Glenn Zottola, Romero Lubambo, Pamela Driggs: Summer Samba

2023 news reports and events acknowledged and celebrated 50 Years Of Hip-Hop. While noteworthy, it is doubtful that hip hop classics such as "Get Ur Freak On," "Sucker M.C.'s and "Nuthin' But a G Thang" will ever find themselves in the Great American Songbook. The genre simply cannot compare with the vast extent of musical influence emanating from that 1960s period in which Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim, et al, took the popular and jazz worlds by storm with the exciting bossa nova sounds of Brazil. "Summer Samba" from should-be-Hall of Fame multi-instrumentalist Glenn Zottola, virtuoso Brazilian guitarist Romero Lubambo, and outstanding vocalist Pamela Driggs epitomizes the substance, vibrancy, and perennial influence that that music has had.

The album offers a handful of beautiful and sublimely-performed selections , all firmly entrenched in the Brazilian canon. The title tune, whose Portuguese name is used here, was a big hit for Brazilian organist Walter Wanderley in 1966, and is covered straight up. Driggs certainly has Gilberto's stylings on loan and adds a fair amount of her own expressiveness to the Marcos and Sergio Paulo Valle composition. Romero Lubambo, who is outstanding throughout the session, here eases all and delivers a fine solo. Then there's Zottola. With a youthful vigor and endless elegance, his luxurious, silk-smooth tenor glides as did that girl on Ipanema Beach. The utterly lovely "Pra Machcar" has Driggs and Zottola as two cavorting musical butterflies with Lubambo adding their rhythmic breeze. Zottola's solo here is a case study in taste. And Lubambo's octaves launch him into a tasteful overdubbed solo.

Driggs, an American who is fluent in Portuguese, has all of the linguistic inflections and their give and take with lyric and melody in her command. Her dynamic approach goes hand-glove with Zottola's tenor and Lubambo's fine acoustics. With a trio set-up such as this, the players must meld perfectly. Toes must be respected and restrained involvement is key. Driggs, Zottola, and Lubambo demonstrate that they are skilled in that regard.

"Ligia," a lesser-known Jobim tune, is more balladic than typical bossa. Lubambo's tasty intro sets up Driggs seduction. It is a romantic grabber and a four-square gorgeous track. Dreamlike, "Fotographia" is also on the relaxed side. "Samba da Amor" offers Zottola's finest solo of the session and a lovely voice/sax unison leading to an apropos "suspended" ending.

"Summer Samba," even with its shorter length, is an exquisite and involving engagement. Hip tip: Hop in and don't listen alone. .

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