Holiday In Brazil - Bud Shank

 

Moon Antiqua

Holiday In Brazil

Bud Shank - Alto Flute

Arrangments by Laurindo Almeida

A Richard Bock Production

Cover Design by Stan Levy

Tapestry by Patty Roberts

Photo of Bud Shank by Richard Bock

Engineered by Dayton Howe

World Pacific Records

A Division of Pacific Enterprises, Inc.

World Pacific WP-1259

1959

From the back cover: Probably the perpetual quest of every jazzman is the search for a sound, for a way to express his personality in music to assert himself as an individual. Sometimes a jazz musician acquires the sound by himself, as a soloist. Sometimes, he achieves identity within a group, as a significant part of a sum total sound. Bud Shank and Laurindo Almeida attain originality of sound in the second way, through the unification of their instruments into ensemble oneness.

That the Shank-Almeida sound succeeds in its immediate appeal is verified by the warm reception and success of their first album (WP-1204), which according to World Pacific president, Richard Bock, has become standard in record stores and in the World Pacific catalogue. Holiday In Brazil reunites the two lucent talents in another album of Bud Shank playing Laurindo Almeida arrangements. In fact, the alto-guitar sound and Brazilian flavor coalesce so effectively that Bud enthusiastically plans a forthcoming tour with the same instrumental setup (substituting amplified guitar for the unamplified instrument played finger-style here).

Holiday in Brazil strives to develop an amalgamation of Brazilian music and jazz. In building compositions around he native music, Laurindo finds the improvisatory freedom of jazz blends readily with written Brazilian themes. The two idioms dovetail early: both are even tempos, both swing. These natural fusion of fold and classical elements whereby the folk music absorbs a "nice" influence from classical music. The sambas in this album, for example, attain a higher level than do those at carnival dances in Brazil because they have some organization and abundance of ideas to be developed.

As the Brazilian folk flavor merges with American jazz, the two musical genres are pointed up in new relief, imbued with new textures and concepts of creativity; each affirms the vitality of the other. "I'm a jazz musician," emphasizes Bud, "and Laurindo is a Brazilian musician and we each play what we are. I'm trying to cook as much as I can in whatever I do."

The synthesis of the the two musics is not without certain problems, "Laurindo must play in keys strange to the alto sax sometimes," explains Bud, "which makes it more difficult fo me, The chord structures differ also. Sometimes there'll be thirteen bar phrases. I have to get used to hearing this and have to think in terms of strange phrases, keys and chords I'm not used to playing."

Most of the time, however, the music evolves quite naturally. There is improvisation. There is writing. In describing preparatory sessions, Bud tells how Laurindo writes out a one-chorus lead sheet (the written melody of a song with symbols indicating necessary harmonic change at appropriate points) for the soloists plus a bass figure for the bass player to follow. "We rehearse at my house two and three times a week and keep playing until we get a format that works – 'head arrangements' I believe they call them! Little Girl Blue is completely written; Rio Rhapsody is more or less written except for my solo."

Bud's composition and arrangement, Mood Antiqua, incorporates the tabla, two small drums played by hand featured in East Indian classical music. Richard Bock introduced Chuck Flores to the instrument through records of Indian drummer Chatter Lal, and suggested Flores could use the tabla to advantage here.

Bud comments on their playing Latin music and rhythms without resorting to "cow-bells, jawbones, timbales, etc. We have a very soft, subtle sound, not loud  and obvious. We try our best to make it swing; we don't hold back like a lot of groups." Certainly the gentle, airy ideas emphatically exchanged by the musicians personal contact with the listener, which are not usually present in larger, more aggressive Latin-flavored organizations.

This ability to work together stems in part from the sincere respect and heartfelt admiration of Bud and Laurindo for each other. Bud proclaims, "I've always been fascinated by Laurindo and I love the sound of his instrument. I've got several of his albums," And Laurindo echoes, "I love the way Bud plays; I admire him tremendously. He's one of my favorites."

Gary Peacock's bass and Chuck Flores' drums round out the group to provide the latticed network of rhythms through which alto and guitar melodies lacily intertwine. - Mimi Clar

Simpaticao by Stanley Wilson

Rio Rhapsody by Almeida & Gnattali

Nocturno by Laurindo Almeida

Little Girl Blue by Rodgers & Hart

Choro In "A" buy Laruindo Almeida

Mood Antiqua by Bud Shank

The Color Of Her Hair by Laurindo & Shank

Lonely by Almeida & Shank

I Didn't Know What Time It Was by Rodgers & Hart

Carioca Hills by Laurindo & Shank