Jazz pianist and composer Jon Gold has just finished recording a new album, Bossa of Possibility. The disc features Dave Liebman on sax, Howard Levy on harmonica, Harvie S on bass, Tom Bones Malone on horns and Jon Irabagon on sax, along with other
Jon Gold and Tom Jobim
musicians including Maurício Zottarelli, Adriano Santos, Jorge Continentino, Zach Brock and Rob Curto.
Produced by guitarist Scott Anderson, the album features Jon Gold's original compositions incorporating Brazilian and French elements with instrumentation ranging from piano and sax duos to full bands with a chamber orchestra.
Jon sent us a sneak preview of the album &ndash a tune called Baião do Muro Alto – and gave us this background:
In some ways the music of the Northeast of Brazil has always been a bigger influence on me than other regions.
One of the reasons I went to Brazil for the first time (around 1990) was the
L to R: Harvie S, Scott Anderson, Jon Gold, Maurício Zottarelli, Bryan Murray
movie Bye Bye Brazil with some incredible xaxados and baiões from Dominguinhos.
I had been offered a teaching job by the Catholic University of Rio (PUC-Rio) and when I arrived to start teaching, the University went on strike for several months. I immediately went on a tour of the Northeast and had a great time.
I remember in the sertão of Pernambuco taking a two hour bus ride to a 'water park.' It was just the end of an abandoned project to bring water to the arid region, and the 'water park' was just a 6–foot or so pipeline that abruptly ended. But it was a great time, and these people who had nearly nothing were so kind and warm. I passed my birthday in Recife and I'll never forget the sanfoneiro playing 'Asa Branca' for me.
Dave Liebman and Jon Gold
My new CD has a pretty wide variety of stuff. 'Baião do Muro
Alto' is one of the more 'Brazilian' tunes. The tune came to mind when my wife and I were traveling in Pernambuco and stayed at this wonderful resort called Nannai. We spent a few days just playing like kids by the pool along the ocean. This is a bonus track from the new CD that I just mastered for you. It's an alternative mix of one of the tunes – a 'stripped down,' more traditional baião version.
This track has myself on keyboards, Maurício Zottarelli on drums, Adriano Santos on percussion, Jorge Continentino on flute, Jon Irabagon on sax, Bryan Murray on sax, Harvie S on bass, Zach Brock on violin and Rob Curto on accordions.
From Jon Gold's not-yet-released album, Bossa of Possibility, here's a sneak preview of Baião do Muro Alto. (To hear it, your browser needs Apple's QuickTime plug-in – a free download.)
Jon Gold and Tom Jobim
