Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Andre Mehmari / Gabriele Mirabassi: Miramari
Andre Mehmari / Gabriele Mirabassi: Miramari
ByAndre Mehmari has long been casting a spell on audiences wherever he has played. His firm hands have been blessed by long, sinewy, fingers that are surprisingly gentle when they touch the piano keys. Despite his preoccupation with the long and celebrated line of pianists of Brazil, he emerges out of tradition as his own man. His solos leap and bound with spiritual fervor in a linear manner, as in "Um Anjo Nasce," to start with, before turning tantalizingly circular. Brevity is his forte and he does not waste notes, preferring instead to contribute expressionin overtones and dynamicsto overall sound.
Gabriele Mirabassi is a master of the clarinet, a difficult woodwind instrument. He is tremendously expressive, making his instrument sing like an operatic aria. He is the equal of anyone on this instrument, from Artie Shaw to Maurice André. He can play with deep intonation and classic phrasing so sweetly that he often produces magical choral voices from his softly fibrillating reed.
On Miramari, these two musicians have a whale of a time moving across landscapes awash with music, like rushing down a mountainside in Amazonian splendor. They thrive in their frolicking, yet they also bow to the art of the rondo ("Rondoletto Per a Bambini") and ponder in the somber beauty of the nocturne ("Perugia Notturna"). They dance around each other like petal-whorls in "Chove na Minha Valsa" and "Uma Vala em Forma de Ávore." They weep, wide-eyed and ecstatic, in the environs of "Choro da Continua Amizade" and dance interminably in the eternal spring of "Brilha o Carnaval."
More often than not, the duo meander in the invention of their own design, playing melodious and rhythmic tricks on pulse and on time by darting in and out of subtly changing tonal colors and hues. The record is replete with several examples of this, but "Disarmati" and "Mirabilis Mirabassi" may be sufficient to drive the heart to vivid palpitations.
The excellence on this record does not come from Mehmari and Mirabassi alone; credit also goes to percussionist Ricardo Mosca and bassist Zé Alexandre Carvalho, who plays with stirring pizzicato and a certain gravitas in pedal point. Here, then, is a record of great accomplishment with stirring content performed by musicians of otherworldly talent.
Track Listing
Um Dia Em Assis; Brilha o Carnaval; Que Falta faz tua Ternura; Choro da Contínua Amizade; Canção Desnecessária; Chove na Minha Valsa; Ná!; Perugia Notturna; Disarmati; Mirabilis Mirabassi; Rasgando Seda; Subindo a Cantareira; Uma Valsa em Forma da Árvore; Um Anjo Nasce; O Espelho; Quando em Gubbio; Rondoletto Per I Bambini.
Personnel
Andre Mehmari
pianoAndré Mehmari: piano, accordion (16); Gabriele Mirabasi: clarinet; Ricardo Mosca: drums; Zé Alexandre Carvalho: double-bass.
Album information
Title: Miramari | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Self Produced
< Previous
Grand Valley State University New Mus...