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Claudio Roditi: Bons Amigos

By Dan Bilawsky

Trumpeter Claudio Roditi may have left Brazil long ago, but his homeland still resides deep inside his soul. On Bons Amigos, Roditi's trumpet speaks, sings and soars in service of songs put to paper by some of the finest writers in Brazilian music history. When it came time to map out a program for this, his third album on Resonance Records, Roditi sat down with producer/label head George Klabin and focused on music, written in the period between the '60s ...

Claudio Roditi: Bons Amigos

By Andrew J. Sammut

Bons Amigos is a collection of light, breezy compositions from several generations of Brazilian composers. Lilting sambas and gentle bossa novas make up the bulk of this disc, resulting in a relaxed but heartfelt jam for Brazilian trumpeter/flugelhornist Claudio Roditi and friends. Roditi admits to playing “a few more notes" than usual here, though he often equates “playing a lot of notes with 'showing off.'" Yet Roditi's double-time phrases on the brooding “Para Nada" plumb composer Eliane ...

Claudio Roditi: Simpatico & The Mastery of Passion

By George Kanzler

Claudio RoditiSimpaticoResonance2009 Harry SimonThe Mastery of PassionResonance2009 Claudio Roditi, along with Michael Brecker, was a “special guest" on two LPs the young keyboardist Harris Simon made for producer George Klabin at the end of the '70s. Klabin must have liked what he heard in the Brazilian trumpeter/flugelhornist for a couple years ago Roditi did ...

Claudio Roditi: Simpatico

By Larry Taylor

Fresh off his 2009 success with the Grammy-nominated Brazilliance x4 (Resonance), Claudio Roditi has released the stand-out Simpatico. As well as his peerless skills on trumpet, this CD shows off his writing talent with several originals in a samba/bossa groove, as well as some solid straight-ahead tunes.

From the Brazilian jazz tradition, Roditi has established himself as one of today's top players and leaders. His style easily integrates post-bop elements and Brazilian rhythmic concepts. He plays throughout with ...

Claudio Roditi: A Brazilian in Iowa

By Victor Verney

Watching trumpeter Claudio Roditi lead some unfamiliar sidemen through an afternoon rehearsal prior to an evening performance provided a good look at something not readily apparent at concerts. While the audience at that night's show in Ottumwa, Iowa saw Roditi's talents as a player and improviser (and even singer) displayed, most concertgoers could only have a vague idea of Roditi's abilities as a bandleader. As one observer witnessed, participants in a Roditi-led rehearsal are likely to learn a thing or ...

Claudio Roditi: Brazilliance x 4

By Dr. Judith Schlesinger

Brazilliance x 4 is only the tenth release from Resonance Records, an arm of the non-profit “Rising Stars Foundation" which aims to showcase new talent. Although trumpeter Claudio Roditi has been well-known and much-loved within the Brazilian music community, he has not been nearly as visible to the general public. His latest is likely to change that, given its collection of sparkling tunes, all delivered with a luscious tropical feel, and at the highest level of musicianship and recording.

Claudio Roditi: Impressions

By Dr. Judith Schlesinger

This CD is not for Coltrane purists: they might be horrified when the master's compositions ride in on a Brazilian beat. But for those who are merely fans, Impressions offers a tuneful and intriguing alchemy, as classics like “Moment's Notice," “Naima," and “Giant Steps" are interpreted by a top Carioca quintet. This is especially enjoyable when the leader is the marvelous trumpeter Claudio Roditi.

Roditi is an inexplicably underfamous talent who left his native Rio in 1970 to ...

Claudio Roditi: Reflections

By Marcia Hillman

Reflections is a well-paced collection of mostly original material, the bulk of which was written by the date's pianist, Klaus Ignatzek, with one composition each by its bassist, Jean-Louis Rassinfosse, and Dizzy Gillespie. The opening title track has a memorable melody and features a fluid piano solo by Ignatzek. Trumpeter Claudio Roditi delivers a spirited, swinging solo on the next up-tempo track, “Minor Ex." Rassinfosse's composition “Soul Mood Song" has a bluesy gospel feel, sounding almost like ...

Claudio Roditi: Three for One (341)

By Rico Cleffi

While listening to the first track on Three for One (341) by Claudio Roditi, Klaus Ignatzek, and Jean-Louis Rassinfosse, I stopped to check the credits to find out the name of the drummer who was playing so delicately. I quickly remembered that there was no drummer, but I thought I heard some slight brushwork, anyway. And that's one of the real strong points of this percussion-less trio: they utilize space in a way that stirs up the ephemeral, subtle sounds ...

Claudio Roditi: Light in the Dark

By Dr. Judith Schlesinger

This is the second recording from this innovative and engaging trio. In 2003, I reviewed their first Nagel-Heyer release, Three for One (341) ; rather than repeating myself (horrors!) you can find the pedigree of the personnel there . I really liked their debut CD, and I'm happy to report that Light in the Dark is a worthy followup.

Again, most of the tunes were written by the gifted pianist/composer Klaus Ignatzek: there are nine of his, varied ...

Claudio Roditi: Three for One (341)

By Dr. Judith Schlesinger

Three for One is full of moonlight. For one thing, the combination of bass, piano, and trumpet creates an airy, open feel; for another, the material, all original except for the “Green Dolphin" warhorse, is light and lyrical. The trio consists of first-call Brazilian trumpeter Claudio Roditi, a master of expressive understatement; prolific composer/pianist Klaus Ignatzek, who's worked with Joe Henderson, Dave Liebman, Bobby Watson, and others; and Jean-Louis Rassinfosse, the busiest bassist in Belgium, who played with Chet Baker ...