New Music Releases: Timo Lassy, Ricardo Richaid, Eumir Deodato

Timo Lassy - Big Brass – Live At Savoy Theatre Helsinki


A gem of a record from Finnish saxophonist Timo Lassy – a straight jazz set that reunites him with members of the Ricky Tick Big Band – including some of the musicians who first made big waves with Timo on record in the early part of this century! Lassy's at his best here – really creative as a soloist, and dropping some of the more groove-oriented qualities you'd hear on his other records – to work in an array of soulful sounds with a core quintet that includes electric piano, bass, drums, and percussion – augmented by larger horns from the Ricky Tick band, arranged by Valtteri Laurell Poyhonen, and featuring solos from Jukka Eskola and Kalevi Louhivuori on trumpets, and Aaro Huopainen on trombone. The tunes move along with a nice sense of rhythm, but also have all these amazing colors and tones that burst out with a great sense of delight throughout the performance – on titles that include "Teddy The Sweeper", "Waltz Unsolved", "Grande Opening", "Universal Four", "African Rumble", and "Sweet Spot". ~ Dusty Groove

Ricardo Richaid — Travessiero Feliz 

A soaring blend of Brazilian modes – served up here by Ricardo Richaid, who's almost a one-man army himself, given the amount of instruments he plays on the set! Yet the record is also way more than just a batch of tunes cooked up in a bedroom – as Richaid has collaborators on nearly every track – which expands his own work on piano, bass, and a variety of guitars – really helping to situation his raspy and compelling vocals amidst some jazzier touches on flute and tenor, guest vocals, percussion, and other elements along the way! The tunes are often really catchy and compelling, even if your command of Portuguese is as bad as ours – and it's clear that Ricardo really knows his way around a hook, in sort of a universal way – while still making music that's completely his own. Titles include "Drone", "Vip Xuxa", "Maracas Enterprise/Frio Da Manha", "Ave Poena", "O Velho Cai", and "Formigas". ~ Dusty Groove

Eumir Deodato - Os Catedraticos 73 Vinyl Repress

Recorded at the height of Deodato's productivity in the early seventies, amidst writing for, arranging music by and performing with artists including Frank Sinatra, Tom Jobim, and Kool & The Gang, Os Catedraticos 73  features a Brazilian rhythm section including Ivan Mamão Conti, percussion master Orlandivo, and Sergio Barroso on bass, plus some of the big apple’s top players from the CTI in-house brass section.