There’s No Better Time Of Year To Celebrate Brazilian Jazz
The Brazilian Jazz Appreciation Showcase highlights Brazil’s musical creativity. Each handpicked song is destined for your personal playlist.
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The Brazilian Jazz Appreciation Showcase
Where to begin? Let’s start with Ary Barroso’s ‘Brazil’ (‘Aquarela do Brazil’) from 1939. His bands were an easy match for Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw. Even then, Brazil stood as a cross-culture cousin. Barroso’s song went to #1 on America’s music charts.
Bossa Nova gave us Jazz Samba, then Deodato’s jazz fusion. The Berklee College of Music nurtured a generation of Brazilian Jazz stars, paving the way for today’s generation of homegrown Brazilian and American jazz.
I started Connect Brazil for fans like you and to support the musicians who create the music we love, including the fine musicians on this list. If you are new to Connect Brazil, welcome!
There’s a lot to enjoy with this Showcase. You’re welcome to share share it with your friends. Then, reach out to these musicians on their socials to say “thank you”!
Scott Adams, Midday Host
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The Brazilian Jazz Appreciation Showcase
Claudia Villela | ‘Cartas Ao Vento’ from Cartas Ao Vento
Duke Ellington once said, “Jazz is so free… that it is the only unhampered, unhindered expression.” If you’re looking for a living example of Ellington’s words in Brazilian music, catch up with Claudia Villela.
This Rio-born, Santa Cruz-based singer/songwriter possesses a voice with a five-octave range and a creative mind with the spontaneous ability to improvise.
Villela’s new album Cartas Ao Vento (Letters to the Wind) easily embraces jazz, by illuminating the diversity and passion of Brazilian music. Expertly recorded in Rio de Janeiro, these ten songs mark a musical reunion of old friends.
Producer Mario Adent guided the project with bassist Jorge Helder, and drummer/percussionist Marcelo Costa. Plus fellow guitarists Romero Lubambo, and Toninho Horta. All are consummate Brazilian jazz musicians.
We sat down with Claudia for a remarkable interview that revealed her artistry on a highly personal level. Not to be missed, it’s available here.
Claudia Villela
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Listen free: XODO | New Music: Brazil | Women Of Brazilian Song | Our Streaming Station
Ryan DeHues feat. Double Françoise with | ‘A Little Bit Of Englishness’ from Private Parlour (Bossa Grooves)
Crooner Ryan DeHues’s selection as a featured artist by JAZZIZ (see below) was confirmed in late January. Today, he’s making the most of it.
Catch his podcast interview. Listen to ‘A Little Bit Of Englishness’ on the CD sampler, plus Ryan’s introduction to the disc on track one. Some even say that the heart illustration on the cover of the Spring Editon (dedicated to Brazilian music) is his, too. It’s not.
But it very well could be. Because this crooner’s heart beats to a Bossa Nova rhythm. Here’s Ryan:
“This song reminds me of something we never got to hear from Sergio Mendes and Brasil ‘66. It describes an adventure, driving through the English countryside, with stops in London, Piccadilly, and Camden Town. Hence, ‘A Little Bit of Englishness’!”
What inspires this Midwest Millennial crooner? It’s not what you think. It’s much more. You’ll find our conversation with Ryan DeHues here.
Ryan DeHues
Buy it here: From the Artist via Bandcamp | Amazon Music | Apple Music | Spotify
Listen free: XODO | Bossa Nova Love Affair | New Music: Brazil | Brazilian Jazz | Our Streaming Station
Pat Metheny Group | ‘Spring Ain’t Here’ from Letter From Home
April is Jazz Appreciation Month, and we’re always looking for new ways to celebrate it. So we came up with an idea that any Brazilian Jazz fan will enjoy.
There are so many offshoots from the Jazz Tree’s Brazilian branch, that our editorial staff decided to pull together a list of the best Brazilian Jazz albums of all time. That’s not an easy task.
Any list like this one is open to debate, so we’ve designed our lineup of 12 Influential Brazilian Jazz Albums to be a living collection. You’re liable to see it change when change is warranted.
However, one aspect won’t change. This is a chronological collection, ordered to help us appreciate the growth of Brazilian jazz through time. And that includes the Pat Metheny Group’s contributions.
Browse Connect Brazil’s 12 Influential Brazilian Jazz Albums. And feel free to send us your suggestions, along with your reasons why!
Listen free: Brazilian Jazz Instrumentals | New Music: Brazil | Brazilian Jazz | Our Streaming Station
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The Brazilian Jazz Appreciation Showcase
Daniela Soledade | The Girl From Ipanema
We love it when musicians send us their music along with a personal anecdote. This was the case a few weeks ago when Nate Najar and Daniela Soledade surprised us with an unexcepted email:
“We were in Rio for Carnaval and stayed on Avenida Viera Souto across from Ipanema beach at Posto 9,” they wrote. “It was a cool Art Deco streamliner apartment building, and we saw a plaque on the exterior wall that said Vinicius de Moraes once lived there. (Ed. ‘Cool!’)
“So we made a little remote recording studio in the apartment’s dining room, and in the middle of the night we recorded ‘Garota de Ipanema’. When Dani did the vocal, I left the window open (you always leave the windows open in Rio!) so the sound of the ocean would be in the background on the track.
“When the sun came up at 5 am we went across the street and shot the video on the beach. Jeff Rupert added his tenor saxophone last week.”
Thanks, Nate! As fans, we rarely get to know how a song like that one comes together! That was a welcome surprise and a lot of fun!
Daniela Soledade
Buy it here: Amazon Music | Linktree
Listen free: Bossa Nova Love Affair | Women of Brazilian Song | Sunday Brazilian Brunch | Our Streaming Station
Stan Getz, João Gilberto Featuring Antonio Carlos Jobim | Vivo Sonhando (Dreamer) from Getz/Gilberto
This album is celebrating its milestone 60th anniversary this year. And that’s why Nate and Daniela graced us with their special version (above).
Amazingly, Stan Getz recorded five Bossa Nova albums in two years, and Getz/Gilberto was the last, in early Spring, 1963. But the label delayed its release for a full year. They were not sure about how to promote Astrud Gilberto’s famous performance on ‘The Girl From Ipanema’.
The single peaked at #5 on Billboard, elevating Getz/Gilberto to Grammy fame, with pop music awards for Album of The Year, and Record of The Year.
But there’s more. We discovered that when you look at years that end in ‘4’, the number of Brazilian albums marking musical anniversaries is truly astonishing.
So we pulled them all together for a feature story titled, ‘Brazilian Music On The Fours’.
Yep, 1964, ’74, ’84, ’94’, ’04, ’14 and 2024. Enjoy them all here!
Buy it here: Amazon Music
Listen free: BossaNovaville | Bossa Nova Love Affair | Brazilian Jazz Instrumentals | Our Streaming Station
JAZZIZ | Spring Issue 2024 – Brazil: Rio Rhythm
JAZZIZ magazine has released another special issue on Brazilian music.
The Spring, 2024 issue is available now, online at JAZZIZ.com. The print edition of Brazil: Rio Rhythm includes a pair of CD samplers, elevating an impressive collection of rising talents from Brazil, and the international scene.
Readers will surely enjoy feature stories and interviews with Eliane Elias, Ed Motta, Brazilian jazz pianist Antonio Adolfo, Ivan Lins, and Hermeto Pascoal. Longtime jazz fans will enjoy an insightful Publisher’s interview with Dave Grusin and Lee Ritenour and their upcoming Brasil album.
Playlist regulars on our streaming station and music channels are featured, too.
There are fresh takes on Bebel Gilberto, Luciana Sousa, and guitarist Nate Najar. Catch up with Sergio Mendes’s reedman Scott Mayo, Claudia Villela, Daniela Soledade, and Ryan DeHues. All are portrayed with the high-quality journalism that JAZZIZ magazine is known for, worldwide.
Digital and print media subscriptions are available at JAZZIZ.com, where you can also try a 3-month trial subscription for just 99 cents a month. It comes with a complimentary issue of the print magazine, too!
JAZZIZ | Spring Issue 2024 – Brazil: Rio Rhythm
Subscribe here: JAZZIZ Subscription Options
Listen free: Brazilian Jazz | New Music: Brazil | Women of Brazilian Song | Our Streaming Station
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The Brazilian Jazz Appreciation Showcase
Azymuth | ‘Guaratiba’ from Carioca (full album)
No other Brazilian jazz group has been as prolific as Azymuth. Its signature style was forged by the group’s co-founder and leader, keyboardist José Roberto Bertrami.
Carioca marks the end of an era. It was Bertrami’s final appearance with the group until they reunited in 1996, and the final recording for their US label Milestone.
Although the group’s personnel has changed radically over the years, this album features the original trio of Bertrami, bassist/guitarist Alex Malheiros, and drummer/percussionist Ivan Conti (Mamão), who left singer Roberto Carlos to form Azymuth in 1972.
For Carioca, this talented trio’s trademark is balance. Witness the acoustic interplay of ‘Valse de Uma Cidade’, a Brazilian jazz chestnut that will leave you breathless. The driving rhythms of ‘Toque de Cuica’ are infectious and playful.
And Bertrami’s Hammond organ slowly builds a passionate message on ‘Guaratiba’, the lazy, coastal village where much of the movie Blame It On Rio was filmed. Azymuth’s electro/acoustic marriage has built an international reputation of almost mythic proportion. They also hold the record of Brazil’s longest-lived jazz group.
Azymuth
Buy it here: Amazon
Listen free: Cafe Copacabana | Bossa Nova Love Affair | Brazilian Instrumental Jazz | Our Streaming Station
Maria Luiza Jobim | ‘Boca de Açaí’ from Azul
Even now, 60 years after this Antonito Carlos Jobim song became an international sensation, his surname still carries weight. And for the children of Jobim, high expectations.
Paulo was the oldest, and he carried his father’s musical mantel until he passed in 2022. Today, Paulo’s son Daniel – who inherited his grandfather’s talent as a singer, songwriter, and pianist – embraces that responsibility.
And now to the youngest. At age 7, Maria Luiza Jobim sang with her dad on ‘Samba de Maria Luiza’ and ‘Forever Green’. You’ll hear them on the album Antônio Brasileiro, which was released three days after the Bossa Nova master’s death in 1994.
At 26, Maria Luiza chose a different path. She formed the duo Opala to record Rock It, followed by an Electro Pop EP in English.
2019’s Casa Branca marked her debut as a solo artist. It includes her dad’s song ‘Meditation’ plus a move to Brazilian pop, which carries over to 2023’s Azul.
And a few days ago, she played New York City, capturing the ears of critics and new fans alike. It sounds like Maria Luiza Jobim has found her voice. Her dad, who laughed his way through her childhood duets with him 20 years ago, surely is smiling.
Maria Luiza Jobim
Buy it here: Amazon
Listen free: Cafe Copacabana | Sunday Brazilian Brunch | Women of Brazilian Song | Our Streaming Station
Roy Stephansen | ‘Down To The Beach’
Longtime fans know about trombonist Roy Stephansen and his passion for Brazilian jazz. We discovered ‘Bitcoin Samba’ while canvassing YouTube several years ago.
They loved it, so we added it to 2018’s Best of Brazilian Music Showcase, writing: “Norway’s Roy Stephansen is a remarkable musician, and we can’t wait to hear what’s next.”
‘Northern Lights’, ‘Carefree Days in Cabo Frio’, and ‘Tourist Again’ followed to redefine how smooth and melodic the trombone can be.
Recently, Stephansen moved 1,200 miles south (from his home uncomfortably close to the Arctic Circle) to a coastal town on the North Sea.
That’s the body of water separating Norway from the rest of Europe. “It’s only a 10-minute walk from our house down to the beach,” says Roy.
His new song, ‘Down To The Beach’ resonates with Samba’s positivity. It can move sun lovers in the hills above Rio as easily as it can from the hills of Scandinavia.
2024 marks Roy’s 50th year as a composer. “It took a long time to be able to apply enough finger pressure on my mom’s acoustic guitar to play a C chord,” he recalls. “Then, I discovered the CMaj7 and Maj7 chords have been an important part of my songwriting ever since!”
Roy Stephansen
Listen free: XODO! | Bossa Nova Love Affair | Brazilian Jazz Instrumentals | Our Streaming Station
Cesar Machado | ‘Soul Deep’ from Natureza
We first came across drummer Cesar Machado’s music in the mid-90s. ‘Aruba’ was included on a custom-made sampler CD of Brazilian jazz by the Rio-based label, Visom. The song’s upbeat positivity makes it a fan favorite and it remains a staple on our streaming playlists.
But the pitch to use the sampler as a promotional item for a weekend Brazilian music show on Miami’s Smooth Jazz station failed, and that’s too bad. This hard-to-find collection, titled Brazilians Love Jazz is exceptional, from beginning to end.
Classically trained as a symphonic percussionist, Machado has performed with the Brazilian Symphonic Orchestra. And his talents go beyond his expertise as a rhythm maker. He’s well-known for his skills as an arranger and songwriter, lecturer, and co-author (with Antonio Adolfo) of a music book.
Today, Machado’s music is easy to find. This song, ‘Soul Deep’ comes from his excellent Natureza album. It’s an impressive example of contemporary Brazilian jazz at its best.
Cesar Machado
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The Brazilian Jazz Appreciation Showcase
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