Mario Adnet – From the Heart – Adventure Music

by | May 23, 2007 | Jazz CD Reviews | 0 comments

Mario Adnet – From the Heart – Adventure Music AM1027 2, 51:52 *****:

Mario Adnet has had a long career in Brazil since the 1970s as a composer and record producer, working with some of the top musicians from that country. Recently he produced two CDs for another legend in Brazilian music, Moacir Santos (“Ouro Negro” and “Choros & Alegria”), for the Adventure Music label. His own personal albums, featuring Adnet as an acoustic guitar player and vocalist, have been too scarce and none have made it to the United States. That is until now. Adventure Music has brought us “From the Heart,” which introduces the music and arrangements of Adnet to the States in a big way. The music on this recording spans his entire career, all with new arrangements and performances. It’s a great introduction to a marvelous musician that deserves better and wider recognition.

Some of the best Brazilian session musicians are included in “From the Heart.” The wonderful Teco Cardosa on flutes and baritone saxophone. The immensely talented Jessé Sadoc on trumpet and flugelhorn. The agile and melodic Vittor Santos on trombone. The smooth improvisations of Ricardo Silveira on electric guitar. The piano is handled in turns by the facile interpretations of Marcos Nimrichter and the strongly melodic performances of João Donato. As a matter of fact, I really don’t know of any better working jazz musicians than Cardosa, Sadoc and Santos. They’re simply as good as it gets.

Most of the tunes of this album tend towards the more subtle and melodic forms of Brazilian jazz. The energy is still high, but it is left on a quiet simmer through much of the album. Think less fire and more polish. The arrangements lean towards the ensemble as a whole, allowing the individual instrumentalists to shine, instead of favoring Adnet as the star of the show. He stays firmly in the background for the most part, providing texture, color, and rhythm for the songs. Since Adnet wrote all but two of the tracks, arranged all the numbers, and he and his wife, Mariza, acted as producers, this choice was obviously deliberate. Like most music, this is first and foremost a collaboration between enormously accomplished musicians, and as such it is a collaboration of the highest sort. Highly recommended.

TrackList: From the Heart, Music Inside, Walking Song, Almost, Baiambê, Salsatlantic, Ocean Range, Paulistana No1, Danca Negra, Song for Isabella, Escaping Carnival, Northern Landscape

– Hermon Joyner
 

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