João Donato - Bluchanga (2017)

Tracklist:

1 Bluchanga
2 Uma Benção
3 Lua Dourada
4 Não Tem Nada Não
5 Nua Ideia
6 The Mohican and the Great Spirit
7 Trident
8 Uma para o Duke
9 Morning
10 Malandro
11 Capricorn
12 Rio Branco

A really beautiful record from the legendary Joao Donato – a killer jazz session, originally done as a private release for a Brazilian corporation, and never circulated widely at the time! The set's from Donato's more recent years, but it's got the sparkle and soul of some of his earlier jazz-based projects – with rhythms that push past basic bossa, into the more complicated timings and phrasings of Donato's 70s years – with almost a Moacir Santos sense of arrangements to the small group instrumentation! Donato plays acoustic piano, and the group includes Luiz Alves on bass, Robertino Silva on drums, Ricardo Pontes on flute and alto, Leo Amuedo on guitar, and Jose Arimatea on flugelhorn. The sense of color here is brilliant – that mix of modernism and down-to-earth appeal that always made Donato one of the standouts of his generation – and titles include "Lua Dourada", "Uma Bencao", "Nao Tem Nada Nao", "Malandor", "Capricorn", "Rio Branca", "Uma Para O Duke", and a great version of the Clare Fischer tune "Morning"