BRAZIL PROJECT – 9PM & 11PM

Brazil Project Celebrates the Release of Retrato/Portrait

Brazil Project returns to Twins for a night of exceptional music. The concert features elder statesman of Brazilian jazz Leonardo Lucini, with master guitarist Dani Cortaza, pianist Alex Brown and drummer Todd Harrison. It introduces the music of immensely gifted composer and saxophonist Michel Nirenberg. Join the band in celebrating the release of his Brazilian jazz CD Retrato/Portrait out on the Indy label Carioca Music.

With Retrato/Portrait, Michel Nirenberg builds bridges between the classical, samba and choro music he grew up playing in Brazil and the jazz music he explored more deeply as a graduate student in the States. ??His compositions reflect distinctive musical roots from each Hemisphere; places where African and European influences helped create many rich and inviting sounds.

Brazilian jazz lovers will appreciate the range of styles presented in Nirenberg’s contemporary Brazilian instrumental music, which is so much more than just samba!

The album opens with a rousing choro which combines “Chorinho na Aldeia” by Severino Araújo and “Na Glória” composed by Raul de Barros and Ari dos Santos. (Na Gloria is the trendy neighborhood in Rio, where choro originated.) The two songs are linked by a segment of shouting voices conveying the excitement of a Brazilian feira (open market). Listeners who don’t find themselves dancing in their seats should probably seek medical attention

Equally inviting are Nirenberg’s tango/cha-cha/jazz piece “À Deux,” the second album track, and his “Forró From the South,” from Track 3. Forró is popular dance style from the Northeast of Brazil. The tune pays tribute to the State of Virginia, where Nirenberg earned a master’s degree in music performance at James Madison University.

Listeners will enjoy the familiar ballad “Beatriz” (Track 5) by Chico Buarque and Edu Lobo. Many will recognize Leonardo Lucini’s unique arrangement of Juan Tizol’s “Caravan” originally developed for a Kennedy Center concert and found on Track 5 of the new CD.