Jazz

We’ve always admired people who could keep a daily journal – seems like such an admirable trait, being able to chronicle the events of one’s life. And while we’ve never seemed to muster up enough time to devote myself to the task, we’ll freely admit that the thought of looking back at the weeks, months and years is intriguing. Even more so when it’s somebody else’s story.

And so it is with Torcuato Mariano’s ‘Diary.’

When we last left the Brazilian guitarist, his ‘Last Look’ CD was taking the contemporary Jazz scene by storm, and songs like “Ocean Way” were well on track to becoming part of the smooth jazz lexicon. The music was fresh, relaxing and like nothing else on the radio – an easy groove that laid a Latin sheen over his obvious talents at the fret board and the studio console.

Back then, we wrote that what made Torcuato Mariano stand out from other contemporary jazz guitarists was his sensitivity to the moment and it’s no less true today. As any diary keeper will attest, the written word can reflect the writer’s personality and just as a writer of memoirs might refuse the computer’s keyboard for a fine Montblanc, so too has Mariano opted for the weighted balance of an acoustic guitar over his more familiar electric. The result is emotionally tactile, personable and warm.

A peek into Torcuato’s ‘Diary’ reveals an artistry tempered by the years and reinforced from the experience. The music recounts the highlights: ‘Ship,’ which tells of his emigration from Buenos Aires to Rio and the initial influence of a Brazilian guitar master to provide direction: “That sound of his really caught me,” he writes. “I think Baden Powell was one of the best acoustic guitar players in the world, with a style all his own. He gave the Brazilian guitar a new flavor indeed.”

Or this entry on ‘Mariana,’ a song written for his daughter: “When she was very young, we went through a particularly beautiful moment and I remained touched by that. Inspired, I picked up my guitar and the song came about so easily, as if it already existed.”

And his observation about the impetus for the title track: “This brings me right back to 9/11. It was as if all the pain from the entire world was joined together and I think it was one of the few times in my life that I felt that way. This continued for the whole month and I used to go home to pick up the guitar, playing those chords and creating melodies in my head. The denser moments of the song reflect the anguish I was feeling but there are lighter moments, too – the pretty side is about how the world should be.”

This album also reflects Mariano’s day-to-day achievements during the last four years. “There came at point in my life where I had to choose which direction my professional life would take. What should I do,” he pens. “Accept an important position with a major record label in Rio de Janeiro or move to the United States to start my musical career all over again?”

The choice he made was a wise one. As Vice President of A&R for EMI Brasil, Torcuato’s musical talents expanded to include new challenges- helping to develop new Brazilian acts and to produce many top hits for radio.

A final entry: “Four years later, I returned to my life as a musician and producer and I realized how good it was to accomplish that mission for myself, because all the things I had learned during those years gave me solid knowledge to continue. I think that a musician must be concerned about music and his work, and must invest in it completely. Time will bring the results.”

That’s just as true for personal journals as it is for music, and Torcuato Mariano’s ‘Diary’ speaks volumes.

Album Tracks

01. May
02. Blue Bossa
03. Paula
04. Diary
05. The Mission
06. High Frequency
07. Mariana
08. A Letter For You
09. Ship
10. Where Love Will Take
11. Sunny Days

Biograghy

On “Diary,” his first release for indie label 215 Records, Argentinean-born and Brazilian-bred guitarist Torcuato Mariano delivers an accomplished blend of jazz and Brazilian sounds that takes listeners on a musical excursion to a place where the sun shines bright and a long, cool drink is only an arm’s length away. At once deeply personal, compelling and upbeat, the eleven melodic vignettes on “Diary” showcase the impressive guitar chops that have made Mariano one of the most acclaimed players on the Brazilian music scene, and have invited comparisons to such guitar legends as Pat Metheny and Jeff Beck.

The music on “Diary” can best be described as “Rio chill,” a new jazz groove that directly reflects the uniquely Brazilian balance of the natural warmth of its people and the rich cosmopolitan life of Rio.

“I find it easier to express my ideas and emotions with music than with words, so on ‘Diary,’ I describe situations or influences using my acoustic guitar as my voice,” explains the guitarist. The CD’s opening track, the richly textured “May,” is melodic proof of Mariano’s ability to describe sentiment without words. His strength as a composer and arranger is also evident on “May, with its intricate arrangement of zabumba (a Brazilian bass drum,) triangle, cello and 12-string acoustic and Rickenbacker electric guitars, as well as on such tracks as the sparkling “Blue Bossa,” and simply romantic “Where Love Will Take You.”

In keeping with his goal of using music as memoir, Mariano perfectly captures the full breadth of his feelings for his wife on “Paula,” which layers a sultry sax over a sinuous guitar-led melody, while “Mariana,” written for his daughter, tunefully captures the carefree essence of childhood.

It is on the CD’s title track that Mariano most fully illustrates his ability to express emotion through his craft. Driven by an underlying tropical percussion, Mariano’s guitar progresses through the song to alternately evoke sadness and joy, until the song is led to a positive close by a jazz-tinged piano. “I wrote this song during the week of the September 11 attacks,” Mariano explains. “The song contains some pretty dense moments, prompted by the anguish I felt I shared with the whole world, but it also contains some looser ones, where I could just let things flow freely and beautifully, the way I hoped the world could be.”

Several other of “Diary’s” tunes are biographical. “Ship” pays tribute to one of the guitarist’s earliest references to Brazilian music, courtesy of legendary instrumentalist and composer Baden Powell. “I called this song ‘Ship’ because I traveled to Brazil by ship, and I wanted to express that on any journey – musical or physical – you get used to a new culture and in this case, a new musical language.” “A Letter For You” is directed to Mariano’s Argentinean father. “We always used to talk about how the native music of Argentina, tango, is melancholic, while Brazilian music is completely different – its sadness is cheerful. This song is like a letter to tell him, ‘This is how the two cultures mix well. Feel this different spirit.’” And in “The Mission,” Mariano musically depicts the balance that resulted from his decision to remain in Brazil to work as an A&R director at EMI Records instead of moving to America to further his solo career. “In music, as in life, going in one direction can positively affect the future,” he says.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1963, Torcuato Mariano’s musical life bloomed when he moved to Brazil at the age of fourteen. Before his twentieth birthday, he was accompanying Bossa Nova master Johnny Alf in nightclubs and bars throughout Rio. Although his musical influences included many legendary Brazilian musicians, Mariano was also strongly impacted by rock – he cites Jeff Beck as his hero – and early in his career, he performed with many of Brazil’s most popular pop and rock artists.

His work as a composer also earned the young Mariano accolades. In addition to collaborating on hits for mainstream artists, such as Xuxa, in 1986 he was awarded the Sharp Prize (the equivalent of the Grammy awards) as Best Pop Composer. In the late 1980’s, he developed into one of the most sought after guitarists in his adopted homeland, performing and recording with a virtual Who’s Who of Brazilian music, including Gal Costa, Leo Gandleman, Ivan Lins, Sergio Mendes, and Djavan.

His solo career took off with the 1994 release of “Paradise Station” (Windham Hill.) Mariano’s bossa nova-tinged version of Stevie Wonder’s “I Can’t Help It” reached #2 on the Gavin NAC charts. In 1995, he followed up with the CD “Last Look:” its title track also soared up the Gavin charts, holding a place in the NAC Top 40 for six months, while a second single, “Ocean Way,” transcended format to reach #5 on the Adult Alternative chart.

As his music began to earn increasing praise from such US publications as Jazz Times and Billboard, his career in Brazil also continued to flourish. In 1998, he was invited to take on the artistic direction of EMI Brazil as A&R Director, a move that further expanded his musical horizons and which resulted in a series of chart-topping and best-selling hits for such popular artists as Flavio Venturini, Belo and Carlinhos Brown. While he made significant contributions to the growth of the Brazilian music industry – which then ranked among the world’s top ten major music markets – during his four-year tenure in that position, Mariano could not fully abandon his talents as a musician. He began to work on the songs that would eventually comprise the music on “Diary” in 2000, and in 2003, left his A&R position to once again devote his energies to his career as a songwriter and performer.

With the May 2004 US release of “Diary” on newly formed 215 Records, Torcuato Mariano has created a musical journal which epitomizes “Rio chill,” a musical style so tied to the spirit of Brazil that 215 Records plans to launch an ongoing series of releases dedicated to it in the Fall of 2004.