Artist InformationBiography
BOSSA IN THE SHADOWS - DUO CARAMURU-BALDANZA
(by Eric Salzman)
These remarkable Brazilian artists from Sao Paulo have the amazing ability to incorporate the major strands of Brazilian tradition and innovation with equal doses of popular and classical Brazilian style in a series of compositions and improvisations that are based on both original themes and the work of Brazilian and North American masters.
The latter range from Tom Jobim (Caramuru is famous for his piano interpretations of Jobim’s work) to Villa-Lobos and Camargo Guarnieri, from Duke Ellington to the great Brazilian folk artist Inezita, from “Dancing the Baiao” to Afro-Samba and updated Bossa Nova to tango and waltz. The music has all the ingredients of great American jazz, traditional and advanced, but, at the same time, it is infused with ideas rooted somewhere else resulting in its originality and lack of clichés.
Brazil remains the motherlode of one of the great world musical cultures mixing native, African, Portuguese and North American traditions with a desire to innovate and yet simultaneously reach a wide public. All of these traits can be found in the music of Caramuru and Baldanza as their creative work emerges
from the shadows to reach the larger European and North American public.
Bossa in the Shadows is the latest in the series of a dozen CDs by the brilliant Brazilian pianist and composer Fabio Caramuru, this one with his equally creative
partner, bass guitarist Pedro Baldanza.
Caramuru was born in Sao Paulo in 1956 and, although he had some serious training and credentials as a young pianist, he began his professional career as an architect. It was not too long, however, before he exchanged the art of frozen music for that of liquid architecture. In 1980 he received a French government scholarship, enabling him to go to Paris where he studied with the Brazilian-French pianist Magda Tagliaferro. After his return to Brazil, he became director of the Magda Tagliaferro Foundation in São Paulo and Cultural Coordinator of the Brazil-United States Cultural Union. He was involved with many musical projects including a festival of the music of Guarnieri, a Magda Tagliaferro Festival, a Brazilian music history project and, among his many recordings, an album of Richard Rodgers songs and another of his piano solo arrangements of Tom Jobim; he also has a series of two-piano arrangements of Jobim songs. With Pedro Baldanza, he formed the Duo Caramuru/Baldanza and the two instrumentalists have also joined with singer Magda Painno to form the Trio Echo, creating two improvising ensemble that combine classical, jazz, popular and even folkloric elements in new and original combinations.
Pedro Baldanza, born 1953 in Rio Grande do Sul, has played an important role in the development of progressive ideas in Brazilian music. Over more than a quarter of a century, he has worked with the ensemble Som Nosso de Cada Dia and with such outstanding artists as Elis Regina, Gal Costa, Ney Matogrosso and many others. His creative and improvisatory work includes his collaborations with Fábio Caramuru on original themes as well as their improvisations on music of Jobim, Guarnieri, Rodgers and others. Baldanza plays a six-string bass made by the Brazilian luthier Daniel D'Alegria.
The title Bossa in the Shadows itself suggests some of the moods evoked by this music. This is a collection of original compositions and improvisations – dark, moody, rhythmic, always evocative -- that combine the rich and varied elements of Brazilian tradition in strikingly new ways. These pieces owe something to American jazz in their use of free forms and, in particular, in the way Caramuru and Baldanza use multiple or simultaneous polytonal centers. The influences of Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett, counterpointed by Caramuru’s classical background and the influence of Brazilian tradition from Afro-samba to Jobim and bossa nova, and then paired with Baldanza’s bass work, produce a kind of Brazilian style free jazz with an expanded view of tonality but one in which the connection to the fundamental Brazilian beat is never absent. The music has all the ingredients
of great American jazz, traditional and advanced, but, at the same time, it is infused with ideas rooted somewhere else resulting in its originality and lack of clichés.
The class form of the Brazilian beat is, of course, samba and Afro-Samba refers not only to the indigenous dance form but also to its African roots as exemplified by the influence of the great acoustic guitarist Baden Powell who inspired this piece.
Choro – the word means “cry” or “lament” in Portuguese – is a traditional style of Brazilian instrumental music that dates back to 19th century Rio. Although it was to some degree replaced by the jazz-inflected bossa nova, choro remains a quintessential Brazilian musical form and it has undergone a major revival in recent years. Choro 2007 demonstrates some of the newest possibilities of this form.
Capturando is the Portuguese title for Caught in Flight, a piece developed out of the idea that the musicians are catching the sounds they produce in mid-air and bringing them back down – barely – to earth so the rest of us down here below can actually hear them.
Balada or Ballad is a slow piece that provides an intimate and dense atmosphere with a suppressed yet highly expressive lyricism.
The title track, Bossa in the Shadows, is a bossa nova that breaks free from the familiar cool jazz harmonies of the genre to create something that is doubly new in its dark harmonic tensions.
Take the Z Train makes the amusing suggestion that the famous Ellington/Strayhorn musical subway train heading north to Harlem is now running south at the other end of the earth – a very different sort of musical ride!
“Wave Moods” -- Wave inesperado or Unexpected Wave – incorporates the theme from a famous Jobim song that popped up as the musicians were finishing this number. Hence the new English title, In Walked Tom. This is a kind of musical double entendre since it is also a reference to Thelonious Monk’s tribute to Bud Powell!
The composer refers to Baroque as having a serious and dramatic atmosphere. The original title was Bachianas and the piece refers musically both to the Concerto de Aranjuez by the Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo and the Bachianas Brasileiras of Villa-Lobos.
Although samba and bossa nova are often thought of as the basis of Brazilian music, baião, the native music of northeastern Brazil, may be equally important. Like samba, it is essentially a dance rhythm of indigenous origins which was later combined with African influences. As with samba and bossa nova, Caramuru and Baldanza have created a contemporary interpretation of the traditional Dancing the Baião.
Ignez Magdalena Aranha de Lima, known as Inezita Barroso or simply Inezita, is a living legend of Brazilian folk music. Although born in São Paolo and best-known as a television performer, her espousal of traditional Brazilian music, much of it from the countryside, has made her an iconic figure in Brazilian music and helped the tradition stay alive. In For Inezita, Caramuru and Baldanza have again fashioned a tribute that incorporates both traditional and original contemporary elements.
Desconstruindo Guarnieri or Guarnieri Deconstructedis based on a piano Étude by the Brazilian composer that is constructed in fourths and deconstructed when Caramuru and Baldanza take away some of its original inevitability in their own inimitable style.
Mood 2004is a close reworking of one of the cuts from Caramuru’s 2004 CD entitled “Moods”.
Caught in Flight, Take 2 or Capturando outra vez is another version of Track 3, again using the conceit that its sounds are snatched from the air and brought down to earth.
Contundente is the Portuguese title for Incisive whose strongly marked and acute sonorities are set forth with energy and humor.
Both the bass guitar and the piano are string instruments that can also function as percussion – the piano because the strings are struck by hammers which are activated by striking the ivories and the guitar because of the many techniques of plucking and striking the strings as well as the body of the guitar in rhythmic fashion. Cordas or String Theoryis a piece that bypasses the percussive possibilities to emphasize the stringiness of these instruments.
Espasmo literally means “spasm” but On Edge also expresses what the composer calls the uncontrollable, spontaneous and involuntary character of the piece.
Heartbeat, Tango & Waltz describes quite precisely the three sections of the piece that carries this title.
Finally, Gestural is a work built on musical gestures but also on the physicality of the movements that result in the striking sounds and sonorities that are the expressive vocabulary of these artists.
PIANO - TOM JOBIM BY FÁBIO CARAMURU
In 2007, the Brazilian pianist Fábio Caramuru released a double CD album to celebrate Tom Jobim’s 80th anniversary. This album has 28 tracks that presents an overview of Jobim’s work. Caramuru's style as well as approach to Jobim's music brings about a different and unique interpretation of Jobim’s masterpieces.
Fábio Caramuru’s master degree thesis was about Tom Jobim’s work. He also proves to be very familiar with Jobim’s pianistic universe, and further more possesses an incredible classical background.
Fábio has been studying Tom Jobim’s songs since 1996 and presenting them to coutries, such as USA, France, Germany and Russia. In fact, Caramuru’s great technique gives him tools to travel through a cosmopolitan repertoire, exactly like Jobim’s pieces. Tom created a bridge between popular and classical music unlike many others and Fábio’s artistic soul is composed by these two universes. Caramuru took these universes into consideration when he was developing his CDs. Jobim used to create his songs playing piano therefore his music is extremely pianistic, although he became known by his MPB songs. Knowing that, Fábio decided to give his contribution, by associating his classical background to the popular influences he's had from Jobim.
Caramuru received the “Great Criticism Award” in 1991 from APCA (Art Critics Association of Sao Paulo). Recently, he has been studying Brazilian music and developing a new work, with the bass player Pedro Baldanza, related to the concept of free jazz. Fábio’s arrangements are fresh and lively, highlighting aspects hidden in Jobim’s pieces.
Caramuru is able to keep Jobim’s original concepts, while enhancing it with his own unique touch, as he masters his piano to the point where it is no obstacle to his soul. Listening to Caramuru we can notice whispered intentions behind each note; balance is the key of his music. Fábio is able to use the right amount of passion and subtlety, refinement and spontaneity. Through his hands, Garota de Ipanema, Choro, Dindi, Canta, Canta Mais and Retrato em Banco e Preto are some examples of that: Jewels that shine with high quality work.
In 2005, the French pianists Katia and Marièlle Labèque performed the première of Tom Jobim’s Chovendo na Roseira, which led to the first of a series of new arrangements for two pianos written by Fábio Caramuru.
In 2007, Fábio Caramuru organized and worked in events related to Tom Jobim, such as Festival Tom Jobim 80 Anos, in Rio de Janeiro. He also was soloist (Banda Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo and Orquestra Sinfônica da USP - at Sala São Paulo), playing original pieces especially created to celebrate Jobim’s 80th anniversary.
Repertoire / 28 songs
CHORO
MEDITAÇÃO
ESPERANÇA PERDIDA
CHEGA DE SAUDADE
DESAFINADO
SE TODOS FOSSEM IGUAIS A VOCÊ
SÓ DANÇO SAMBA
AMPARO
CHOVENDO NA ROSEIRA
LUIZA
QUEBRA-PEDRA
EU TE AMO
INSENSATEZ
ANOS DOURADOS
ÁGUA DE BEBER
GAROTA DE IPANEMA
FALANDO DE AMOR
WAVE
ESPELHO DAS ÁGUAS
SAMBA DE UMA NOTA SÓ
DINDI
CANTA, CANTA MAIS
SABIÁ
FLOR DO MATO
RETRATO EM BRANCO E PRETO
TWO KITES
VALSA ROMÂNTICA
MODINHA
Instrumentation
Fabio Caramuru - piano
Pedro Baldanza - Bass Guitar
Discography
1. Tom Jobim Piano Solo (1997 - MC 003);
2. Especiarias do Piano Paulista - Brazilian Classic Music - Camargo Guarnieri and Inah Sandoval (1999 - ECHO 199);
3. Do Re Mi Fon Fon 27 Cantigas Brasileiras - Brazilian Folk Songs, sound design by multimedia artist Beth Bento (2002 - ECHO 102);
4. Moods Reflections Moods - Piano Solo Improvisation (2004 - ECHO 204);
5. Richard Rodgers' Songs with mezzo-soprano Magda Painno (2004 - ECHO 104);
6. Piano - Tom Jobim por Fabio Caramuru (double) - 28 tracks featuring Pedro Baldanza (2007 - MCD 344) > View TV Show at 200.225.157.150/ui/show.aspx?id=7 - 44k;
7. Bossa in the Shadows - Duo Caramuru-Baldanza (2007 - LAB 7083).
Radios in Canada, USA and Brazil:
1. CKCU FM - 93.1 FM, Ottawa, Canada - At Ron Sweetman's show "In a Mellow Tone" > February, 20, 2008 - 9 PM;
2. KSDS FM - 88.3 FM, San Diego's Jazz 88 > January, 17, 2008- 10:37 AM and 6:57 PM;
3. CULTURA FM - 103.3 FM, São Paulo, Brazil - Maestro Julio Medaglia's Show > December, 8, 2007 - 9 PM.
4. KZSU 90,1 FM, Palo Alto, CA > February, 1, 2008 - 4 PM > March, 14 - 5 PM
5. WICN Public Radio - New England's Jazz & Folk Station - 90.5 FM Worcester - "Jazz Matinee" > January, 3, 2008 - 5:44 PM
6. Edu Cafe (Hungary)
Duo Caramuru / Baldanza: Bossa In The Shadows
2008-06-22 15:43:00
A tüzes "Afro-Samba"-tól, a lírai "Ballada"-n keresztül az érzéki táncokig ("Heartbeat, Tango& Waltz") minden hallgató könnyen megtalálhatja a neki tetszőt kompozíciót a "Bossa in the Shadows" című album impozáns kínálatból.
7. Radio Electric - Miami
http://76.12.47.152/radioelectric/t/subcategory.cfm?SubCat_ID=42
Links