Jazz guitarist, composer and producer Nate Najar will release Jazz Samba Pra Sempre May 13, 2022 via Blue Line Music Records. 2022 marks 60 years of Jazz Samba – the landmark 1962 album by Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz that launched Bossa Nova to international stardom. Nate Najar pays homage to the spirit and iconic repertoire of Jazz Samba with Jazz Samba Pra Sempre (Jazz Samba Forever), a loving “reimagining” of this seminal album. Playing Charlie Byrd’s own guitar, Najar is joined by Jeff Rupert on tenor sax, Herman Burney on bass (playing Keter Betts’ bass played on the original Jazz Samba) and Chuck Redd on drums (previously of the Charlie Byrd trio) navigating the track list with equal parts reverence and invention. Brazilian vocalist Daniela Soledade guests on two tracks – João Gilberto’s O Pato and Ary Barroso’s É Luxo Só with her own unmistakable warmth and intimacy. Nate Najar’s virtuosity exudes a dynamic and truly intoxicating elegance. His artistry evokes a modern and progressive attitude that perpetuates the legacy of the great Charlie Byrd. But while Najar’s imaginative playing is steeped in Byrd’s tradition, it nevertheless emulates a collection of other artistic influences including classical, bebop, fusion, bossa nova and even postmodern, which all have culminated to inspire a player whose sophisticated and often innovative artistry has placed him in many of the world’s most prestigious music venues and produced many superb recordings.
This fabled 11 minute+ version of Brazilian icon Joyce's groundbreaking "Feminina" was recorded at Columbia Studios, New York in 1977, for the as yet unreleased Natureza album. Produced, arranged and conducted by the great Claus Ogerman (Frank Sinatra, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Billie Holiday... the list goes on), Natureza would have ostensibly been Joyce's big break to international stardom, but mysteriously, it was never released. With Joyce came fellow Brazilian icon Mauricio Maestro, while Nana Vasconcelos and Tutty Moreno were already living in New York, and Ogerman employed North American jazz legends Joe Farrell, Michael Brecker, Buster Williams, Mike Manieri and a full orchestra for the sessions. In anticipation of the monumental forthcoming Natureza album release via Far Out Recordings, this astonishing version of a true classic gets its first proper 12" vinyl release for Record Store Day 2022. In the spirit of making the release special for Record Store Day, rather than leave it as a single sided 12", Far Out boss called up Joyce to talk about the recording, recorded the conversation, and got it pressed onto the B-side.
Originally written by João Bosco and Aldir Blanc and released on Bosco's 1976 album Galos De Briga, "O Ronco da Cuica" is a samba/MPB masterpiece. In the song, the cuíca roars: roars in anger, roars from hunger and is told to stop, but it cannot - "it's a man thing" explains Bosco in the lyrics. Personifying the instrument in this way, "O Ronco da Cuica" points to something quite profound about the nature of human suffering and our primitive need for expression. On this brilliant reimagining, renowned bassist Dudu Lima teamed up with Joao Bosco himself, as well as Azymuth drummer Ivan 'Mamão' Conti, pianist Dudu Viana and percussionist Marcos Suzano. Ironically, this version contains no cuíca, instead it takes a more stripped back instrumentation, exploring the deep jazz potential of this roaring samba classic, to stunning effect. On the B-side is a beautiful duet between Dudu Lima and João Bosco: acoustic guitar and vocals, and fretless bass - together they take on "Incompatibilidade De Gênios", also from Bosco's 1976 Galos De Briga album.
A fantastic session of 60s "new thing" jazz – and one of our favorite early records by Joe Henderson – exactly the kind of album to show why his emergence in the decade was such an important new voice in jazz! The album features some incredibly hard playing from Joe – with a very dark edge to his solos that's nicely offset by McCoy Tyner's lyrical piano, and the supple rhythms of Bob Cranshaw on bass and Elvin Jones drums – a really magical quartet who come across very different here than you might expect from the Coltrane legacies of Tyner and Jones! Instead, Henderson makes his presence known right from the very first note – as his voice on the tenor is completely singular – and titles include the Henderson originals "Inner Urge", "Isotope" and "El Barrio" – plus the great Duke Pearson song "You Know I Care", and the standard "Night & Day". ~ Dusty Groove
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