Since the 1950s, Brazilian pianist, composer, and arranger
João Donato has been ahead of the musical pack. Credited by bossa pioneer
João Gilberto with inventing the bossa nova beat,
Donato never attained the fame of his contemporaries. In 1958, club owners deemed his music "hard to dance to" and refused him bookings. He emigrated to the U.S. for 13 years, where he fared better. In 1965, he issued the hard-grooving Sambou Sambou and the lush
The New Sound of Brazil. He released arguably the proto-jazz-funk classic A Bad Donato for Blue Thumb in 1970. Back in Brazil, he served as pianist and musical director for
Gal Costa's 1974
Cantar tour, encountering a younger generation of musicians deeply influenced by his work. At 86,
Donato, despite two ten-year breaks in recording, has issued more than three dozen albums and amassed thousands of collaborative credits. As evidenced by his participation with
Adrian Younge and
Ali Shaheed Muhammad on JID007, he's not slowing down.
Donato plays Fender Rhodes piano throughout, with Katalyst Collective's Greg Paul on drums;
Muhammad and
Younge play everything else. Vocalist Loren Oden (
the Midnight Hour) sings on six tracks. All nine tunes are co-credited.
Bossa and samba roots permeate this date, but as in all of
Donato's music, they're only a starting point. Opener "Não Negue Seu Coracão" employs a nasty, bumping bassline, loopy saxophones, and monophonic synth in a slippery samba that crisscrosses psychedelic soul and electric groove jazz. "Aquarius (Bring Her Back Home)" carries the vamp and rhythmic root of "Aquarius," the title tune from
Donato and
Joyce Moreno's wonderful 2010 album. This version contains glorious singing by Oden atop a multivalent layered chart. The mutant bossa groove at its core supports canny interplay between B-3 and Rhodes as a lush tapestry of reeds, winds, electric bass, and guitar seemingly hover around the singer. "Forever More" is a popping fusion of funky samba, gritty Latin jazz, and driving Afrobeat. Oden's gorgeous vocal offers the solace of melody amid a swirl of furiously vamping guitars, soaring flutes, and saxes, as they meet layers of percussion and spidery keys. "Adrian, Ali and Gregory" is a lilting bossa adorned with flutes, a shimmering B-3, breaking snares, and undulant guitar fills.
Donato's Rhodes covers the simple melody before expanding the harmony exponentially without ever sacrificing the jam's warm, sunny feel. "Vermelho Quente" grooves from moment one as driving drums and hand percussion frame Rhodes, spacy synth, and staggered horns. A winding bassline extends the margin toward progressive jazz-funk. Paul's kit double-times the samba groove in introducing closer "Conexão." A wah-wah guitar vamp is followed by angular tenor sax, cascading marimba, percussion, and rumbling bassline.
Donato's solo moves the tune out in circles as the percussion increases the intensity. Less than 30 minutes long, JID 007 is sequenced like a long jam; it cooks from the first moment and never lets up. This gem extends
Donato's storied, funky legacy of influence to yet another generation. ~ Thom Jurek