Trio da Paz Honors Getz and Gilberto Posted 9/5/2012

Trio da Paz has more than enough firepower tocommand any stage in jazz all by itself. The Brazilianexpatriate supergroup of guitarist Romero Lubambo,bassist/composer Nilson Matta and drummer DudukaDa Fonseca has been moving Brazilian jazz forwardfor two decades. But Trio da Paz plus vibraphonistJoe Locke, tenor saxophonist Harry Allen and vocalistMaúcha Adnet constitutes an embarrassment ofriches.

Their annual two­week residency at Dizzy’s ClubCoca­Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center has become apopular end­of­summer tradition for New Yorkersseeking cool tropical melodies as a respite from thecity’s August heat.

The theme of this year’s edition, seen Aug. 24, wasthe transcultural collaboration of Stan Getz and JoãoGilberto—who, together with Antônio Carlos Jobim,turned the quiet revolution of Brazilian bossa novainto a worldwide phenomenon in the early 1960s. Butthe Getz/Gilberto tribute was really just a startingpoint for the trio’s excursion into samba jazz andbeyond, a bridging of North and South American jazzstyles that allowed for soaring improvisation.

Bossa nova and samba jazz were created in the late1950s by Brazilian musicians who were listening toStateside artists exploring “cool jazz,” such as ElvinJones, Wes Montgomery, Miles Davis and JohnColtrane. Bossa nova is song­based; it is, as Jobimalumnus Adnet explained, “a little guitar … love andmusic, quiet and sensual and cool.” Samba jazz, bycontrast, is a blend of Brazilian rhythm with jazzimprovisation that is more instrumental and open toextended blowing.

The trio’s first song on that Thursday night, Jobim’s“Corcovado,” provided a template for how theseplayers would lift even familiar material into anotherrealm. Allen, with his neo­traditionalist bent andtechnical mastery, may be the perfect tenorist for thejob of Getz surrogate. A sensational swing tenorplayer in the tradition of Getz, Al Cohn and ZootSims, Allen is a fountain of melody who is alsocomfortable with post­bop idioms. Without repeatingGetz’s now­familiar riffs on “Corcovado,” he capturedthe gentle spirit of Getz’s gently undulating lines aswell as his range of tonal expression, from breathywhispers to flat­out wails.

Locke raced out of the starting gate with a surprisingtorrent of grace­noted 16ths, as if the time formeditation was over. Following Locke requireslistening as fast as Locke thinks and plays. Werethose quintuplets he added to that rushing stream?(They were.) His fluid, imaginative, often bluesy ideasremind the listener of the players he cites as hisbiggest influences, Milt Jackson and BobbyHutcherson.

Lubambo had the last, deepest word here, as he didthroughout the evening. Playing nylon­stringed

Trio da Paz (Photo: Frank Stewart)

acoustic with a pickup, his explosive solo displayedhis penchant for creative re­harmonization andrhythmic interpolation, all without sacrificing thesong’s essential Brazilian sway. Throughout theevening he displayed astounding finger­pickingtechnique on both acoustic and electric: His righthand is capable of mowing down chords like acombine. Later on he used it to execute, with perfectprecision, some rapid­fire, MJQ­like baroquepassages on “Baden,” Matta’s tribute to guitaristBaden Powell.

Such stellar solos might distract from the brilliantcontributions of the trio’s rhythm section. Matta, whohas played with everyone from Gilberto to Yo­Yo Ma,was a quiet powerhouse, an inventive melodist with agorgeous tone. Da Fonseca played high­intensitygrooves with daring snare and cymbal accents andsuperb time.

Adnet, who sang with Jobim’s Banda Nova for adecade, knows better than to mess with the greatbossa nova and samba melodies. Instead, she usedher charming stage presence and her huskycontralto, reminiscent of the great Brazilian jazzsinger Leny Andrade, to create clever rhythmicvariations and sensuous interpretations of songs likeJobim’s “So Danco Samba” and de Almeida’s “EuSambo Mesmo.”

Trio da Paz closed with “The Girl From Ipanema.”Next year will be the 50th anniversary of thatlandmark Getz/Gilberto recording, sung by the ultra­cool Astrud Gilberto. With Adnet providing anearthier, more emotional rendering, and Allensupplying creative tenor lines, even that overplayedstandard sounded fresh.

Then again, this music never sounds dated. As Jobimonce said, “I’d rather be eternal than modern.” Andso he is.

—Allen Morrison

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