Lua e Sol it is! What a great combination of musicians, song and Brazilian music – a panoply of perfections in every respect. And what else might one expect from the likes of Mark Weinstein, Nilson Mata, Cyro Baptista, and the incomparable Romero Lubambo. Combine that array with tunes by Baden Powell, Gilberto Gil, Ary Barroso, and Weinstein himself. Hear and under the moon and sun in an omni-directional albeit southern alignment, this project is a winner in all respects.
Weinstein makes the name and memory of all his mentors over the years proud here, including such sun dialers as Herbie Mann, Eddie Palmieri, Cal Tjader, Tito Puente and others. What a stellar alignment of influence and result, cause and effect. Such a mapping is the stuff of awards, which are sure to come once this CD is “discovered”, like watching and hearing a new planet swimming in our ken, enhanced if not characterized by the multitude of percussive effects lined up around Cyro Baptista.
The effects are at once startling and calming, as the occasion of each tune warrants. Just don’t be surprised by the garlands of percussive Brazilian sounds- including vocal utterances, grants, bleatings, and deeply drawn breaths. Look and listen as you will beyond the earphones, behind the CD player, left, right or up and around and into the cosmos.
Weinstein knows the moods and ambiance of rumbas, bossa, choros, you name it, having come to woodwinds and the flute via the less airy trombone. And Lubambo knows it all beyond intellect and analysis by having lived it – a natural, as it were. So too do the tunes range from the ethereal and the qualities of fire and air down to the earthly if not phlegmatic, in the best sense of the word, whether expressed by string bass, bass flute, alto flute, or drum. Avant garde or folk in nature, inclusion and contrast abound.
Lubambo is more often thought of for his fine Latin guitar accompaniments to softly swaying vocalists and in a sense Weinstein’s flute becomes that prominent, melodic voice in most of the arrangements. The guitar lends itself, however, to more than strumming. It too is a percussive instrument capable of many exotic effects. And Lubambo literally taps and hits them all.
Baden Powell’s “Canto de Ossanha”, starts things off and right away Brazil is in your spirit – familiar as a tune, familiar as a kind of blood consciousness. Everyone has a danced to this melody, this mood in one way or another. It’s as alluring as any entrancing piper can be, calling, calling to one’s rhythmic soul. As such it’s a quintessential Brazilian sound, fully realized by the instrumentation and carnival of players. Luis Bonfa, Jobim, or Hermeto Pascoal might all well be just around the next corner.
Weinstein’s compositions “Estrelinha” and the title track, “Lua e Sol”, follow up by brilliantly capturing the spirit and the substance of Powell’s compositional epitome.
The former is a slow ballad building in platforming screscendos of sound and emotion, marked at strategic turns with wattery rattles, cymbols, and drums. The latter tune is a joyful romp through the musical hills and valleys of upper and lower registers, performed in a breakneck speed as if all in one gargantuan breath.
“Floresta,” “Isaura” and “Chora da Gafieira” work as the torso of the tunes, providing the pulmonary pulse of the project. “Floresta,” is a Nilson Matta composition with all the bizarre appeal of a kind of bass and triangle tango. “Isaura” features more of a coconut, bass, and guitar samba that gets even the most ossified sacroiliac into motion. Choro representation is taken care of by “Choro da Gafieira,” which leads along all the real and imagined byways and beaches of Carnival.
“Emorio” is a showcase track, rich with all the compositional talents of Joao Donato and Gilberto Gill made all the darker and thicker by WEinstein’s haunting bass flute lines and Lubambo’s cat-like guitar meowing, providing just the right textural contrast to the heavier, repetitive flute breaths of all the dusky melody. Exotically beautiful.
“Segura Ele”, on the other hand, is an airy, flighty little piece showcasing Weinstein’s bee-like technique. Wile “Pra Machucar Meu Coracao” is a softer ballad made all the more tender by Weinstein’s taking solace and providing it with the dulcet tones of his alto flute. Lubambo engages a more muffled, subdued technique in return with this soft chording and radiantly dexterous soloing. Again the melody shines through the darkness like a moon slowly, majestically rising over a mountain on a starlit night. Long track. Supurb call and response ending. Hauntingly beautiful. “Upa Negrinho” is sheer fun with long unison lines, ample trills, staccato guitar hits, rhythmic nuances of bass and percussion. Again Lubambo displays not just his versatility but his utter mastery of the guitar and its long tradition of compliance and expression for such music as this. Follow the piper, follow the bold strummer, follow the drummer, follow the resonating bass strings, and follow into the bliss of Brazil and its music of wonderment.