Sambrasa Trio
Em Som Maior

Brasil Instrumental n. 1

Jazz or música brasileira?

Honestly, I am not able to answer such a question. It’s better to quote someone who knows a lot about music: Egberto Gismondi.

"...in the seventies, Airto Moreira invited me to go to Los Angeles to arrange a record of his called "Identity." I accepted the invitation also because I wanted to get closer to the world of jazz.

In a short time, I became friends with people like Gil Evans and Herbie Hancock. One day, Herbie invited me to play at his house and told me: "this is my garage where I have a studio, take a key, you can come whenever you want, to play and study." I thought: great! And so one day, he, always very polite, asked me: "How nice to find you here, how about we play the piano together?" We played for about half an hour without stopping. Then he asked me: "so, what do you think of my playing Brazilian music?" And I replied: "and what do you think of the jazz I played?" And he said: "but you didn't play jazz!" So I replied: "but you didn't play Brazilian music either!"

It was then that I discovered that the only Brazilian who truly plays jazz is Victor Assis Brasil. Jazz is not phrasing; it is not chords. If it were chords, Tom Jobim would not have made bossa nova; he would have made jazz. In short, I don’t know how to play jazz."

And then perhaps I can afford to say that the Sambrasa trio plays música brasileira, which to me seems very jazz.

"Em Som Maior" was released in 1965, during the samba-jazz era. If many American musicians were influenced by the Brazilian swing, later becoming a reference in this movement, I think it is right, if not necessary, to look in the opposite direction and rediscover those Brazilians who masterfully absorbed that great freedom of expression from the African-American musical language, that energy and vitality.

The Sambrasa trio is a classic piano, drums and bass, the latter played by Humberto Clayber whose name will not be destined to shine like his illustrious colleagues: Airto Moreira and Hermeto Pascoal. The latter, already at the beginning of his career, demonstrates a great command of the piano and a creativity that will never abandon him during his career, indeed it will lead him to master an impressive variety of instruments. Hermeto is a truly interesting, eclectic, imaginative, and humble character, capable of playing universal music starting from local culture. He is considered today one of, if not the, greatest Brazilian multi-instrumentalists.

Airto Moreira unleashed on the skins and cymbals, disregards stylistic rigidity and fuses a bossa nova delicacy with a rocker's grit. All naturally in a jazz sauce. He is certainly the best known of the three given his brilliant career in the United States. He remains one of the most important Brazilian percussionists.

Some compositions are theirs, others are revisited songs of those years, among which "Arrastão" by Edu Lobo and Vinicius De Moraes stands out.

Dedicated to all lovers of jazz... or Brazilian music?