Flora Purim: Open Your Eyes You Can Fly (1976)

Flora Purim: Open Your Eyes You Can Fly (1976)

As an original member of Chick Corea's group Return to Forever, Purim subsequently drew praise as a solo act. Recording for the jazz label Milestone since 1973, Purim's sensual and strong voice was singular enough to withstand the pitfalls that hampered the work of many Latin jazz fusion artists. Open Your Eyes You Can Fly represents a commercial breakthrough, and has the artist again supplemented by adventurous players and top-notch songwriting. The best of the three Chick Corea tracks is the title song. With it's emotive and stinging guitar solo from David Amaro, it features Purim at her most accessible and charming. The remake of "Sometime Ago" has one of Corea's more accessible melodies, as Purim turns in one of her more sweet and fulfilling vocals. The melodic and soothing "San Francisco River" has the artist writing solely with frequent Corea collaborator Neville Potter on the evocative track. Despite the great work here, Open Your Eyes You Can Fly, lacks consistency. But with the great talents assembled and great voice, it's easy to overlook that fact. Hermeto Pascoal's "Andei (I Walked)" has a great synthesizer solo from George Duke and a flute solo from Pascoal. "Ina's Song (Trip to Bahia)" features Purim singing in Portuguese, starting off slow but then enlivened by her passion filled vocalizations. Produced by jazz producer Orrin Keepnews, this features the artist more lucid and joyful than some of her other work. For the reason it is recommended. ~ Jason Elias

Recorded at Paramount Studios, Los Angeles, California in 1976. Originally released on Fantasy Records. Includes liner notes by Orrin Keepnews.

Personnel includes: Flora Purim (vocals); Hermeto Pascoal (flute, electric piano, harpsichord, percussion, background vocals); George Duke (electric piano, Arp & Moog synthesizers, background vocals); David Amaro (acoustic, electric & 12-string guitars); Egberto Gismonti (acoustic guitar); Alphonso Johnson (acoustic & electric basses); Ron Carter (acoustic bass).

1- Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly (Chick Corea-Neville Potter)
2-Time's Lie (Chick Corea-Neville Potter)
3- Sometime Ago (Chick Corea-NevillePotter)
4-San Francisco River (Airto Moreira-Purim Purim)
5-Andei "I Walked" (Hermeto Pascoal)
6-Ina's Song "Trip to Bahia" (Flora Purim)
7-Conversation (Hermeto Pascoal)
8-Medley: White Wing/Blank Wing (Hermeto Pascoal-Flora Purim)

Egberto Gismonti: Danca das Cabecas (1977)

Egberto Gismonti: Danca das Cabecas (1977)

Dança Das Cabeças is Egberto Gismonti's debut album for ECM Records.

Egberto Gismonti is one of the most talented jazz musicians around. His flute-playing is pretty impressive on side one; his guitar work, also on side one, is simply staggering. But when you turned the LP over and heard his fantastic piano, you cannot help but be amazed. I know nothing about the technicalities of playing keyboards, but if someone had told me it was Keith Jarrett or Lyle Mays playing, I would have believed them.

This is one of those LPs that I bought when it first came out, back in 1977, and have re-purchased on CD. This is where it all started, ECM-wise, for Gismonti and Vansconcelos. As soon as you start playing the album, you feel like you've let the Amazonian jungle into your room. Vasconcelos can conjure up an entire rainforest with his percussive background effects. Gismonti spent a period in the Brazilian jungle working with Indian musicians in order to gather material for this album, and it shows ... wonderfully. I should add that Gismonti is a classically trained musician -- he had studied in Paris.

As you hear to this music, you will enjoy one of the most singular and beautiful musical experiences one can ever have. Egberto Gismontis' sincerity, and his sense of touch, rhythm and musical spirit goes far beyond any standard, and reaches a realm of freedom and beauty that truly enhances our cultural condition, remaining as "a thing of beauty", sublime and lasting forever. Alone or in the context of his whole work, this recording expresses one of the most original musical minds of this centuries (XX and XXI). So, take your time, make sure nothing will brake your listening, and do enjoy this musical rite as a true ascension to the heights of beauty. 

Track listing

"Part I" – 25:21

Quarto Mundo no. 1 (E. Gismonti)

Dança Das Cabecas (E. Gismonti)

Águas Luminosas (D. Bressane)

Celebração De Núpcias (E. Gismonti)

Porta Encantada (E. Gismonti)

Quarto Mundo no. 2 (E. Gismonti)

"Part II" – 24:30

Tango (E. Gismonti/G.E. Carneiro)

Bambuzal (E. Gismonti)

Fé Cega Faca Amolada (M.Nascimento/R. Bastos)

Dança Solitária (E. Gismonti)

Personnel

Egberto Gismonti - 8 String Guitar, Piano, Wood Flutes, Voice

Nana Vasconcelos - Percussion, Berimbau, Corpo, Voice

Charlie Haden-Egberto Gismonti: In Montreal (1989)

Charlie Haden/Egberto Gismonti: In Montreal (1989)

Twelve years after the fact, this live duet performance from the 1989 Montreal Jazz Festival has finally been brought to light. It's a wonderful combination: Charlie Haden is comfortable in just about any setting (consider his tenures with Ornette Coleman, the Liberation Music Orchestra, and Keith Jarrett's American Quartet). Egberto Gismonti has been continuously honing and refining his idiosyncratic folk/jazz/Brazillian guitar (and piano) work on a couple dozen recordings in different settings since the '70s.

The '89 Montreal Jazz Festival was indeed momentous. Haden appeared on four Verve discs memorializing his live performances that summer, including three different piano trios with Paul Motian. This one stands out from the rest: it's so strikingly intimate that it strongly accents the personalities involved.

That said, it must be made clear that Gismonti really takes the helm on this recording. Not only are seven of the nine tracks his compositions, but his fingerprints are everywhere. Gismonti's stylized approach to piano and guitar often demand that Haden approach his instrument from different angles: melodic counterpoint, pulse, and lead. Haden adapts deftly. Shifting from guitar to piano and back, Gismonti generally adopts a shared approach, relying an ostinato pulse and pattering rhythmic chords as the foundation for stepwise transitions in harmony; or he simply pulses away in a gentle, understated way. The second track, Gismonti's "Maracatú," builds in both density and intensity, then relaxes into gentle undulating tones from both players that slowly fade away. You breathe. Then Haden's "First Song" begins almost inaudibly with quiet commentary, leading dramatically into a stark, folkish melody bearing obvious similarity to his Americana duets with Pat Metheny in '96. It demands faster changes from the guitarist, and a jazzier role than Gismonti usually delivers. Haden steps up into the lead, offering a warm, gentle, and uplifting melody—then Gismonti follows suit with a harmonized stroll of his own.

The remarkable "Em Familia" takes Gismonti into unexpectedly explosive territory, where the simple force of his guitar attack lifts the whole piece into the stratosphere; Haden hammers away behind him as they navigate several mountain passes. Six minutes into this piece, Gismonti pulls some tricks from his back pocket, using harmonics, muting, and various alternative techniques to achieve thread-like timbres. This tune stands as the true high-water mark on an otherwise fine record.

It's rare to hear such a dramatically successful live performance, and these two musicians clearly have a natural affinity for each other. Given the personalities involved, that makes sense. In Montreal stands right up there alongside Haden's other recorded masterpieces from that 1989 festival. (Only one complaint here: too much applause in the edits. But I suppose it's only fair to give the producer some slack for lingering on the cheers, since that energy seems to feed forward with these two players.) Ah, the inexorable problem with great live records... you just wish you had only been there.

Track Listing: Salvador; Maracatu; First Song; Palhaco; Silence; Em Familia; Loro; Frevo; Don Quixote.

Personnel: Charlie Haden: bass; Egberto Gismonti: guitar, piano.

Egberto Gismonti Trio: Zig Zag (1995)

Egberto Gismonti Trio: Zig Zag (1995)

This album brings Egberto Gismonti (mainly at his custom-made violões, just a couple of tracks at the piano), Nando Carneiro (violão, a discrete keyboarding), and Zeca Assumpção (double bass). The album comprises a broad dynamic range, from the peaceful, melancholic, and meditative to the aggressive, percussive, and dissonant. It brings a major difference from albums such as Dança Das Cabeças in the sense that the musical themes are delivered in a more direct manner, while Dança was more ambiguous. From the excellent music of this album, the northeastern-inspired bass solo of "Orixás" and the beautiful theme "Forrobodó" can be mentioned.

 

Title

1 Zig Zag   Gismonti      11:06

2 Mestiço and Caboclo Gismonti 15:12

3 Orixás   Gismonti   9:19

4 Carta de Amor Gismonti 3:59

5 Um Anjo Gismonti 5:59

6 Forrobodó Gismonti 8:59

Zeca Assumpção Double Bass

Nando Carneiro Guitar, Synthesizer

Egberto Gismonti Guitar, Guitar (10 String), Piano