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Jazz Articles about Chico Pinheiro
Bruna Black: Vã Revelação
by Richard J Salvucci
Bruna Black is yet another one of those performers who started as something other than a singer but got there as soon as she could. Supposedly, she was a semi-pro basketball player, although that is not easy to run down. She certainly is a singer and a good one. Her repertoire in this recording is all in Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, and as melodious as anything to be found. When Astrud Gilberto came on to the scene in 1964, she did ...
Continue ReadingRenee Rosnes: Crossing Paths
by Katchie Cartwright
In the course of a career that began in the 1980s and continues to flourish, Renee Rosnes has developed an extraordinary sound, both as a composer and as a pianist, one that is readily recognizable whatever the context. With Crossing Paths, she taps into longstanding affinities and affection for Brazilian music, illuminating elements and flavors that distinguish her singular style, animating the band and the material with her arranging magic. She opens the curtain with “Frevo," grabbing the ...
Continue ReadingDelia Fischer: Beyond Bossa
by Katchie Cartwright
An intriguingly multi-layered project, Beyond Bossa has unfolded over a number of years. The “beyond" in the title points in a few directions. A pianist, composer-arranger, singer (and dancer), Delia Fischer works across idioms: bossa nova, jazz, música popular brasileira (MPB), various types of Brazilian music, theater. Her recordings have earned her Latin Grammy nominations for Best Brazilian Album (MPB) in 2021 (H.O.J.E., Labidad Produções) and 2019 (Tempo Minimo, Labidad Produções). Further extending the boundaries, she called upon a far-flung ...
Continue ReadingDelia Fischer: Beyond Bossa
by Allen Morrison
In 2019, after I'd been writing for DownBeat Magazine for about a decade, I was asked to review a batch of new albums from Brazil, including one by a Rio de Janeiro-based singer named Delia Fischer who wrote her own songs. I gathered that, in addition, she was a jazz pianist, an arranger, and the musical director for several hit musicals in Rio. She had worked with Brazilian legends like Marcos Valle, Egberto Gismonti, and Milton Nascimento, who recorded one ...
Continue ReadingLee Ritenour & Dave Grusin: Brasil
by Edward Blanco
Friends and musical partners since the '70s, guitarist Lee Ritenour and pianist Dave Grusin continue their collaboration on Brasil, thanks to Ritenour's Brazilian wife Carmen, who was influential in recommending the project, and to the many outstanding Brazilian players who grace the album. Though the repertoire contains two Ritenour originals and one from Grusin, the producers draw on such Brazilian composers as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Milton Nascimento, Celso Fonseca and Ivan Lins for the majority of the songs, which were ...
Continue ReadingAlex Kautz: Where We Begin
by Katchie Cartwright
Born and raised in São Paulo, drummer Alex Kautz moved to Mexico City with his parents in 1996. His sound world growing up included his parents' MPB (música popular brasileira), bossa nova and samba, along with North American rock and a bit of classical music. Jack DeJohnette's New Directions (ECM, 1978)--with Lester Bowie, Eddie Gomez and John Abercrombie--turned his head toward jazz in a big way. Chick Corea's Return to Forever (Light as a Feather, Polydor, 1973) caught his ear ...
Continue ReadingNanny Assis: Rovanio
by Chris May
The Brazilian-born, New York City-based singer and composer Nanny Assis is a big talent with a low profile. His elegant blend of jazz and Brazilian music puts one in mind of another similarly inclined and relatively little known stylist, the Berlin-based composer and producer Meeco, well loved in this parish. The work of both musicians is caressing, lyrical and lush; the vibe is mostly sunny but there are dark corners. Assis and Meeco have arrived at the ...
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