08 Chorosa

07 Chefe

06 Seu Nicolau

05 Barão

04 São Mateus

03 Duque

02 Seu Joaquim

01 Sopro

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Choroso by Carlos Calado

How does one create instrumental music with Brazilian identity that does not sound like generic jazz? 

This is a challenge that has been faced with greater or lesser success by musicians of different periods, especially starting in the 1960s, with the first generation of samba jazz, most importantly by J.T. Meirelles, Edison Machado and the trios Tamba, Zimbo and Sambalanço.

When speaking of modern Brazilian instrumental music one must remember the works of Moacir Santos, Hermeto Pascoal, Egberto Gismonti and Paulo Moura, and groups like the Quarteto Novo, Pau Brasil and Uakti. In the last five decades, these instrumentalists, composers and groups developed original styles and repertoires, which dialogue with the language of jazz without losing their Brazilianness.

This selection of stars of our instrumental sound has just gained a talented reinforcement. After releasing the promising “St. Matthew” (São Mateus) in 2007, the album that marked his debut as a leader and composer, followed by “My Samba on Cymbals” (Meu Samba no Prato) in 2011, an exquisite original work dedicated to the drummer Edison Machado and the other musicians of samba jazz, the double bass player Marcos Paiva proved, in “Choroso vol. 2,” his third solo album, that he is prepared to take his place of importance on the instrumental music scene.

“I’m in pursuit of Brazilian Jazz, music that I can develop with lots of freedom and at the same time, with an accent very characteristic of Brazil,” he affirmed, demonstrating an awareness of his artistic horizon. This native of Tupã, São Paulo, was raised in Viçosa, Minas Gerais, and has lived in the city of São Paulo since 2000. At 38, with a professional resume that includes works and partnerships with dozens of top flight musicians and singers, he decided at last to invest more heavily in his abilities as an instrumentalist.

Those who have had the opportunity to hear him play, especially live, soon discover that he is one of those musicians that plays with feeling. Refined technique and control of the instrument are goals that, to a greater or lesser degree, guide the education of any instrumentalist, but, when playing the double bass, Paiva can do something less common: he is capable is transmitting feelings.

It is not by chance that, when I ask him which bass players most influenced him, Paiva mentions Charlie Haden, also a composer and leader of the sophisticated group Quartet West, in addition to other great masters of this instrument in the world of jazz, like Dave Holland, Scott LaFaro and Paul Chambers. While among Brazilian bass players, his favorites are Sizão Machado and Zeca Assumpção.
“Charlie Haden achieved something very special in jazz, without actually being a virtuoso. He uses technique to serve creativity. And he gives himself completely to the music, at the exact moment that it is being made,” commented Paiva, explaining why he liked this American jazz artist.

On the other hand, he also stresses the importance of musical discourse, the sound concept that must precede any project, for both the recording studio and the stage. “Thinking through the sound before making it strengthens its sound environment. I had always wanted to be more of a composer and arranger than instrumentalist, because the musical discourse begins in the conceptualization and visualization of this environment. This is one of the aspects that most attracted me to music,” he affirmed.

The ideas that led to the recording of this album emerged around 2008. During the almost two years he traveled through various countries as a bass player for the band of the Portuguese singer Teresa Salgueiro (Formerly Madredeus), Paiva had long conversations about the language and paths of Brazilian instrumental music with the clarinet player Nailor Proveta (leader of the band Mantiqueira) and the drummer Daniel de Paula, who is also a member of his sextet, MP6. Stimulated by these discussions, he decided to face the challenge of delving into the world of choro.

“At that time, I began to envision a project in which my music could open up more, both harmonically, and in improvisation,” he recalled. Although he does not consider himself a choro musician, Paiva has spent time and played with experienced choro musicians in São Paulo, including the flutist João Poleto and the violinists Zé Barbeiro and Luizinho (7 string)—not to mention the frequent guest artists in the São Paulo nightclub Ó do Borogodó, a meeting place for musicians and fans of this classic genre of Brazilian instrumental music.

“Why not open up the language of choro? Why can't the double bass take on the role of the seven-string guitar?” he asked, observing that, because he doesn’t consider himself a choro musician, he feels more at ease to deal with this musical genre with more freedom than those who are. “I have no intention of making choro evolve. I believe that you can only change a tradition when you're a part of it, but I don't like the idea of playing music that is struck in a certain period.”

Another essential influence came from jazz. At the time he was creating the Project “Choroso,” Paiva was listening to albums by the saxophonists Joe Lovano, Branford Marsalis and Joshua Redman—all, coincidentally, recorded with trios without piano (sax, double bass and drums), an instrumental format that allows the musician to play with greater harmonic freedom. Stimulated by these recordings, Paiva formed his vibrant trio with the saxophonist Cesar Roversi and the drummer Bruno Tessele. 

This more compact instrumental formation allowed him to feature more as a soloist, unlike what you hear in his previous albums, recorded with his sextet. “Without the piano or guitar mixing the sound frequencies, the double bass stands out. He can play a solo, melodies or take on the role of leader—a challenge for me," observed Paiva, also emphasizing the contributions of his new partners. 

“Their roles are as important as mine in this trio," he affirmed. “I think that César is the ideal saxophonist for this project, because he combines extensive experience with choro with the influence of John Coltrane and the great modern saxophonists, such as Chris Potter and Rudresh Mahanthappa. With him, this mixture of choro and jazz sounds natural."
“With regard to Bruno, I wanted a drummer that sounded clean and strong. We worked without the bass drum when playing choro and he adapted quickly," commented Paiva, highlighting the interaction of the partner with the members of the trio. “He is always entirely inside the sound, suggesting ideas and reacting creatively to what is played spontaneously.”

The author of the eight tracks on the album, Paiva says that he likes to compose, or even write arrangements, while thinking about the potential and the characteristics of the musicians that will participate in the recording. This helps to explain the fact that his arrangements for this album sound so fluid and natural, as if the musicians were improvising the entire time, with great freedom.

“Sopro,” the short track that opens this album, was originally created as a carnival march, at a time in which Paiva was still writing the repertoire for the first volume of the album “Choroso.” In this slower version, dedicated to the great Cuban double bass player Cachao López (1918-2008), the acoustic bass and soprano sax display the melody delicately, as if preparing the attention of the listener for stronger emotions.

In addition to being more dynamic, the two following compositions have in common the fact that they are inspired by classics of jazz or Brazilian music. In the same way that Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and other creators of bebop did during the 1940s and 1950s, composing based on the harmonies of American standards, to create “Seu Joaquim” Paiva rewrote the harmony of “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum” (the theme that saxophonist Wayne Shorter composed and recorded on the album “Speak no Evil,” in 1964), adapting it to the language of choro. “I thought to myself: if this music had been done in the 1930s, what would it sound like? In the improvisations, we played around with using different harmonies," he revealed.

In “Duque,” the well known melody of choro “Tico Tico no Fubá” (by Zequinha de Abreu) appears in the first bars, significantly altered, followed by the nervous improvisation by Roversi, on the soprano sax. Paiva, who adapts choro’s typical seven-string guitar to the double bass in this track, also rewrites the harmony of “Tico Tico,” with a very jazzy and contemporary result.

“São Mateus,” composed originally in 2001, was created as an instrumental choro—only later adding the lyrics written by Rodrigo de Campos. Compared to the 2007 recording, which provided the title for Paiva’s first album, the new version sounds more dramatic. The timbre of the soprano sax by Roversi and the tambourine that Tessele uses on the snare drum reinforce the Arab nature of the melody. The spiritual atmosphere that touches this recording has a reference that is reminiscent of jazz of the 1960s: the album “A Love Supreme,” the masterpiece by saxophonist John Coltrane, whose influence Paiva recognizes in his composition.

An example of a staple of Brazilian instrumental music that often exists side by side with the classic repertoire of choro, “Barão” is a syncopated samba, composed by Paiva as a tribute to the master violinist Dino 7 Cordas (1918-2006). During a long improvisation by Roversi, the tenor sax, the bass player creates an inventive rhythmic counterpoint, which is, paradoxically, a solo performed as a duet.

In “Miquelito,” also written especially for this album, Paiva takes on the challenge of playing without a unified tempo. “When I wrote it, I wanted the freedom to dilate and shorten the tempo, a procedure that is also linked to the notion of space," he explained, revealing that, in this composition, he had in mind the advanced rhythmical concept of the quintet that Miles Davis led in the 1960s, which included Tony Williams, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter.

With a theme that appears to evolve from a frenetic march into a frevo, although quickly deconstructed, “Chefe” was born, according to Paiva, out of a game with Tessele’s dog, “who never sits still.” Also deconstructed, in a procedure typical to jazz, but reused throughout the track that closes the album, the simple melody of “Chorosa” is reminiscent of the classic form of the choro-canção. A composition that, incidentally, summarizes the successful outcome of this album. Few times have you heard, in the history of Brazilian instrumental music, choros that sound so naturally jazz like. Or, on the other hand, on rare occasions has jazz come so close to the language of choro.

Finally, I leave you with a personal tip. If you, like me, appreciate this album, don't miss the chance to hear the Marcos Paiva trio in person. After surprising me with the sensational performance of the sextet, playing the compositions and arrangements of “My Samba on Cymbals” (Meu Samba no Prato), I wouldn't miss the opportunity to hear this “power trio” re-creating their exciting repertoire on stage again for anything.

(*) Carlos Calado, journalist and music critic, is author of "Jazz Classics Collection Sheet" and books "Jazz Live" and "As The Jazz Show", among others.

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