Jazz Articles about Rafael Barata

About Rafael Barata

Album Review

Antonio Adolfo draws a parallel between balaios, the baskets that African Brazilian women have carried on their heads for centuries, and musical albums. “Each piece is placed carefully inside, shaped by the moment in which it was born, yet carried into the present with renewed meaning," he says. He speaks of Balaios as a gathering of “what he has cultivated over time--ideas, memories, and melodies." The project, a retrospective of sorts, has a particular focus on the composer-pianist's long association ...

Album Review

Antonio Adolfo: Carnaval - The Songs Were So Beautiful

Read "Carnaval - The Songs Were So Beautiful" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
August 10, 2025

Veteran pianist, composer, and arranger Antonio Adolfo has long been a master at capturing the essence of Brazilian music through a jazz perspective. On Carnaval (The Songs Were So Beautiful), Adolfo draws on a wide range of traditional Brazilian carnival styles-- sambas, marchinas, marchas-rancho, and frevos--to create a vibrant and richly textured album that bursts with celebration while leaving space for nuance and reflection. This is not a jazz adaptation of Brazilian music; it's Brazilian music elevated with jazz sophistication ...

Album Review

Antonio Adolfo: Carnaval - The Songs Were So Beautiful

Read "Carnaval - The Songs Were So Beautiful" reviewed by Katchie Cartwright

by Katchie Cartwright
July 14, 2025

What prompted pianist and composer Antonio Adolfo to record, in 2025, an album of songs from the 'golden age' of Brazilian carnaval music, circa 1920-1950? He has known and loved this music since he was a child, growing up in Rio de Janeiro. “All these songs are very alive in my memory," he told All About Jazz. They were “everywhere--on the radio, in the streets, in social clubs." At the time, he saw that “there was some magic in the ...

Album Review

Cliff Korman: Urban Tracks

Read "Urban Tracks" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
March 2, 2025

An avid listener of Brazilian music could go crazy trying to figure out exactly where Cliff Korman comes down musicially. His opening track , “Cheio de Malicia" could almost be taken for some sort of stride-bossa--the same feel pops up on “Canhoto" too--with allusions to Kenny Barron, Vince Guaraldi, McCoy Tyner even. Paired with bassist Harvie S, who seems to top himself on each successive track, Korman's creativity and sheer musicianship is a delight, the “sound of surprise" if there ...

Album Review

Cliff Korman: Urban Tracks

Read "Urban Tracks" reviewed by Katchie Cartwright

by Katchie Cartwright
December 10, 2024

As ever, Urban Tracks finds pianist, arranger-composer and scholar Cliff Korman alchemizing, jazzifying choros and Brasilifying jazz tunes to create his own distinctive arrangements. Mood Ingênuo: Pixinguinha Meets Duke Ellington with Paulo Moura (Jazzheads, 1999), Brasilified (Tiger Turn, 2022) and Bossas and Ballads (Tiger Turn, 2024) are among other examples in his discography. He recorded Urban Tracks in his hometown, New York, with Brazilian drummer Rafael Barata and NYC bassist Harvie S, but these days Korman lives in Rio de ...

Album Review

Antonio Adolfo: Love Cole Porter

Read "Love Cole Porter" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
August 1, 2024

Love Cole Porter is pianist Antonio Adolfo's masterful tribute to the genius of Cole Porter, capturing his musical essence while infusing it with a Brazilian flair. This release is not just a tribute but a careful reimagining, bringing his timeless melodies, intricate lyrics, and sophisticated harmonies into a new light. Accompanying Adolfo is a coterie of seasoned Brazilian musicians who have been on several of his releases, including guitarist Lula Galvao, bassist Jorge Helder, drummer Rafael Barata, percussionist Dada Costa, ...

Album Review

Karrin Allyson: A Kiss for Brazil

Read "A Kiss for Brazil" reviewed by Katchie Cartwright

by Katchie Cartwright
May 10, 2024

A Kiss for Brazil is Kansas-bred Grammy-nominated singer Karrin Allyson's third release to feature Brazilian music (From Paris to Rio, Concord, 1999; Imagina, Concord, 2008), and her first to showcase Brazilian musicians: Vitor Gonçalves on piano and accordion, Rafael Barata at the drums, plus the acclaimed singer-guitarist and songwriter Rosa Passos. First-call New York-based guitarist Yotam Silberstein and bassist Harvie S complete the group. The album sprang into being spontaneously, in response to a concert Passos had scheduled in New ...