Ryan Keberle's Collectiv do Brasil - Here is Donato! (2026) [Hi-Res]

On 13 July 2026, Here Is Donato! is released, devoted to the music of João Donato (1934–2023), one of the most influential Brazilian composers and pianists. Donato dissolved stylistic boundaries: samba, jazz, Afro-Cuban rhythms, bolero, funk and bossa nova merged in his work into a personal language that is harmonically rich yet invitingly direct.

The album was recorded by New York trombonist and composer Ryan Keberle with the São Paulo quintet Collectiv do Brasil: pianist Felipe Silveira, bassist Felipe Brisola, drummer Paulinho Vicente and percussionist Guegué Medeiros. The musicians draw on the improvisational freedom of modern jazz and the rhythmic and melodic richness of MPB, answering Donato’s compositions with warmth, lyricism and subtle rhythm. They treat these pieces not as fixed standards but as living works that keep revealing new harmonic and emotional possibilities.

According to Keberle, Donato’s music is deceptively simple, like that of Horace Silver: clear lines, relaxed yet deeply swinging grooves, nothing forced. The deeper one goes, the more its precision, economy and restraint stand out, along with its willingness to let things unfold unhurriedly. That openness makes it adaptable across contexts and generations. The album’s aim is therefore not modernization but to spend time inside the music and absorb its logic and clarity.

Recorded intimately and clearly at Gargolândia Recording Studios in Brazil, the album is the result of more than a decade of Keberle’s work on a cross-cultural ensemble. It is the fourth installment in a series of tributes to Brazilian masters, following albums devoted to Ivan Lins, Edu Lobo, Milton Nascimento and Toninho Horta. PopMatters has noted that no one today makes the trombone sing like Keberle.

Tracklist:
01-01 Ryan Keberle's Collectiv do Brasil - Tema Teimoso [3:40]
01-02 Ryan Keberle's Collectiv do Brasil - Nana Das Águas [4:09]
01-03 Ryan Keberle's Collectiv do Brasil - Nowhere to Go, Nothing to See [4:57]
01-04 Ryan Keberle's Collectiv do Brasil - Ê Menina [5:16]
01-05 Ryan Keberle's Collectiv do Brasil - Mentiras [3:37]
01-06 Ryan Keberle's Collectiv do Brasil - Não Tem Nada Não [4:34]
01-07 Ryan Keberle's Collectiv do Brasil - Celestial Showers [3:38]
01-08 Ryan Keberle's Collectiv do Brasil - Até Quem Sabe [3:13]
01-09 Ryan Keberle's Collectiv do Brasil - Cadê Jodel? [4:33]
01-10 Ryan Keberle's Collectiv do Brasil - Lugar Comum [3:00]