A saudade mais linda
Although
the names of João Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Veloso and Gilberto Gil were
present along the concert, the absolute stars of the night were Jaques
Morelenbaum, cello, Lula Galvão, guitar, and Rafael Barata, drums. Ron Carter got
into my mind repeatedly too, but that’s another story. All three excellent
musicians overtook the Sala 2 of Barcelona’s L’Auditori as well as our spirits,
previously seduced by Morelenbaum’s career and the Brazilian delights born in
his cello during so many years of an immense talent. With an affable voice,
Jaques Morelenbaum announced us that’s his first solo project, the CelloSam3aTrio,
and they are presenting a new album titled Saudade
da futuro, futuro da saudade, from which they take most of a repertoire
that was the opening for the 46 Voll-Damm
Festival Internacional de Jazz de Barcelona. And what a marvel!
In the album
sleeve notes, Caetano Veloso wonders “Como
pode algo tão grandioso caber no que parece tão pequeno? / How can something so magnificent to fit in
something so small?” qualifying Jaquinho
as a source of inspiration and a natural musical intelligence of a great
generosity, feeling glad to have finally an album entirely his. It’s true his
career has mainly been as a luxury accompanist, the arranger who shined as no
one else in the shadow. The album features twelve tracks of which only two are
Morelenbaum compositions, Maracatuesday and Ar livre, one by the guitarist Lula
Galvão, Abaporu, and the rest are
classics from the Brazilian popular music performed now in new vibrations and
written by Moraes, Veloso, Buarque, Gil and Jobim, the fathers of all this.
The live
performance of this new album featuring an extra track like the main pieace of
the original music score for the Dutch film Paid
directed by Laurence Lamers in 2006, composed by Morelenbaum, was really exquisite
as a proof of how excellent musicians they are. In a personal level, the
highlight of the concert were the ones composed by Morelenbaum in which he showed
his more avant-garde and virtuoso face
as a cellist. The audience ended standing up, before and after the encore. And
for a long time.
Text by Juan Carlos Romero
Jaques Morelenbaum website www.facebook.com/j.morelenbaum
Photo courtesy of The Project
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