Choro Ensemble - Nosso Tempo
ARTIST.....: Choro Ensemble
TITLE......: Nosso Tempo
LABEL......: Anzic
URL........: www.myspace.com/choroensemble
RIP DATE...: Apr-30-2008
STORE DATE.: Aug-16-2007
GENRE......: Jazz
QUALITY....: VBR / 44.1Hz / Joint-Stereo
SIZE.......: 60,9 MB
Track Listing:
01 - gostozinho 03:15
02 - zanzando em copacabana 03:16
03 - noites cariocas 03:40
04 - cade a chave 03:00
05 - pensando em ti 03:41
06 - orgulhoso 03:59
07 - serenata no joa 04:42
08 - bolo de fuba 03:13
09 - ingenuo 05:38
10 - descendo a ladeira 02:21
11 - de coracao a coracao 05:24
12 - brasileirinho 05:36
─────
47:45 min
Release Notes:
http://anzicrecords.com/?page_id=96
àfleet, swinging instrumentals. The breezy music is instantly
likeableö - Marty Lipp, The Star-Ledger
There is a time machine located in a New York bar powered by a
clarinet, a couple of guitars, a small hand drum, and the
idiosyncratic sound of a playful, four-string offspring of the
guitar called the cavaquinho (pronounced: kah-vah-KEEN-yo). When
played in this configuration with just the right soul, listeners
are transported to 1930s Brazil, when for the first time everù
thanks to the emergence of broadcast radioùa single genre was
being listened to by the notoriously diverse nation. That genre
was choro (pronounced: SHO-ro), a sweet style of music that
originated in Rio de Janeiro and which has been compared to a
tropical Dixieland.
Though practically every town in Brazil has its choro ensembles,
up until this century, choro was virtually unheard of in the
United States. But that changed when an unexpected chance meeting
led to the creation of the Choro Ensemble, whose upcoming album,
Nosso Tempo (Our Time), will be released August 14, 2007 on Anzic
Records. In the hands of the Choro Ensemble, the acoustic style
takes on a hipness somewhere between chamber music, jazz, and
samba.
The album is anchored with pieces by three of the best known choro
composers. ôBrazileirinhoö (or Little Brazilian) was written by
Waldir Azevedo, and it was on the first hit phonograph recording
in Brazil. ôThis guy had the magic of composing really popular,
catchy choros,ö explains Ramos. ôThis tune was on a record that
sold 200,000 copies, which was huge number at the time.ö
Choro master Pixinguinha and his group The Magnificent Eight were
the first to tour outside of Brazil and, as Blacks and mestizos,
pushed the limits of the color line. They went to Paris in 1919
and toured, meeting and playing with the likes of Louis Armstrong.
The Choro Ensemble performs PixinguinhaÆs ôIngΩnuo,ö a tune the
composer hid for a few years, because it broke from the typical
three-part form (it only included two parts). Now many people
consider it his masterpiece.
The group takes on four songs by Jacob do Bandolim, another master
choro composer. Whereas PixinguinhaÆs ôIngΩnuoö followed a
ôsquareö rhythm, BandolimÆs ôNoites Cariocasö (Rio Nights) has a
samba feel. Bandolim also introduced an unheard of classical major
7th harmony into this piece. On ôOrgulhosoö (Proud), another
Bandolim melody, Ramos plays the tenor guitar, an instrument that
falls somewhere between the ukulele and the guitar. The tenor
guitar was big in the 1950s in choro but has all but been put
aside these days.
Clarinetist Anat CohenÆs warm connection with the music and
culture, and more specifically her fellow band members, emerges on
her ôCadΩ a Chave.ö While on tour, the band stayed at Pedro
RamosÆs house. ôWe found out that PedroÆs family is very funny,ö
laughs Cohen. ôEvery time we had to leave the house, in the last
three minutes comes questions like, æWhere are the keys?!Æ æDid
you see my pants?!Æ ItÆs total chaos. So I wrote this for his
family.ö Each part of the composition represents a family member
rushing around in the chaotic moments of getting out the door. In
a musicianÆs play on words, the melody itself modulates into
different keys, and occasionally an extra bar is thrown into the
melodyÆs 16-bar sections, further invoking the songÆs hectic
origins. ôWhoever knows the family knows exactly what it means,ö
explains Cohen. ôEven the family members laugh when they hear the
song.ö
ôBolo de Fubßö was written by Ramos specifically for the new
record. ôWe decided my last couple of choros were complicated, so
I decided to write a choro that was easy to memorize,ö says Ramos.
ôThe title means æcorn cake,Æ which is the easiest cake recipe to
make in Brazil.ö Cohen interrupts Ramos to say, ôWhat is a piece
of cake for Pedro is not so easy for other people!ö
Band guitarist Carlos Almeida composed ôDescendo a Ladeiraö (Down
the Road) more than 30 years ago. He wrote the song for a contest
of frevos in Northeastern Brazil. Frevo is a rhythm from
Pernambuco. But Almeida never entered the song because at the time
it was very difficult and expensive to record. ôI am sure it would
have won something,ö says Ramos. Meanwhile, the gentle ballad-like
ôPensando em Tiö (Thinking of You) by the bandÆs other guitarist
Gustavo Dantas may have won a prize; that is, a prize in the heart
of his wife, for whom he wrote the piece.
The bandÆs compositions show them adding to the repertory,
respecting both choroÆs past and their own life experiences and
thus building a musical bridge between Brazil and New York. The
album title, Nosso Tempo (Our Time), refers to the bandÆs time
together, the influences of todayÆs New York City music scene, and
the tradition of Brazilian music that continues to the present.
While itÆs too early to tell what the Choro EnsembleÆs position
will be in history, there is no doubt that they have successfully
teleported the sound and energy of a significant Brazilian sound
4700 miles north and several decades forward, and are very much a
part of a rebirth in which musicians explore and create their own
personal voice within a tradition.