LALO SCHIFRIN & BOB BROOKMEYER: Samba Para Dos (1963)

LALO SCHIFFRIN & BOB BROOKMEYER
(CB, de The Hague, Holanda)
Meu amigo Lalo Schiffrin foi personagem de um dos maiores "micos" que paguei na vida: a história do cachimbo, no "Number One", conforme já contei em postagem anterior. Desta vez Lalo se junta ao grande BOB BROOKMEYER, um dos maiores nomes do trombone de todos os tempos. Além disso, Bob é um tremendo pianista, arranjador e professor de música, figura proeminente na história do jazz, especialmente nos bons tempos do "west-coast".
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BOB BROOKMEYER
Robert Brookmeyer (born December 19, 1929) is an American jazz valve trombonist, pianist, and arranger. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brookmeyer first gained widespread public attention as a member of Gerry Mulligan's quartet from 1954 to 1957. He later worked with Jimmy Giuffre before rejoining Mulligan's Concert Jazz Band. In the late 1950s he moved to New York City to work as a freelance arranger. In the 1960s he also worked as a studio musician, co-led a quintet with Clark Terry and worked in and wrote for the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. In 1980 this band recorded an album of his compositions/arrangements on which two tracks featured
Clark Terry. After a period in Europe he has returned to the United States, where he continues to write and record. Bob Brookmeyer also teaches jazz composition at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
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ALBUM REVIEW
By the time this album was recorded (Feb. 1963), the bossa/samba craze was a year old; everyone, it seemed, was waxing a Brazilian-tinged LP to get in on the popular concept, especially on the Verve label. This actually was Brookmeyer's second samba
outing; an earlier LP with Gary McFarland featuring this kind of music had already been recorded the year before. The earlier album had Brookmeyer fronting a small group (vibes, 2 guitars, and percussion); here he fronts a larger contingency (7 reeds, piano, guitar, and rhythm section). The CD starts with the title track, which is over 10 minutes long, and although it has a nice flute solo by Leo Wright, the song bogs down in a lengthy piano solo by Schifrin; things aren't off to a good start. (Schifrin has a tendency to get clunky in his playing, especially on up-tempo numbers, reminiscent of Dave Brubeck.) But then things really pick up. I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU and JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS lend themselves well to the samba interpretation, and Brookmeyer swings hard on them (there's also a terrific guitar solo by Jimmy Raney on KICK). Phil Woods takes a much too short solo on IT'S ALL RIGHT WITH ME (his only solo on the whole CD) that practically jumps out of the speakers at you; it's marvelous. So the CD, which started off on shaky ground, ends up being not too bad at all.
By Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA)
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MINHA OPINIÃO: Lalo e Brookmeyer reuniram um "dream team" e selecionaram um repertório luxuoso, devidamente "bossanovizado", para gravar um LP e pegar a onda (ou melhor, o verdadeiro "tsunami") que foi a chegada da "BN" aos USA. O clima dos arranjos é de "cool jazz" mas o ritmo de "bossa nova made in USA" em 1963, mostra o quanto os bateristas, baixistas e guitarristas norte-americanos ainda tinham que aprender. Mas também, querem o que? O ritmista brasileiro "da hora" era o pandeirista José Paulo, que se intrometia em TODAS as gravações de BN feitas no USA naquela época. (Felizmente, neste álbum, a Carmem Costa não apareceu pra tocar "cabaça" ...oops). Mas querem saber de uma coisa? Ficaram devendo: com esse timaço de músicos, podia ter saído coisa muito, mas muito melhor...
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LALO SCHIFRIN & BOB BROOKMEYER: Samba Para Dos (1963)

PERSONNEL:
Bob Brookmeyer - piano, trombone;
Frank Rehak - trombone
Leo Wright - flute, sax alto
Phil Woods - sax alto
Jerome Richardson - sax tenor
Zoot Sims, Al Cohn - sax tenor
Romeo Penque - clarinet
Danny Bank - sax baritone
Lalo Schifrin - piano
Jimmy Raney - guitar
Ben Tucker - bass
Dave Bailey - drums
Jose Paulo - percussions
Carmelita Koehler - cello.

TRACKS/FAIXAS
1. Samba Para Dos (Lalo Schifrin) 10:00
2. What Kind of Fool Am I? (Bricusse/Newley) 2:58
3. I Get a Kick Out of You (Cole Porter) 4:37
4. Just One of Those Things (Cole Porter) 3:25
5. Time After Time (Cahn/Styne) 3:28
6. It's All Right With Me (Cole Porter) 2:30
7. My Funny Valentine (Rodgers/Hart) 3:05
8. But Not For Me (George & Ira Gershwin) 3:05