Hermeto Pascoal, Brazilian genius, samba, experimental, free jazz and bonus! Jovino Santos Neto on Piano
Written: Mar 23 '07
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Pros: Stunning solos, brilliant composition, lightning fast chops, furious emotions
Cons: Experimental jazz can sometimes seem chaotic to the uninitiated, very intense and dense music
The Bottom Line: Listen to Hermeto, he is a treasure. His music should be spread around the world. His sound is at the heart of the Samba-Jazz movement from Getz and Jobim.
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| deaser26's Full Review: Cerebro Magnetico - Hermeto Pascoal |
Brazilian genius at work
He is from far away Brazil, he is blind, he plays music from the world around him – the sounds and sound effects of life, and his sense and melodic feel are above the earth floating in the sky. Then all of a sudden, there are strange spoken words, having little or nothing to do with the music itself. He has been credited in liner notes with playing a gum wrapper. And for real people, he plays a meanass gum wrapper. While certainly Hermeto is considered Avant-Garde jazz, this does not really have Avant-Garde feel to it. There is none of the spacey confusion of an Ornette Coleman album, none of the musical dialog on acid of Julius Hemphill, more like “outside” compared to Jobim. This is still formalized music in many ways.
The passion in his music is that which he drives from the sources of life all around him. He hears bells, and squeaking sounds, gravel crunching, pigs snorting, stadiums exploding to life with energy as the adrenaline hits and their hero scores, radio announcers, static from television, dogs barking, dogs whining, the gentle buzzing of a neon lamp, the gentle buzzing of a hummingbird floating by. He bangs together pipes, creates flutes and horns from bone, and skins and wood and plastic. He is an industrial musical genius, and he has been doing it since the sixties.
This album was originally done in 1980 and then re-released by Warner in 2001. Seattle’s own Jovino Santos Neto was in charge of Hermeto’s band back then, and played keys for him and did arranging as well. So Jovino’s hands are all over this album, which is both exciting and interesting. Jovino plays all over the Seattle metropolis virtually any month of the year you want to catch one of his shows – and he does at least one or 2 shows a year as a tribute to Hermeto, playing many of his compositions.
1 – Voz E Vento The first song kicks off with flute and melodica over the top of piano and percussion. The melody rambles on, and feels beachy. Then Hermeto puts some strangely warbling vocals over the top of the pulsing toms. The real treat of this music is the fascinating array of percussion.
2 – Musica Das Nuvens E Do Chao Hermeto lays out a gentle soprano sax line over the top of Jovino’s melancholy piano lines. The quiet melody garners a vocal accompaniment. Then the really interesting part starts with the soprano humming along over the top of a broken beat, in a strange time. They don’t abandon form, just convention.
3 – Danca Da Selva Na Cidade Grande This is the dance of the jungle – and it begins with an off-key chant over the top of odd flute playing and birds. There are chains being dropped onto drum skins and whistles. They never really settle into a groove, and there are hints of passion as the chants becomes a pulse and then Brazilian fife and drum corps kick it into high gear.
4 - Amor, Paz E Esperanca A song of love and melodica, and not island style. It is a rambling part that flows up and down scales, but settles in for a steady series of changes.
5 – Dialogo The song starts with some borrowed ideas from Return to Forever – with keys and drums banging and building into some direction or none. Jovino had to excuse himself from the room for this manic musical episode – as Hermeto does all of the keyboard work as well as the drums. It actually reminds me very much of a Latin version of 5 Percent for Nothing by Bill Bruford off Fragile.
6 – Correu Tanto Que Sumiu Jovino makes a heartbeat like pulse on the Fender Rhodes to work on the introduction. And then Hermeto plays a piano solo that is like ants on crack, really fast, really furious and then over really quickly.
7 – Festa Na Lua A series of stringed solo lines dancing around one another, and always over the top of a steady rhythm – Hermeto shows his genius at stringed instruments as well. One of the melodic themes throughout this is an interesting part borrowed from Norwegian Wood by McCartney and Lennon. Then it goes into a lightning fast blue grass/flamenco thing at the end.
8 – Eita Numdo Bom! Flutes fly back and forth over the top of some solid toms and bells. This leads to one of Hermeto’s standard melodies. The soprano moves quickly back and forth trading with him and overdubbed parts.
9 – Religiosidade This is what you might call an experimental dirge, fresh with chaotic piano lines, squeaky toys and fake bird chirrupings. The lead is taken by the soprano sax, squealing high and strong above the chaotic percussion.
10 – Arrasta Pe Alagoano Moving beyond the madness of the last song, we pick up a subtle beat on toms and triangles, which leads to a guitar line, simple and persistent – and a sax, flute duet, and then trio and it builds laying an obscenely interesting melody over the top of the guitar. Then as suddenly as the rest, Jovino comes in with his pulsing piano part, creating a completely new vector of sound, over which Hermeto begins to lay down lines of Melodica, like so many Coca rails along the glass. Then the song ends with bells, so you can find your way.
11 – Vou Esperar Flutes, layers and layers of beautiful flutes playing harmonies kick this one off, with a long toned and gentle melody over the top. This is a stunningly beautiful piece.
12 – Auriana And if Esperar was the lovely child, this is the uglier stepdaughter with flutes and a maddening vocal element. The layering is still lovely, but the solo work is more scattered, the valley of the manic flute songs.
13 – Banda Encarnacao The finale, fresh with a big band sax section sound, building and building over the top of hand drums and light percussion. Hermeto does get a little help on bass from Alfredo Gomes. However, the song is a culmination of woodwinds with a light and airy soprano solo. The horn section work gets more manic feeling as the song moves on darker and more disturbing. However, the soprano solo stays lovely, and then the band fades away as quietly as they came.
This is the work of a genius at a creative peak. The production values are brilliant, and are not very long after Hermeto played a couple of dates with Miles (Live Evil and whatnot), and so there was a fresh infusion of interest if not cash. Jovino Santos Neto is at the heart of a lot of this music, with his lightning fast hands, and attention to layers. However, the brilliance is Hermeto and his flute and sax work. He is a master of emotion, and produces a wide variety of it in this collection; it is not to be missed. One of the difficulties is finding Hermeto’s music in the States. I tracked this one down on Ebay, and got it for 20 bucks or so. That is about the going rate for most of his music other than Slaves Mass, which is readily available. His music graces the crates of vinyl collectors the world over. Get all of it that you can, he won’t be with us forever.
Recommended:
Yes
Great Music to Play While: Listening
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deaser26
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...jazz was never meant to be a museum piece, under glass... Miles Davis
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