Further Reflections on Antonio Adolfo

My first encounter with a recording of Brazilian jazz pianist Antonio Adolfo was not a particularly conducive one. He had released Rio, Choro, Jazz: a tribute to legendary Brazilian pianist & composer Ernesto Nazareth on his own AMM (Antonio Adolfo Music) label through CD Baby in March of 2014, back when I was writing for Examiner.com; and I was skeptical about whether he had caught Nazareth’s spirit in his music. Mind you, my knowledge of Nazareth was heavily influenced by the appropriation of his music by Darius Milhaud; but, as I put it at the time, I came away from Adolfo’s treatments as “more readily classified as ‘smooth jazz’ than as ‘gritty Brazilian.’”

However, since the movement to my current site, I have found myself more sympathetic to more recent AMM albums, Samba Jazz Alley, which was basically a tribute to Rio de Janeiro as the birthplace of Brazilian jazz, and, this past July, Jobim Forever, focusing on the impact of Rio-based jazz master Antônio Carlos Jobim. As a result, I decided to continue to pursue my interest in Adolfo’s recordings by going back to two earlier releases, Encontros, which features the large ensemble Orquestra Atlantica, and BruMa: Celebrating Milton Nascimento. Encontros is the earlier album, released in November of 2018 and, as of this writing, only available for download or streaming through Amazon.com. BruMa then followed in June of last year.

“Encontros” is Portuguese for “meetings,” and it reflects influences of the Atlantic Ocean serving as the east coast of both South and North America and the west coast of the Iberian peninsula and Africa. North American influences are particularly interesting, since they include Miles Davis’ “Milestones” and Adolfo’s own “Partido Samba-Funk.” Equally appealing is the three-way meeting entitled “Africa Bahia Brasil,” as well as “Capoeira Ya,” which puts a flamenco twist on a Brazilian dance based on a martial art. Adolfo was clearly comfortable working with a large ensemble, drawing upon arrangements and orchestrations that were prepared by Jessé Sadoc and Marcelo Martins.

BruMa, on the other hand, had educational value for me. While I was familiar with a fair number of Jobim tunes, I basically knew Nascimento only by name. Ten tracks of his compositions seemed to be a good way for me at least to begin to fill that gap. My education was facilitated by a useful set of liner notes by Chris McGowan. Those preferring to download this album through the Amazon.com Web page should, however, be warned that the booklet is not included as part of the download. Fortunately, the liner notes can be found on a Web page on the AAM Web site.