Ao Vivo / Live
Tracks
01 - Abertura (Antonio Adolfo)
02 - Voce e eu (Antonio Adolfo)
03 - Fotografia (Antonio Adolfo & Carol Saboya)
04 - Meu Limao, meu limoeiro / De onde vem o Baiao / O cantador (Antonio Adolfo & Carol Saboya)
05 - Bonita (Antonio Adolfo & Carol Saboya)
06 - Canto de Ossanha (Antonio Adolfo & Carol Saboya)
07 - Carinhoso / Bambino - Voce me da (Antonio Adolfo)
08 - Insensatez (How Insensitive) (Antonio Adolfo)
09 - Wave (Antonio Adolfo & Carol Saboya)
10 - Passarim/Chovendona roseira (Double Rainbow) (Antonio Adolfo & Carol Saboya)
11 - Sa Marina (Pretty World) (Antonio Adolfo & Carol Saboya)
12 - Milagre (Antonio Adolfo & Carol Saboya)
13 - Corrida de jangada (Antonio Adolfo & Carol Saboya)
Personnel
Antonio Adolfo - piano and musical arrangements
Claudio Spiewak - guitar
Gabriel Vivas - double bass
Carlomagno Araya - drums
CD Ao Vivo / Live
When we began to develop the repertory and the overall conception of the show “Bossa Nova Forever", that originated this album, Carol and I desired to pay tribute to Bossa, to Samba Jazz and to that one with whom I had worked and had moments of great musical happiness: Elis Regina. We also wanted to combine all that with the repertory Carol had recorded on her four CDs in Brazil and two others for Japan, in addition to the repertory from shows we had done, mostly outside of Brazil.
We rehearsed only twice with the musicians, Claudio Spiewak (acoustic and electric guitars), Gabriel Vivas (double bass), and Carlomagno Araya (drums).
During the show, we played freely and happily, not imagining that it would become a record. And it is that which is stimulating and really differentiates live and studio recording.
About the Songs
I began with an improvisation (Abertura), demonstrating a healthy connection between Rhapsody in Blue, Aquarela do Brasil and Garota de Ipanema, with quotations from the works, and, I believe, a surprise, because in the moment that it seems we would come in with Garota de Ipanema, we play Voce e eu, a song by my master and godfather Carlos Lyra with his lyricist partner Vinicius de Moraes. There is a magnificent solo by the Brazilian guitarist Claudio Spiewak, who has settled in Florida.
Next, Carol enters, snapping her fingers. She is accompanied in the introduction by the Venezuelan bassist Gabriel Vivas; afterwards the rest of the quartet enters one by one. The song is Fotografia, in a swing style as it was originally recorded and became well known.
From there we go on to folk music, with the beautiful Meu limao, meu limoeiro, with an arrangement based on that of Mauricio Maestro for Carol's recording Sessao Passatempo, directed by Herminio Bello de Carvalho. It mixes the folk theme with a swinging tune full of charm, De onde vem o baiao, by Gilberto Gil, finishing with a quote from O cantador by Dory Caymmi and Nelson Motta.
The audience seems relaxed, in the groove, and in the next number, in an introspective mood, Carol presents Bonita, recorded on a disc she made for Lumiar and produced by Almir Chediak, as a homage to Jobim in 1998. I play an introduction with notes leading the harmony with descending and ascending half steps, which is one of the characteristics of the songs of master Antonio Carlos Jobim. We play the first section, and then the other musicians join us. Here everything is very jazzy in a total Bossa Nova synthesis.
Then comes Canto de Ossanha, by the genial partners Baden Powell and Vinicius de Moraes, in a competent and most animated arrangement, like the one who created it, the Bossa Nova master Oscar Castro-Neves. We had played this arrangement a year before at Lincoln Center in New York, in a show with Carol, Paulo Jobim, Oscar, and others.
Carol then passes the ball to me, and in the same number I play two beautiful pieces which transcend any style, while being able to be placed in the ample line of Bossa Nova, owing to the richness of their melodies and harmonies and the strengths of their creators: the masters Pixinguinha and Nazareth, who composed, respectively, Carinhoso and Bambino. And speaking of masters, I follow with a performance of one of the most beautiful songs I know, Insensatez, by Jobim, which features a bass solo interposed with modulations of key led by the piano.
Back on stage again, Carol sings Wave, by Jobim, in my arrangement, whose ending I took from the one we did for Elis in the shows in '68 and '69. Carol plays with the audience in the middle of the arrangement and scats. The audience seems to vibrate.
And then comes one of the big moments of the show: Carol sings unaccompanied another arrangement by Mauricio Maestro, taken from the recording Sessao Passatempo, the beautiful Passarim. The quartet enters as she begins the no less lovely Chovendo na roseira, both by mestre Antonio Carlos Jobim.
An interpretation of Sa Marina, a song recorded by Carol on her second Japanese record, this time with an arrangement by me, one of the writers of the song, with an insertion in the intermezzo taken from the beautiful arrangement Luiz Avellar made for Carol, prepares the way for the last two numbers of the show to follow. Milagre, a most beautiful composition by the immortal Dorival Caymmi, recorded for a record Carol made for Japan, is followed finally by Corrida de jangada, by Edu Lobo and Capinam, in an arrangement imported from that which we created and played many times with Elis Regina.
Lots of applause and much commemoration.
Upon hearing the recording, we resolved to register and share this natural moment which happened on a night of great energy and happiness. Even knowing that we could not count on the resources of a super production for live recording, in which one records a show at least two or three times, we knew we could make a CD, one with no retakes; (Carol's performance remains intact, just as she sang there, at that time). We could make a CD for whoever wants to travel musically with us.
Antonio Adolfo