Brasil L.I.K.E. – Ron Carter Quartet & Vitoria Maldonado

Brasil L.I.K.E. – Ron Carter Quartet & Vitoria Maldonado

Label: Summit Records

Release date: Sept. 2016

Catalog number: 685

Tracks:

01 They Can't Take That Away
comp: (George & Ira Gershwin)
02 There Will Never Be Another You
comp: (Harry Warren & Mack Gordon)
03 Night & Day
comp: (Cole Porter)
04 I Only Have Eyes for You
comp: (Al Dubin & Harry Warren)
05 How High the Moon
comp: (Morgan Lewis & Nancy Hamilton)
06 Adoro o Teu Sorriso
comp: (Vitoria Maldonado)
07 All of Me
comp: (Geralg Makrs & Seymour Simons)
08 Que Reste-t-il de Nos Amours
comp: (Charles Louis Trenet, Ed Salabert)
09 Georgia on My Mind
comp: (Hoagy Carmichael, Stuart Gorrell)
10 Someone to Light up My Life
comp: (Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes & Gene Lees)
11 Lugar Comum
comp: (João Donato, Gilberto Gil)
12 Because You Make Me Dream
13 Saudade
comp: (Ron Carter, Vitoria Maldonado)

Vitoria Maldonado (vocal)

and

Ron Carter Quartet:

Ron Carter: baixo acústico (bass); Renee Rosnes: piano; Rolando Morales-Matos: percussão (percussion); Payton Crossley: bateria (drums)

 

w/ Ruria Duprat’s Brasilian Orchestra

and special guests:  Roberto Menescal (guitar); Marcos Mincov (English horn); Toninho Ferragutti (accordion); Omar Izar (harmonica); Randy Brecker (flugelhorn); Proveta (alto sax)

The idea behind this masterpiece was recording American and Brazilian standards in Bossa with excerpts of Jazz in each song…  Legendary, Grammy Award winner, Ron Carter and his Quartet bring their brand of legendary jazz back to Brasil with incredible orchestration from Grammy winning producer, Ruria Duprat and his orchestra, and the non-threatening, soft, heartwarming, spine-tingling voice of Vitoria Maldonado…throw in some Brasilian special guests and a cameo by Randy Brecker on “Night and Day” and you have a SPECIAL BRASIL LIKE Recording!!!…Gorgeous.

———

JAZZTIMES, October 2016:

RON CARTER QUARTET & VITORIA MALDONADO BRASIL L.I.K.E. (Summit)

Ron Carter shares top billing here with the Brazilian vocalist Vitoria Maldonado, but for all of Carter’s bass skills and his undeniable legacy, he and his quartet— pianist Renee Rosnes, drummer Payton Crossley and percussionist Rolando Morales-Matos—are purely in support mode. This is Maldonado’s moment. Originally from São Paulo, Maldonado studied at Berklee before returning to Brazil, and her work reflects the dual influences she absorbed along the way: Brasil L.I.K.E. (it stands for Love, Inspiration, Knowledge, Energy) resides in that sweet spot where Songbook standards from Cole Porter and the Gershwins coexist happily with Jobim/de Moraes.

Tunes like “All of Me,” “How High the Moon” and “I Only Have Eyes for You” have, of course, been covered so many times you’d be forgiven for never wanting to hear another version. These arrange- ments don’t necessarily bring anything new to them, yet Maldonado’s interpretations may just find their way onto your favorites list before long. She possesses an easygoing, smooth delivery that accentu- ates the natural warmth of her voice; she somehow makes it all sound so effortless. Carter, here and throughout, rarely steps out. He’s content to push the rhythm gently at just the right pace and allow the others to draw out the cream of each composition. His own set-closing original, “Saudade,” isn’t about him at all; vocals and piano own the track.

All that said, there’s a third element to the recording that cannot be overlooked: The charts, provided by Ruria Duprat’s Brasilian Orchestra (with guests including Randy Brecker on flugelhorn), are lush but never intrusive. Like Carter and his quartet, they are here for one real purpose—to expose the delicious likability of Vitoria Maldonado.
-JEFF TAMARKIN

 

———-
“[Carter] is arguably the greatest bass player jazz has ever seen…” – Philadelphia Inquirer