1. Cascavel
2. All the Things You Are
3. Minor Chord
4. A Night in Tunisia
5. Time after Time
6. Easy to Love
7. Sabia
8. Lullaby of Birdland/Garoto
9. So in Love
10. 'Round Midnight
11. Every Time We Say Goodbye / Nuvens Douradas
12. Toada Jazz (O Retirante) / Night And Day
Antonio Adolfo - Piano
Carol Saboya - Vocals
Leo Amuedo - Guitar
Jore Helder - Double bass
Rafael Barata - Drums
Sergio Trombone - Trombone.
Antonio Adolfo is a Brazilian pianist who has already made a name for himself as both player and composer. His songs have been performed by such people as Stevie Wonder, Sergio Mendes and Herb Alpert. On this new album he mixes jazz standards with Brazilian tunes - including three of his own compositions. Most of the jazz songs are sung by Antonio's daughter, Carol Saboya, whose voice sounds strangely fragile compared with the more extrovert performances on her previous album with her father - Ao Vivo Live.
Most of the music here is laid back and placid, accompanied by the moderate Latin rhythm associated with the bossa nova. The opening Cascavel is a pleasant original by Adolfo, with his piano in unison with Leo Amuedo's guitar. Saboya's voice seems very delicate in All the Things You Are. It is followed by another Adolfo composition - Minor Chord - which retains the measured bossa feel. Carol Saboya sings Jon Hendricks' lyrics to A Night in Tunisia and scats the difficult bridge passage.
And so the album proceeds on its gentle way, with some interesting contributions from a trombonist actually listed as Sergio Trombone, whose outspoken statements make a nice contrast with the prevailing restraint. Lullaby of Birdland is given a refreshing treatment with Latin-American rhythms and unusual phrasing, and 'Round Midnight also sounds different dressed in bossa clothes. Here and throughout the album, Antonio Adolfo's piano is one of the album's highlights: coolly melodic and continuously inventive.
The last two tracks each combine a pair of tunes: firstly Cole Porter's Every Time We Say Goodbye with Jobim's Nuvens Douradas, and finally Adolfo's own Toada Jazz with another Porter song: Night and Day. All in all, this is a delightful album, despite my initial misgivings at the apparent frailty of the singer's voice.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
AAM Music AAM 0701
