Tom McDermott - Choro Do Norte (2005)

Tom McDermott – Piano; Evan Christopher – Clarinet; Rick Trolsen – Trumpet.

Tom McDermott and his frequent partner Evan Christopher are two of the most creative and forward looking jazz musicians in New Orleans. To call Evan Christopher a world class jazz clarinetist is an understatement. He virtually defines the class, although there are a few players in New Orleans who just might want to challenge that viewpoint! McDermott is a superlative traditional pianist, but he prefers to focus his creative energies on composition.

It is some 20 years now since the well traveled Mr. McDermott first started hearing, then playing, and then creating Brazilian choros. The choro is generally defined as a combination of African, Native Indian and Portuguese music, just one of several types that come to us from Brazil. The samba and bossa nova are two related but different genres. All of them have something of a jazz feel. What makes the choro unique though, is that it goes back as far as the 1870s, but is still evolving today. Early choros have been compared to American ragtime. Some of the pieces on this CD emphasize that relationship, including three Scott Joplin rags.

What makes this CD different, and you’ll know it from the very first cut onward, is the Brazilian rhythm section; three young musicians playing respectively a tambourine related percussion instrument known as the pandeiro, a bandolim, which is the Portuguese version of a mandolin, and a seven string guitar, which has become increasingly popular with guitarists in general and especially with modern jazzmen. The Brazilian musicians are not the only additions to this CD that make the sounds so different. There is also Rick Trolsen on trombone, and, for one cut each, Ray Moore on flute, and Matt Perrine on tuba. ~Steve Steinberg