Paulinho Garcia: My Very Life

This recording finds Garcia under a somewhat different spotlight. For example, although his recent solo work and his recordings with Two for Brazil do not feature much of his own material, here Garcia shows that he can write in a trilingual mode as well as he can sing and play. Two other welcome differences from his recent productions are the fact that he's finely supported by a larger and richer ensemble and that the material is thoroughly Brazilian—except for "Adios Sueño"—staying clear from the jazz canon.

The date has many fine moments. All aspects of the compositions are just right. The songs touch on various themes and have beautiful lyrics, different textures, tempos and moods, and the arrangements enhance the harmonic and melodic lines. The music achieves this with the typical enchanting simplicity that characterizes both Garcia's work and Brazilian music in general. The supporting cast does very well. Highlights include the haunting arched bass lines at the end of "Chorinho Novo," the tasty restrain of the percussionists, the understated presence of Grazyna Auguscik on vocals and the complementary edgy roughness of the electric guitars in "Chorinho Novo" and "Disfrutando a Boa Vida."

However, for some reason in "Chorinho da Paulinho," unlike in "Chorinho da Paula," the mandolin was undermixed and Don Stiernberg's work in "Chorinho Novo" suffered a similar fate. It's no reason for dismissing those tunes outright, or the recording as a whole, but a better mix would have brought the work to a different level. Also, Steve Eisen is credited as flutist on "Ponto de Encontro" but he's only playing excellent sax therein and there's an uncredited flute performance on "Adiós Sueño" worthy of note.

Neil Tesser's reference in the liner notes to the rhythmic affinity of "Ponto de Encontro" to Ravel's "Bolero" is mistaken. The underlying rhythm of the song in question is that of the Cuban bolero and not Ravel's, nor the Spanish one. Other than the name, they are unrelated.

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