Anais Reno and the Dylan Band Quintet at Chris’ Jazz Cafe

Anais Reno and the Dylan Band Quintet
Featuring the Music of Antonio Carlos Jobim
Chris' Jazz Café
Philadelphia, PA
June 24, 2023

At 19, Anais Reno is one of the finest emerging jazz vocalists amid a hefty scene of great young singers. And her repeated engagements at Chris' Jazz Café show that she has a strong fan base in Philadelphia. Hence there is no need to say how competent and exciting she is as a singer.

In this show at Chris,' however, Reno took an important next step in moving up the ranks to a singer who can rightly be called (more than a diva) an artist, one who can craft and shape the music into something beautiful, meaningful, and true. Which is exactly what the composer featured in this set always strove for. That composer was the late great Antonio Carlos Jobim, who changed the face of Brazilian music and the world of jazz and left a legacy of a few hundred songs that musicians everywhere will always draw upon for inspiration.

Vocalist Reno's superb craftsmanship was supported and enhanced by saxophonist Dylan Band and his quintet consisting not so much of Reno's regulars as outstanding Philly musicians who were available for the gig, in other words, a "pickup band" the caliber of which anyone is fortunate to get. Pianist Tom Lawton and bassist Madison Rast are "go-to" players who can take any musical situation in hand and add something special to it. Guitarist Ben Turner and drummer Maria Marmarou are graduates of Terell Stafford's Temple University Boyer College jazz program, consummate professionals who are going to create the music of the next decade and beyond. This group sensed at every moment what Reno was striving for and surrounded her with ensemble and solo playing that perfectly complemented her singing.

The problem with many performances of Jobim's music is that they either try to be "Brazilian" without ever having assimilated that country's music or culture; or, conversely, they render it like a tune out of the American Songbook without attention to the deep poetic significance that Jobim put into the words and music. While enjoyable and having many elements of popular culture, Jobim's music needs to be understood and interpreted properly and in depth. It should never be imitative but reflect the performers' own musicality and soulfulness. That is what Reno achieved to such a degree that we can imagine Jobim himself would have appreciated it.

The show started off with two Jobim standards done as instrumentals: "Triste" and "Inútil Paisagem" ("If You Never Come to Me"). The rhythm section made the bossa nova rhythm swing almost as if Claus Ogerman were the arranger. The group went around on solos, with Dylan Band revealing himself to be a great improviser with a rich, dark sound on the tenor and a bright yet strong timbre on the soprano saxophone. Rast took a lovely bass solo with a Brazilian feel. He and Marmarou together showed the kind of rhythmic sensitivity that is so essential to the bossa nova idiom. The standing-room-only audience's appetite was whet for Reno's vocals.

Reno began with the jazz standard "Desafinado," which means "slightly out of tune" implying a love relationship where the magic is waning. Reno, as expected, sang it with perfect intonation with her stunning voice, and, getting back to the original point, she transcended technique to create a work of art. She sang it in Portuguese, the original language of the bossa nova. She treated each "phoneme," each sound of the words, as an element of expression, the way a poet would, except that with her highly trained voice, the performance took on an operatic feel. Her vocal discipline was impeccable from first note to last, and the overall effect was of a song in a classical music recital. Instead of coming across as the pop tune perennially piped in by Muzak, Reno gave the song total respect for being the masterpiece that it is.

Dylan Band introduced "The Girl from Ipanema" by speaking of the recent passing of Astrud Gilberto, whose unexpected appearance in the Getz/Gilberto (Verve, 1963) album propelled her into worldwide fame. Reno sang the song matter-of-factly as Astrud Gilberto did and as the lyrics require, and reams of musical creativity came through in Lawton's piano solo, which had an impressionist beachy tropical feeling about it, complemented by solos reminiscent of Gilberto and Getz by Turner on guitar and Band on tenor sax.

For variety, Reno broke the Jobim spell with Billie Holiday's signature song, "Lover Man" and Cole Porter's "De-Lovely." In "Lover Man," Reno gave careful attention to phrasing in order to capture the dream-like and lonely craving expressed in the lyrics, and, as with "Desafinado," she gave the song the enduring meaning it deserves as a jazz classic. The dramatic intensity was facilitated further by a gorgeous piano solo by Lawton with musical density akin to George Gershwin and Art Tatum. Cole Porter's "De-Lovely" is a lively tune to begin with, but Reno's was undoubtedly among the most swinging, energetic versions. And there was something very satisfying about hearing these two jazz standards in the midst of a Jobim tribute.

The set concluded with one of Jobim's earliest forays into bossa nova: "Chega de Saudade" ("No More Blues"). Reno's energy seemed inexhaustible, as were extended solos by Lawton and Turner. And as the set came to a close, the listener's attention was drawn to drummer Maria Marmarou who non-intrusively and with great finesse provided ideal percussion backup throughout.

In this set, Anais Reno showed that she has the potential to become a game changer like Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, Betty Carter, and Deborah Brown. And she demonstrated that Jobim was not just a writer of popular music but a composer of the highest caliber. If you want an in-depth look at the man, his music, and its sources, read his biography written by his sister who not only knew him intimately but is a very astute writer: Helena Jobim: Anthony Carlos Jobim: An Illuminated Man (transl. Dario Borim, Jr.), Hal Leonard Books, 2011.

Set List

(All composed by Jobim except when otherwise stated): Triste (Instrumental); Inútil Paisagem (If You Never Come to Me) (Instrumental); Desafinado; The Girl from Ipanema; Lover Man (Jimmy Davis, James Sherman, and Roger ("Ram") Ramirez); De-Lovely (Cole Porter); Chega de Saudade (No More Blues).

Personnel

Anais Reno: vocals; Dylan Band: leader; tenor and soprano saxophones; Ben Turner: guitar; Tom Lawton: piano; Madison Rast: bass; Maria Marmarou: drums.

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