A Must from a Master
Greg C | NY | 10/26/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"It sure took a while, but Universal Brazil has finally dipped into its Joao Donato holdings for a non-bootleg CD release. How does one accurately sum up the great Mr. D? An individualistic and brilliant veteran of Rio's bossa nova-jazz wars whose style, consisting of highly melodic and harmonically-sophisticated interpolations of various styles from Brazil's vast musical repertoire, done up in a jazz-infused style that wouldn't shame Monk, Tatum or Powell, yet always bearing traces of Afro-Cuban-derived rhythmic values. Always a highly-distinctive composer, his approach proved too progressive for Rio's nightclub patrons of the 50s, much to the dismay of Donato's fellow musicians. He ended up fleeing the country for California in 1959 in search of work and found himself at the cutting-edge of Latin Jazz, playing with Mongo Santamaria, Cal Tjader and others. Two-thirds of the tracks on this compilation are taken from a pair of stunning instrumental albums he recorded over a two-week period during a visit back to Brazil in 1964. They feature a combination of originals and bossa nova hits recorded in a piano-trio-plus-percussion format, lending a striking mambo-rumba-cha-cha flavor to the proceedings, and making for absolutely essential Latin-Jazz-Brazilian listening. The remaining third of the selections, all with vocals, come from 1975's superb and long-deleted "Lugar Comum" album, mostly co-written by and featuring Gilberto Gil. These tracks are catchy, smooth, joy-inducing mid-70s MPB, guaranteed to put smiles on faces at any party or get-together. This whole album needs to be reissued! In the meantime, this collection is a godsend, and is just about the ideal introduction to this enigmatic, innovative and beloved musician, whose classic work is slowly starting to resurface at long las on CD."
