateria.
O ambiente era pequeno, dotado de mesinhas circulares, um balcão, por sobre o qual se podia divisar uma pequena cozinha. Grosso modo, uma área para público e músicos de cerca de 40m2. Pequena, como costumam ser, por exemplo, ambientes do gênero em Nova Iorque.
Um dos convidados, avaliando o tamanho do local e vendo a bateria assustou-se: “Acho que, aqui, não caberia essa bateria...” Falei-lhe: “Depende do drummer...” Ficamos nisso, enquanto os músicos não tomavam seus assentos. Nas caixinhas de som, no teto, um jazzinho (“música mecânica”, como por aqui se diz) fazia o pano de fundo da palração.
Antes, quando cheguei frente à porta do local, fui recebido, André e esposa, por alguém que nos deu as boas vindas: “Boa Noite, sou a Mara Beau”. “Boa noite”, respondi. Entrei em seguida.
Lá dentro, casa meio cheia, mas chegando mais gente.
Com pouco, apareceram os protagonistas: a crooner (Ms. Mara Beau), dois guitarristas, um baixista e um baterista. Segundo ela anunciou , todos professores (de música, imaginei). Eram, respectivamente: Carlos Vinícius – g; Juninho de Souza –g; Rodrigo Salgado – b e Ronaldo Gaffa – d. Segundo anunciado, todos professores.
Naquele momento iríamos ver se o baterista iria ou não derrubar a casa...
Começou o show e o local se manteve em pé. De início, notei uma altivez incomum na crooner: cabeça sempre erguida, olhar firme. Apenas o microfone lhe incomodava: não encontrava a posição ideal e nem encontrou, durante todo o transcorrer do show. Sentada no banco alto, pernas elegantemente cruzadas, apesar de não usar vestido comprido, comandava todo o movimento.
Iniciou o show (todo composto dos grandes standards do cancioneiro popular americano, alguns temas do jazz, duas ou três músicas do Jobim – não apresentadas em português e Estate – cantada em italiano. Esta última, em minha opinião, uma das coisas mais lindas que já foram compostas. Vivas para o João Gilberto que, com os arranjos decisivos de Claus Ogerman, tiraram-na do ostracismo). Quase tudo cantado em inglês.
De início, o pessoal me pareceu um pouco preso; um tanto reticente em se soltar e, os da frente, consultavam em excesso as partituras, o que os fazia ficar com as cabeças um pouco voltadas para o chão. A crooner, no entanto, seguia sobranceira: se inclinava a cabeça, era para trás, nunca para o chão.
Os músicos que, de início, paqueravam bastante as partituras, foram se libertando mais, particularmente o guitarrista Carlos Vinícius e o baterista. Estes, mas lá para o final do show, se soltaram bem, para orgulho da crooner que, mais tarimbada, seguindo a mesma batida do início do show, ao final de cada solo, dava uma olhada de rabo de olho para o público e esboçava um discretíssimo sorriso, como que a dizer: não disse, seus bobocas, que aqui se ouve jazz?... Carlos Vinícius, por sua vez, ao final de cada solo, olhava para o outro guitarrista passando-lhe a bola. Este tentava corresponder. O primeiro parecia mais a vontade; estava mais solto e, assim, conseguiu se comunicar mais. Seria o spalla? Pareceu-me mais familiarizado com aquele contexto. O segundo bem poderia ser um convidado, ainda se aclimatando...
A crooner deixou de atender alguns pedidos feitos por nossa turma (aliás, não atendeu a nenhum), vez por outra dava um elegante carão na turma que falava mais alto (“Recordo que aqui é uma casa de música”) e, na hora que decidiu parar de cantar, parou. Não adiantaram nossas palmas. Existiam alguns que insistiam em algo do songbook do Bill Evans. Teria ela um segundo compromisso?
Ms. Mara Beau não é Sarah Vaughan, mas é a nossa diva do jazz, aqui de Brasília. E age como tal. Aqui, até onde sei, pode falar mais alto... Não deixa de ser interessante. A voz é bonita, por sinal, reminiscente da voz da Dinah Washington.
Gostei bastante do guitarrista e do baterista; este soube ser não intrusivo, como o ambiente impunha, deixando as explosões apenas para os momentos de vibração dos presentes, o que fazia com que, naturalmente, não ficassem tão evidentes, além de reforçar o impacto das manifestações. É admirador do Brian Blade (como eu), usou muito das vassourinhas que, segundo confessou ao editor, veio dominar bem recentemente...
Carlos Vinicius, de início um tanto reticente, foi se soltando e mostrou dominar bem a linguagem jazzística. Muito bom e me agradou ainda mais por ter um estilo expansivo, aberto, bem diferente de certos Abercrombies que militam por aí (por excepcionais que sejam, não me agradam). Parabenizei-o quando, na entrada do toalete, me cedeu à vez. (Não por isso, claro. Essa gentileza mereceu meu agradecimento)
Aliás, pra que dois guitarristas? Esse é um claro caso onde o mais é menos... Talvez tenha sido mesmo para introduzir o segundo na vida prática (isso é apenas uma ilação minha). Eu, por exemplo, nunca gostei de apresentação de dois pianistas ao mesmo tempo. Embaralha, confunde um pouco o jogo do quem-é-quem...
Quanto aos dons vocais de Ms Beau, não vou me estender muito, porque sou, reconhecidamente, fanático por música instrumental. Assim, minha pouca prática nas vocalizações não me autoriza a tanto...
Foi um programa diferente, sem dúvida. Brasília pode não abrigar o Village Vanguard, mas acolhe o Mara Beau Restaurante. Certamente, um dos mais jazzistas que existem...

JOE MORELLO 1928 - 2011

BIOGRAPHY of JOE MORELLO

July 17, 1928—March 12, 2011

Joe was born on July 17, 1928, in Springfield, Mass. Having impaired vision since birth, he devoted himself to indoor activities. At the age of six, his family’s encouragement led him to study violin. Three years later, he was featured with the Boston Symphony Orchestra as soloist in the Mendelsohn Violin Concerto. At the age of twelve, he made a second solo appearance with the orchestra. But upon meeting and hearing his idol, the great Jascha Heifetz, Joe felt he could never achieve “that sound”. So, at the age of fifteen, Joe changed the course of his musical endeavors and began to study drums.
Joe’s first drum teacher, Joe Sefcik, was a pit drummer for all the shows in the Springfield area. He was an excellent teacher and gave Joe much encouragement. Joe began sitting in with any group that would allow it. When he was not sitting in, he and his friends, including Teddy Cohen, Chuck Andrus, Hal Sera, Phil Woods and Sal Salvador, would get together and jam in any place they could find. Joe would play any job he was called for. As a result, his musical experiences ranged from rudimental military playing to weddings and social occasions. Eventually, Mr. Sefcik decided it was time for Joe to move on. He recommended a teacher in Boston, the great George Lawrence Stone.
Mr. Stone did many things for Joe. He gave Joe most of the tools for developing technique. He taught Joe to read. But most important of all, he made Joe realize his future was in jazz, not “legitimate” percussion, as Joe had hoped. Through his studies with Mr. Stone, Joe became known as the best drummer in Springfield, and rudimental champion of New England.
Joe’s playing activity increased, and he soon found himself on the road with several groups. First, there was Hank Garland and the Grand Old Opry, and then Whitey Bernard. After much consideration, Joe left Whitey Bernard to go to New York City.
A difficult year followed, but with Joe’s determination and the help of friends like Sal Salvador, Joe began to be noticed. Soon he found himself playing with an impressive cast of musicians that included Gil Melle, Johnny Smith, Tal Farlow, Jimmy Raney, Stan Kenton and Marian McPartland. After leaving Marian McPartland’s trio, he turned down offers from the Benny Goodman band and the Tommy Dorsey band. The offer he chose to accept was a two-month temporary tour with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, which ended up lasting twelve-and-a half years. It was during the period that Joe’s technique received its finishing touches from Billy Gladstone of Radio City Music Hall.
From 1968, when the Dave Brubeck Quartet disbanded, Joe spread his talents over a variety of areas. He maintained a very active private teaching practice. Through his association with DW Drums, Joe made great educational contributions to drumming, as well as the entire field of jazz, by way of his clinics, lectures and guest solo appearances. In his later years, Joe frequently performed with his own group in the New York metropolitan area.
Joe appeared on over 120 albums and CDs, of which 60 were with the Dave Brubeck Quartet. He won the Downbeat magazine award for best drummer for five years in a row, the Playboy award seven years in a row, and is the only drummer to win every music poll for five years in a row, including Japan, England, Europe, Australia and South America. He is mentioned in Who’s Who in the East, twelfth edition, and the Blue Book, which is a listing of persons in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States who have achieved distinction in the arts, sciences, business or the professions. Revered by fans and musicians alike, Joe was considered to be one of the finest, and probably one of the most celebrated, drummers in the history of jazz.
Joe's impact on the world of music, and on all the lives of those he touched will live forever.
http://www.joemorello.net/

1 Sem 2011 - Part Seven

Luca Lapenna
Words For Evans



by Mr. Claudio Botelho
You’re right: this is one more homage to the great Bill Evans! There you have it: “My Bells”; “Turn out the Stars”; “Peri’s Scope”; “Only Child”; “One for Helen”; “The two Lonely People”; “Very Early”; “Time Remembered”; “Waltz for Debby”; “Another Time, Another Place” and a song named “Ending” which ends the recording.
Four of the Evans songs received lyrics from Lapenna himself (Peri’s Scope; Only a Child; One for Helen and Time Remembered), two others were penned by the bass player of the group (Another time, Another Place) and the remaining (Ending) was composed by Lapenna and his piano player.
Lapenna made it at the end of 1995, entering January of 1996. You’re wrong: this work is really from the middle nineties! There isn’t any misprint here!
- Hey, Claudio, we’re in 2011, come on! Don’t you think you’re a little late?
- No, I’m not: good music; honesty; sincere praise; sensible renderings; shivering emotions are atemporal subjects!
- Oh, man, there are some hundreds of homages like this…
- No, my friend, not LIKE this!
- Why not?
- ‘Cause you can feel all throughout the performances a deep emotional charge, a comprehensive understanding of that composer’s soul, a profound respect for the mood of each song; all this without any abdication of the jazz language, as we come to know and admire…
- Really?
- You bet, man, you bet! Lapenna’s diminutive voice, backed by some equally inspired musicians, did his best by overcoming his low register limitations, sometimes on the verge of ruining a song, other times trembling with emotion! The sparsely presentations give the listener a chance to enjoy everything: from his smallest intonations, to every music inflexions of his cohorts which, as a whole, merged in a unity of sublime identification with the soul of that composer…
- You’re kidding me, they aren’t even Americans!...
- You’re right: they are not, but they sported a deep admiration for Mr. Evans and their music spoke clearly of this. You can see this through the muted trumpet, across the delicate fingered piano or the work of the attentive bass and drums players.
- Wow!
- Yes, Wow! Thanks Luca Lapenna; thanks Paolo Fresu (tr. & fl); thanks Alberto Tacchini (p); Thanks Atillo Zanchi (b) and thanks Giampero Prina (d). Many thanks.
- So, let´s turn out the stars?
- We may try…

João Bosco & NDR Big Band
Senhoras do Amazonas

by Dr. Leandro Rocha

O mineiro João Bosco surpreende mais uma vez ao lançar esse disco gravado na Alemanha acompanhado da NDR Big Band formada por músicos competentíssimos que souberam se adequar perfeitamente às harmonias fantásticas da música desse genial compositor. O CD tem 10 músicas,das quais 7 são de Bosco e 3 de Tom Jobim,o grande homenageado,revisitado através de Desafinado(com Newton Mendonça) numa performance estonteante de João,Chega de saudade(com Vinicius de Moraes) e Angela,numa interpretação arrasadora! Os temas de autoria de João já são conhecidos mas recebem um tratamento diferente das gravações originais. O clima é jazzístico,muitas vezes,desde o rock Bate um Balaio(uma homenagem a Jackson do Pandeiro) ,passando pelos sambas empolgantes como Nação e Pretaporter de tafetá até às baladas (João Bosco é mestre nelas) Bodas de prata,Saída de emergência e Senhoras do Amazonas. Embora não encontremos nenhuma música inédita,o encontro de João Bosco com a NDR Big Band foi revigorante para a música desse extrordinário compositor,cantor e violonista. Nossos ouvidos e nosso espírito agradecem.


Emilie-Claire Barlow
The Beat Goes On



by David Churchill 
In December 2008, my wife and I saw Canadian jazz singer, Emilie-Claire Barlow, perform a Christmas-centric concert at Markham Theatre north of Toronto. Markham Theatre is a wonderful place to see concerts because the acoustics are great and the space is relatively intimate. Barlow on that night was in a fine fettle. She sang wonderfully (in English and French) and had a great deal of off-the-cuff fun with the audience. As befits a concert in Markham, afterwards Barlow spent another hour in the lobby signing CDs for audience members. When we got to the front of the line my wife, who is trilingual (English, French and Spanish), asked Barlow if she spoke French. Barlow admitted she did not and that she always sang the songs phonetically.
Talking afterwards, my wife and I were astonished how near perfect her phrasing was, not just in her English-language songs, but her French ones too. This near-perfect phrasing is evident all over her new CD, The Beat Goes On. The CD is Barlow's jazz tribute to the pop songs of the 1960s. She's not the first jazz singer to do this, but this might be the best. Ranging from Burt Bacharach to Buffy Sainte-Marie to Sonny Bono to Bob Dylan, Barlow's choices are frequently inspired. She has taken many very recognizable tunes and, with skilful rearrangements, crafted songs I may have liked at one time, but since have grown tired of (Bacharach's “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head”), or songs I never liked to begin with (Neil Sedaka's “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”) and given them a spin that makes them fresh and rejuvenated.
Doing all her own arrangements, she sometimes reduces the start of songs to just her voice, hand claps and double bass (Donovan's “Sunshine Superman”) creating an aural soundscape that brings you into the song anew. She completely alters Sonny Bono's mildly irritating “The Beat Goes On” by combining it with snippets of Bosso Nova beats, plus snatches from the theme song to the old Canadian game show, Definition (via the rap band The Dream Warriors' 1991 reinterpretation), to make it into an exhilarating creation.
She even takes a whirl at Portuguese in her interpretation of “Little Boat (O Barquinho)” when she sings one verse of the song, impeccably, in that language. The only misstep on the CD is with the Buffy Saint-Marie song, “Until It's Time for You to Go.” The English version, which I always found too pleading, is given a beautifully wistful reading here. Unfortunately, her decision to do it again, in French (under the title “T'es Pas Un Autre”), was too much. Again, her phrasing is wonderful, but the song comes across like filler or a sop to the Quebecois market.
That probably is just nitpick, because if an album of 13 tracks has only one misstep (albeit a well-sung misstep), that is still quite an achievement. Barlow is gradually developing a career that I can easily see following the same path of Michael Bublé or Diana Krall. I just hope she keeps her big, funky heart firmly in place.


George Benson
Songs and Stories




by Howard Dukes

If you're a jazz guitar fan of a certain age, you might be a big fan of Wes Montogmery, Kenny Burrell or the recently departed Les Paul. There probably aren't too many people around who recall Django Reinhart or Charlie Christian. Younger music fans might like smooth jazz artists like Norman Brown. The jazz guitarist of my generation was George Benson. As a force in popular music, it could be said that Benson reached the heights as a crossover artist that Montgomery might have reached had he not died suddenly in 1968. Montgomery was scoring pop his in the mid-1960s with his originals like "Bumpin'" and covers of rock songs and is basically one of the early adaptors of what came to be known as contemporary jazz. Benson, who also came up playing straight-ahead jazz in the 1960s, reached a level that few instrumentalists attain these days. The major reason for Benson's success is that he had one thing that greats like Montgomery did not have - a good singing voice.
That voice scored Benson chart topping and Grammy winning records in the 1970s and 1980s - "This Masquerade," "The Greatest Love of All," "Give Me the Night," Love X Love" and "Turn Your Love Around," just to name a few. Since the mid-1970s, Benson has made a career of showcasing a voice that has great range and sensitivity with some great jazz guitar improvisation.          
Benson uses that same formula on his latest CD Songs and Stories. The CD is a mix of original compositions written by guests such as Bill Withers and remakes of classic songs such as "Rainy Night in Georgia" and "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight." The record also features guest appearances by players such as Norman Brown who count Benson as a major influence.
Benson's originals are loved, but his work as a cover artist is underrated. Of course, he remade "Love Ballad," "Star of the Story" and "Moody's Mood." However, three of my favorite Benson remakes were his 1990 covers of "Here, There and Everywhere," "Starlight" and "You Don't Know What Love Is," that appeared on the  overlooked album Tenderly. I liked all three because Benson's vocals were excellent, but also his guitar work was among the best I've heard on a contemporary jazz record.
Benson is his creative best on Songs and Stories. He seems to know that the instrumental solos are competing for space with the vocals and the flourishes he adds at the end of each line of vocals and his extended solos are all memorable. The same can be said of Benson's guitar work on the cover of Donny Hathaway's "Someday We'll All Be Free."
The originals provide a balance ranging from the friendly up-tempo guitar duel that Benson and Brown wage on "Nuthin' But A Party," to the mid-tempo ballad "Family Reunion." Songs and Stories also sports several instrumental tunes that showcase Benson's ability to bring the kind of improvisation and communication with the other players that is often missing from many contemporary jazz tracks. Songs and Stories is a CD that the legion of Benson fans will like, and the album has enough cross over potential to draw the casual listener as well. Recommended.

Trichotomy (Sean Foran/ John Parker/ Pat Marchisella)
Variations



by John Fordham
The EST and Bad Plus connections are pretty clear in the music of this decade-old Australian trio, but the compositions of pianist Sean Foran and drummer John Parker impart a lot of character to its take on contemporary jazz fusion, and it shares with both of its major ­models a group ability to shift seamlessly ­between structures and ­spontaneity. ­Trichotomy's early enthusiasm for fellow-Australian band the Necks is also apparent in a ­fondness for lengthy ­pulsating one-note patterns and the subtle animation it injects into the most spacious and slow-moving episodes. The fast Latin pulse of the opening track, with its flowing piano lines over an intricate left-hand ­repeat and abruptly hushed and dreamy ­countermelody exploits the Bad Plus's appealing jump-cut style, as does the following slow floater with its Jarrett-like piano upsurge midway. A violin, viola and sax offer a caressing contrast over an ostinato and a snappy groove on the fourth track, as does ­Peter Knight's Arve Henriksen/late-Miles trumpet later on. Sometimes the band offers 21st-­century updates on a bright, dancing, Chick Corea-like lyricism: sometimes a fierce improv edge deploying Patrick Marchisella's electronically distorted acoustic bass; sometimes a tumbling hard-bop piano approach but over a ­castanet-like ­chatter; sometimes plucked-strings musings. These three make the resources of the conventional piano trio go a long way.

Spike Wells, Gwilym Simcock, Malcolm Creese
Reverence



by The Vortex 
Leader/drummer Spike Wells traces his love affair with the piano trio to his first exposure to the likes of Hampton Hawes and Wynton Kelly in the 1950s and 1960s, but he also namechecks Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Enrico Pieranunzi and Brad Mehldau before lavishing praise on his partner on this recording, Gwilym Simcock, whom he calls 'the best pianist I have ever played with', and goes on: 'I suspect in the end he will be regarded as the greatest pianist this country has ever produced.'
Praise indeed, but even brief exposure to Simcock's constantly inventive contributions to the standards on this album ë a lightly tripping 'Falling in Love with Love', an increasingly adventurous exploration of 'Secret Love', a mesmeric, mellifluous visit to 'You Don't Know What Love is', a stunning 'My Funny Valentine' ë explains his enthusiasm.
Like numerous contemporary pianists (Mehldau himself, Lynne Arriale chief among them), Simcock infuses a perfectly honed 'classical' technique with 'jazz' sensibility (the need for inverted commas a sign of how successful they've been in seamlessly combining the two).
There are few listening experiences as rewarding and pleasurable as following a lively musical mind seeing how far it can stretch the rhythmic and melodic limits of a chord sequence; Simcock delights and surprises on every cut of this excellent album, richly fulfilling the promise discernible in his extraordinary collaboration with Lee Konitz in Cheltenham a year or so ago.
Wells himself is at the heart of the group sound, nudging, urging, stoking the trio's fire; bassist Malcolm Creese is his customary unselfish, sonorous, faultless self, but it is Simcock who attracts and holds the attention throughout a fine (72-minute) recording. Recommended.