Jamile with Miki Yamanaka and her trio plus Steve Wilson: Pursuit of a Pulse

Jamile Staevie Ayres, who goes professionally by her first name, was born and raised in Cachoeira do Sul, a midsize city located a couple of hours from Porto Alegre in Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state in Brazil, and the heart of its gaúcho culture. Growing up, she gravitated toward música popular brasileira (MPB) and Black popular music of the US. Gal Costa and Aretha Franklin were her two big vocal heroines. She took her undergraduate degree in Brazil before moving to New York in 2017, where she earned a master's in jazz studies from City College under Suzanne Pittson, Steve Wilson, Mike Holober and Ray Gallon. Jamile rapidly ascended the ranks, gigging and recording with her teachers and becoming an adjunct member of the City College faculty.

Her virtuosity is on full display in Pursuit of a Pulse as she kicks off Djavan and Filo Machado's "Jogral" with Wilson in a breakneck duet chorus, voice and saxophone alone, no rhythm section. Her voice is agile and strong in the upper register, a perfect complement to his fleet improvised counterpoint. The track establishes beyond question that she has no problem finding a pulse.

"Prayer to the Invisible Forces of the Forest," the album's opener, is a cut of a different color; a short meditative invocation based on Olivier Messiaen's offertory motet, "O Sacrum Convivium." Led by Wilson's alto flute and Jimmy McBride's rattling percussion, the instruments swirl out of time around Jamile's voice as she recites the lines in a clear soprano reminiscent of Flora Purim with Chick Corea's Return to Forever (Light as a Feather, Verve, 1973). The voice is freest in its upper range, but she is not afraid to touch down into her diaphanous lower register on occasion, to good effect.

Performed with the excellent rhythm team of pianist Miki Yamanaka, bassist Pablo Menares and Mc Bride on drums, the program is a study in contrasts. The set list alternates between introspective ballads (Toninho Horta's "Céu de Brasília"/Skies of Brasilia, Geri Allen's "Timeless Portraits and Dreams," Jamile's own "Come With Me to the River," Guinga's "Passarinhadeira"/Birdwatcher, Egberto Gismonti's "Bodas de Prata"/Silver Wedding Anniversary & "Quatro Cantos"/Four Corners) and more lively fare (Herbie Hancock's "Come Running to Me," her own "Another Day in the Mind," DOMi + JD Beck, Hancock and Anderson .Paak's "Moon" and the closer, Machado's "Vale o Escrito"/What's Written Matters).

Jamile has been making a name for herself in New York among audiences and musicians alike. With Pursuit of a Pulse, she establishes herself as a strong player on the national Latin/Brazilian jazz scene.

Comments