THE REVELATION
If the thought of Latin American jazz has you reaching for the earplugs, you haven't heard Mônica Vasconcelos.
European bands that play Latin American jazz are frequently long on percussion solos, Panama hats and window-shattering brass, and short on nuances - as if nervous that anything that might make audiences want to stop and listen will inhibit them from weaving around the aisles with flowers in their teeth. But there's currently a classy Latin band doing the rounds that deals resoundingly with both the musical and the flower-in-the-teeth agendas. It's led by the shrewd and engaging vocalist Mônica Vasconcelos and features at least two of the most versatile pros of the British jazz circuit: pianist Steve Lodder (Andy Sheppard's regular partner) and trombonist Paul Nieman.
At London's Vortex club, Vasconcelos (who kept to Portuguese throughout) at first sang in that tone of solemn effervescence that was defined by the cool jazz-samba vocal style of its minimalist diva Astrud Gilberto, but quickly indicated that there was going to be more to her show than that. The Gilberto pop-jazz style worked by sympathetic accompaniments coaxing and gently embroidering her whispered confidences.
Vasconcelos's group worked as a true ensemble, it's energies derived from an eloquently conversational interweaving of instrumental lines, supporting the increasingly staccato percussiveness of her voice as she warmed up, intelligent soloing without bravura, and fine drumming from Helder Pack, which kept explosive virtuosity for special occasions, and then made you jump out of your socks with it.
In pacing and tempo, the band's music followed familiar Latin-American trails - brisk sambas, swaying bossa novas, understated funk. Vasconcelos handled bossas at Girl From Ipanema tempo, but gave them a more flushed and eager demeanour than the traditionally pallid style. On some pieces, like the band's rainforest protest song, the stuttering figures and curling lines of the single saxophone and trumpet even unexpectedly recalled the slithery, viscous ensemble effects of the late Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath.
Paul Nieman delivered some muted trombone passages that sounded like a preoccupied philosopher deep in debate with himself, and Vasconcelos watched her partners with an exuberant attentiveness that suggested she had all the mechanics of this absorbing outfit firmly under her thumb. A musical Latin-jazz band - that's more of a rarity than this rich and inspirational idiom deserves.
JOHN FORDHAM
"Scene & Heard" - issue 20
Make no mistake, "Nóis" - a nine piece Latin band built around the ravishing vocal talents of Brazilian ex-pat, Mônica Vasconcelos, could be one of the band of '98.
Eschewing the more usual brass and clattering hysterics of some approaches to Latin music, the charts for the three-piece front line of Paul Jayasinha (trumpet and flugel), Ingrid Laubrock (saxes) and Paul Nieman (trombone), written by keyboardist Steve Lodder and Paul himself, were gems of understatement and musicality which kept a jam packed house at North London's Vortex in rapt attention just before Christmas. Just where has Ms Laubrock been hiding ? Her sound and her elegant flowing lines proclaimed a talent of the highest class.
BRIAN BLAIN
The first album from UK-based singer Mônica Vasconcelos, whose growing rep landed her the support slot to Gilberto Gil - she and her Anglo-Brasilian band tackle a nice mix of jazzy bossa and MPB with great aplomb, occupying a territory somewhere between Joyce and Marisa Monte. Possessed of a smooth, milky voice, Mônica tends to float her phrases seductively over the beat but she also digs in with some Portuguese rap on Djavan's 'Asa'. The latter is one of the album's high points, with a fluid, funky brass arrangement by keyboardist Steve Lodder. There are nods to Brasil's North East, too, with the light, folky rhythms of 'Vestidinho' and 'Bossa Zangada'. Mônica's originals sit happily with standards from Ivan Lins, Milton and Jobim - she negotiates the big intervals of 'Aguas de Março'with ease - and her arrangement of the nursery rhyme 'Sabonete de Mato' is a little gem.
"Nóis" will please anyone waiting on the next Marisa Monte album.
AW
Nóis (Movas 001)
Born in Sao Paulo, but now resident in the UK, singer Mônica Vasconcelos has been blending her particular brand of Musica Popular Brasileira ( MPB ) with jazz since her arrival here in 1992. On this Portuguese-language album, she is joined by Brazilian guitarist Ife Tolentino and a fairly representative sample of the capital's more open-minded jazz musicians, pianist/arranger Steve Lodder, trumpeter / cellist Paul Jayasinha, saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and percussionist Paul Clarvis among them. The interface between jazz and MPD has never been busier, and so songwriters represented here - Jobim, Djavan, Ivan Lins - need little introduction, and mixed with Vasconcelos's airy, bright originals, all sung with sensuous grace and played with subtle vigour by her stellar band, their contributions add lustre to a consistently assured debut album.
CHRIS PARKER
Ever since the bossa novas of 35 years ago a number of jazz enthusiasts (including myself) have taken a casual interest in Brazilian music and been rewarded from time to time by such gems as the Luiz Bonfa CD on Chesky, and I find this release equally delightful. Singer Mônica Vasconcelos ( no relation to Nana Vasconcelos) writes a lot of her own material and sings it with a verve and rhythmic agility which are the antithesis of the deadpan approach of Astrud Gilberto. Though not a jazz singer she obviously likes to work with jazz musicians and there are solos (or obligatos) from Jayasinha, Laubrock, Lodder and Nieman, whose plunger-muted trombone on Asa is particularly striking. Rhythms are varied, all of them good for dancing, and a number of the songs are helpfully translated into English in the booklet. Mônica and her musicians can be heard regularly in the UK so I not only recommend this release to the listeners mentioned above but also advise them to try to catch a performance. I shall.
GRAHAM COLOMBÉ
Môncia Vasconcelos
Nóis Dois
Triple Earth Movas 002
Slinky Brazilian singer makes sophomore UK set.
Recorded in London, with homeboys Chris Wells and Steve Lodder producing, Nóis Dois romps through a range of Brazilian styles with resounding ease and assurance. Vasconcelos shows herself a versatile singer, moving easily between the jazzy Luiza with only a piano for company the bigger, orchestral sweep of Guizim (Pra Ele), and the late night Samba Da Ponte. The stodgy arrangement of Oraçao introcues a temporary low, but Vasconcelos retrieves the situation with a series of bright, quirky melodies including the infectious Quase Maluco - all sung with wit and charm.
**** Chris Stapleton Q magazine December 1999
Môncia Vasconcelos
Nóis Dois
Triple Earth Movas 002
After hearing this it's plain to see why Brazilian singer Môncia Vasconcelos and her band Nóis have made such a stir on the circuit over the last few years. Steve Lodder and Chris Wells, both members of the band, have produced a classy album that ventures well beyond the classic sound of sambas and bossa novas, adding samples and more contemporary sounds to some of the songs.
Mostly original, the tunes and arrangements put Monica's beautiful vocals over a bed of acoustic guitars, atmospheric synths, brass and layered percussion.
The contrast between the gentle and exciting tunes make this a well-rounded, varied and satisfying album. As well as the sambas and bossas, Chris Wells has put together some rarer Brazilian grooves and, with quality solos from the likes of Steve Lodder on piano and Ingrid Laubrock on saxophones, this album should bring Nóis an even bigger audience.
**** Roger Beaujolais Musician, The journal of the Musician's Union, March 2000