MP3 Todd Murphy & Bandazul - Novo Brasileiro
Embark on a musical journey through the Americas starting in Rio de Janeiro, passing by the Amazon Jungle, through the Caribean and on to the states. Interpreted by the best jazz musicians from Brazil and led by the American born Trombonist and Composer.
8 MP3 Songs
LATIN: Brazilian Jazz, JAZZ: Latin Jazz
Details:
*****
"The first time I got off the plane in Brazil back in 1992, I felt like I was home. The Brazilians are fantastic people that have always treated me like one of their own. They are a musical people by culture and the musicians are... well you''ll hear for yourself." Todd Murphy, São Paulo, Brazil.
*****
Feel Free to listen to the samples of each track.
1. Novo Brasileiro - Composed and Arranged by Todd Murphy
https://www.tradebit.comboula - Composed by Carlos Gomes; Arranged by Todd Murphy
3. O Bôto - Composed and arranged by Hudson Nogueira
4. Lembranças do Haiti - Composed and arranged by Todd Murphy
5. Johnny Conga - Composed and arranged by Todd Murphy
6. Jacorama - Composed and arranged by Todd Murphy
7. Palatka Blues - Composed and arranged by Todd Murphy
8. Self Portrait in Three Colors - Composed by Charles Mingus; arranged by Todd Murphy
*****
As a side man, Todd has played with many successful artists from Brazilian Popular Music such as Ivan Lins, Rita Lee, Titãs, Fala Mansa and Elba Ramalho. He has also arranged tunes for Leila Pinheiro, Salford Brass Band, Fred Mills (formerly Canadian Brass), the Sao Paulo State Youth Symphonic Band, the Symphonic Band of the Tatui Conservatory of Music and the Jazz Sinfônica of the State of São Paulo. He is a featured composer/arranger for Soundscape Big Band Jazz (https://www.tradebit.com).
Well known in Brazil as an Arranger/Composer, Todd''s studies include 5 years at the University of Miami where he held the bass trombone chair in the award winning Concert Jazz Band led by Whit Sydner. While at U of M, he received a Masters Degree in Bass Trombone. His Miami years included participation and collaboration with the Haitian guitar virtuoso "Dadou Pasquet" of Magnum Band.
Bandazul plays a variety of styles ranging from Bossa Nova, Samba, Maracatu, Compa, Salsa, Blues and Jazz. The CD features some of the best improvisors from Brazil and a fantastic rhythm section. Also included on the disc are compositions from Charles Mingus (Self Portrait in 3 Colors), Carlos Gomes (Bamboula) and from the talented young Brazilian composer Hudson Nogueira (O Bôto).
*****
Novo Brasileiro was composed and arranged by yours truly. The title is translated as "New Brazilian" and most people would assume that means me. Although I am a kinda new Brazilian guy, I''m also an American (and damn proud of it)! Its not easy to write authentic Brazilian music and this was one of my first tries at it. I had lived down here for at least 5 years before attempting such a task since Brazilian music is much like Português...a hard language to grasp.
It''s funny... I had a completely different idea in mind when I wrote this song and since double meanings are often more poetic, it works out well. Many people think of Brazil as a third world country which always seemed strange to me because I''ve been around here for 11 years and I can tell you that this country is on the cutting edge of alot of things (soccer is a good example). I''m seeing first hand the retransition of a poor latin american country into a mega economic and cultural centre unrivaled in América Latina. I picture the "Novo Brasileiro" as an important contributer to the world brotherhood with some ideas abit different than most as they have a mind of their own.
So if you listen to this song and think of me on some tropical beach or walking the streets of São Paulo; or of a country of peace loving - soccer and samba crazed latinos... thats the idea!
Bamboula is from a 5 movement piano study by the great Brazilian composer Carlos Gomes. There was a tribute concert in São Paulo a few years ago at the Praça da Paz (Square for Peace) and I was invited to participate as one of the arrangers of this classical piano suite. The idea was to rewrite the work implementing Brazilian Popular Music rhythms to transform her into a more modern form. It was a great honour for me to be in the midst of 3 great local arrangers, namely, Maestro Branco, Edmundo Villani Cortez, and Laercio de Freitas...not bad for a kid from Arkansas. My first arrangement was for a giant orquestra with 13 percussionist and all sorts or instruments such as oboe, tuba, french horns, bassoons, etc. This is a reduction of my original arrangement which begins with an orquestration of the original piano movement, passes through the amazon and transforms into maracatu and samba.
O Bôto - The mysterious fresh water dolphin from the Amazon river. This song was a present from my dear friend Hudson Nogueira. I always tell everyone that I in fact discovered this super talented composer and musician. Although I did encourage him alot when I arrived here, he was probable destined to be one of the greats all along. He is a sweetheart of a guy and this song really shows his native spirit and his mastery as a composer by transforming Brazil''s natural wonders into music...thanks Hudson!
Lembranças do Haiti - One of the greatest experiences in my life was the 5 years that I played in the Haitian group; Magnum Band. Based out of Miami, the group was always traveling to places such as Martinique, Guadaloupe and Haiti. Dadou Pasquet is a marvelous Guitarist and performer. I can''t remember how many times that we just blew the top off of the clubs in which the band frequented. These guys really can groove! I could write a book about all the adventures we had (maybe I will one day) especially during the month that we stayed in Haiti. This is my tribute to the people of that caribean island.
Johnny Conga - When I arrived in Miami back in 1989, I made friends with an amazing conga player called JC (short for Johnny Conga). He turned me on to latin music and soon I was playing in salsa bands all over the place. Particularly great are the recordings of Eddie Palmeiri and JC and I spent many a night listening to his giant collection of records. JC had a group of his own at that time (Caribe) and he asked me to write a new piece for this group. Unfortunately I moved to Brazil and lost contact with him so I changed the name of the song from El Congero to Johnny Conga and recorded it myself. If your out there somewhere reading this JC, I miss you and hope you like it.
Jacorama - If you guessed that this song is a tribute to Jaco Pastorius, Bingo...you win a free bottle of 20 year old Whisky. I was always a fan of the great bassist/composer and his untimely death was a giant loss to the music world. I tried to make the piece sound like Jaco''s music and I called upon my friend Zérró Santos to lay down some great fretless bass stuff. I really like this song and I feel that I managed to capture a little bit of the Jaco spirit.
Palatka Blues - Palatka is a small town in north Florida. I lived there for a few years as a teenager and I have very fond memories of it. It''s a beautiful city that sits on the scenic St. John''s River and is a short 25 miles from some of the nicest beaches you''ll ever find. If you like blues harmonica, check out the solos of my friend Sergio Duarte who is in my opinion one of the best blues harp players in the world...Thanks Sergio! You should be able to recognize the influence of Charles Mingus in this F minor blues.
Self Portrait in 3 Colors - This is one of the lesser known compositions of Charles Mingus. Not to imply that it''s not as beautiful as any other song of his. The form is as follows: Introduction; the original melody: then the original melody again with a second melody; then the two melodies with a third melody all together. Its quite effective and shows how well Mingus used counterpoint in his compositions. I am a big fan of Mingus'' music and my CD would not be complete without at least one of his tunes.
Enjoy!