Joyce & Tutty Moreno – Samba-Jazz & Outras Bossas (2007)

'Samba Jazz & Outras Bossas' is an album from Joyce in collaboration with her husband Tutty Moreno. With 'Samba Jazz & Outras Bossas' Joyce and Tutty have turned to their samba-jazz roots to create an album that is influenced by the golden-era of bossa-nova and US jazz from the 60s. All tracks feature Joyce on vocals for a mix of high-octane samba-jazz and ethereal bossas with either full lyrics or samba-scats; the latter seeing Joyce hark back to classic tracks such as 'Feminina'; the album contains a wonderful new version of the scat-anthem 'Magica'.
'Samba Jazz & Outras Bossas' was produced by Joyce and Tutty themselves and marks a milestone - 30 years - of them working together. Tutty's dexterous percussive swing has underpinned Joyce's forays across Brazilian music over the last 30 years, creating one of the most prolific musical partnerships in jazz & Brazilian music.
Described by Antonio Carlos Jobim as "one of the greatest singers of all time", Joyce sheds a little light on the album: "Samba jazz is a style that grew popular among Rio's youth in the late '60s. It is a mix of bossa and jazz, and it's the music that nurtured our generation. Samba jazz has always been the base for everything that myself and Tutty have done; if you check some older compositions of mine, such as 'Feminina', written in 1977, that's pure samba-jazz, and on this CD we have brought this vibe to the fore again."
Whilst Joyce's previous album 'Rio Bahia' was a more 'romantic and rootsy' affair, with 'Samba Jazz & Outras Bossas' she returns to the music that she is best known and most loved for, with a pedigree of players she considers her dream team. Featured alongside Joyce and Tutty are Helio Alves on piano, Nailor Proveta on reeds, bassist Jorge Helder, Lula Galvão on guitar as well as guest appearances from Teco Cardoso (flute), Vittor Santos (trombone) & Jessé Sadoc (trumpet). "Few musicians today really know what samba-jazz is about", opines Joyce. "Many of the best instrumentalists from Brazil have either gone to a more traditional way, deep back into the roots, like choro music, or to a Berklee-style fusion. Helio Alves, who lives in NYC, is probably the only pianist of his generation who understands and plays this samba jazz musical language. Nailor Proveta is a hell of an arranger, and one of the best reed soloists on the planet. Jorge Helder has the perfect notion of Rio swing, as does Lula Galvão. It was indeed a dream team for us to play with."
'Samba Jazz & Outras Bossas' features a mix of five samba-jazz classics plus eight new Joyce compositions. Covers include a scorching version of Tenorio Jr's 'Embalo' featuring incredible horns soloing from Nailor Proveta (alto sax, arrangement), Teco Cardoso (baritone sax), Vittor Santos (trombone) & Jessé Sadoc (trumpet), plus a sublime version of the Baden/Vinicius classic 'Berimbau' with stellar playing from Helio Alves who's key-work seems to lift the tune up to the heavens. There are also interpretations of 'April Child' originally written by Moacir Santos/ R.Evans / J.Livingston, a fantastically uplifting version of 'Devagar Com A Louca' composed by Luiz Reis and Haroldo Barbosa and that was originally a big hit for Elza Soares in the 1950s, plus a new version of 'Magica', a bona-fide samba-jazz and Joyce classic here in a wonderful new version with regal sax playing from Teco Cardoso, Henrique Band & Nailor Proveta who also contributes some majestic clarinet work.
Highlights amongst the new Joyce compositions are 'Penalty', a classic 'Feminina' style bossa featuring a heavy Joyce scat; a wonderful mid-tempo bossa in ode to song-writers everywhere called 'Compositor'; 'Shangri-La', a tribute to 'Tereza My Love', one of Joyce's favourite Tom Jobim ballads; and 'Tema Pro Baden', a bossa in 7/8 that pays tribute to Baden Powell, who Joyce refers to as a 'a creator in the Brazilian school of guitar'.

Tracklist:

01. Penalty
02. April Child
03. Embalo
04. Compositor
05. Shangri-La
06. Devagar Com A Louca
07. Feijao Com Arroz
08. Berimbau
09. Garoto
10. Sabe Quem?
11. Tema Pro Baden
12. Bodas De Vinil
13. Magica

Sound Quality: 9