Christianne Neves - ABERTURA DAS ÁGUAS (2024) [Hi-Res]

Abertura das Águas is the sea that parts for the encounter. It is our Iemanjá, the queen of the seas, who greets and “cradles her children in her arms with a loving gaze” in the words of Mestre Sapopemba₁. And it is in this universal embrace, in the Ya madekó, Ya Kekerê (yorubá) sung by Andrea Marquee, Brazilian through and through, that this album parts open. It sets the stage to welcome the music and musicians who participated, both from Brazil and Italy.
Abertura das Águas opens the album with a spontaneous improvisation born from the berimbau and magical drums of Ari Colares and from my random piano. Everything created in the moment, inspired by Sapopemba's adaptation of a traditional melody for Iemanjá. All improvised. All played as the heart was touched.
Next, the Italian man with the most Brazilian soul emerges: Stefano Rossini. His drums are present from the introduction of my Samba in Bari, a samba in 7,revealing the spirit of the album: original Brazilian jazz with rhythmic diversities aiming to portray a profound Brazil. And joining us, here comes the authentically Brazilian friend and one of the greatest bassists in the world, Mario Caribé, who arrived by water and air on the path between Scotland and Italy, leaving his
impactful mark. What a presence!
The partnership with AlfaMusic, dormant during the pandemic, resurrects in 2023, reaffirming what a 5-minute meeting between me and Fabrizio Salvatore at Jazz it Pompei 2019 would result in: our Italo-Brazilian album!
Abertura das Águas also brought memories and blessings, like a baptism, in the tango Jose dedicated to my father (in memoriam) and interpreted by Natalino Marchetti. Hands of gold, notes of an accordion perpetuated eternally in his exquisite and emotional interpretation of “Jose”.
Then comes Carinhoso, a classic by Pixinguinha and João de Barro. A piano arrangement using delicate high registers, with the melody quoted by the left hand. A gift to my equally delicate mother, Suzi. From the heart, with “carinho”.
Next is my jazzy Beijo no Asfalto, a very special track to me, with the Stefano/Caribé trio. New times, new partings of waters!
Ave rara (by Edu Lobo and Aldir Blanc): the great surprise of this album! It was an immense joy to record with the legendary Edu Lobo on piano and vocals. He, a part of my musical education since the times of Upa Neguinho, Ponteio, Arrastão, and Tom Jobim’s collaborations, generously came to record with me to be part of this musical sea. For the love of music. What an “ave rara” (rare bird) Edu is! A special and eternal collaboration!
There's also the classic As Pastorinhas by the great Noel Rosa and João de Barro (Braguinha), major representatives of the Brazilian songbook. Here, the award-winning drums of Edu Ribeiro (Trio Corrente) and the impeccable bass of Bruno Migotto, joining our trio once again. A relic of the Brazilian songbook, sung in the carnival nights where “the sky shone with the estrela dalva (morning star) and the moon was dizzy with such sheer splendor”. Andrea Marquee once again brings the past as a gift in her indescribable present Oju mamã voice, carrying our Brazil.
Sem ensaio ① ② ③. Brazil and Italy on the keys of Stefania Tallini and Christianne Neves. We had promised each other. One day we would play two pianos, without rehearsal, “senza provare nulla”, and that's what happened: three unrehearsed tracks that emerged in the most natural way possible. Great Stefania, great friend, great musicality!
Lorenzo Corsi arrived flying! He softly blew my Samba em Triângulo, de triangulating everything! His lightness and sensitivity are recorded in piccolo and in the flute in C. He played with a smile and will make anyone who listens to this track smile. And then came his uncle, Franco Piana, a great musician who, with his flugelhorn, honored the presence of Dave Grusin, the American musician celebrated in the track Mr. Grusin.
And finally, once again, the water. This time the rain, portrayed in ÒYÒ Jungle, a rhythmic celebration evoking Africa and its rituals with Stefano on percussion and super Mario Caribè on bass.

It's a solar album. Post-pandemic. Full of hope and new paths.
It brings a jazzy, original, inventive Brazil, carefully shaped by the producers Alessandro Guardia and Fabrizio Salvatore.
May the waters part to all who listen to this album made with so much “carinho”.
Good tides!

Christianne Neves

₁ Brazilian ogã, singer and percussionist considered a reference in the Candomblé traditions Ketu e Angola. Researcher of afro-Brazilian culture.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Christianne Neves - ABERTURA DAS ÁGUAS (4:41)
1.02 - Christianne Neves - SAMBA IN BARI (4:21)
1.03 - Christianne Neves - JOSE (7:13)
1.04 - Christianne Neves - CARINHOSO (3:53)
1.05 - Christianne Neves - BEIJO NO ASFALTO (5:11)
1.06 - Christianne Neves - AVE RARA (3:40)
1.07 - Christianne Neves - SEM ENSAIO Improvisation 1- Brasil&Italia (5:42)
1.08 - Christianne Neves - AS PASTORINHAS (3:15)
1.09 - Christianne Neves - MR.GRUSIN (5:26)
1.10 - Christianne Neves - SEM ENSAIO - IMPROVISATION 2 - Part.1 Brasil&Italia (0:54)
1.11 - Christianne Neves - OJO JUNGLE (3:12)
1.12 - Christianne Neves - SEM ENSAIO - IMPROVISATION 2 -Part. 2 - Brasil&Italia (1:42)
1.13 - Christianne Neves - SAMBA EM TRIANGULO (3:32)
1.14 - Christianne Neves - SEM ENSAIO - IMPROVISATION 3 - Brasil&Italia (2:09)