Five-Star Collection... Laurindo Almeida

Laurindo Almeida

Laurindo Almeida Quartet

Featuring Bud Shank

Laurindo Almeida was born Sept. 2, 1917 in São Paulo, Brazil. He played on the staff of Radio Mayrink Veiga in Rio de Janeiro and led his own orchestra at the Casino da Urca in Rio. He came to the United States in 1947 to join the Stan Kenton orchestra as featured guitar soloist. His extraordinary taste, beauty of sound and remarkable timing, almost without parallel among guitarists, gained him quick recognition throughout North as well as South America. 

This group of recordings effectively displays the current trend in broadening the jazz music horizons to include the folk music of other cultures as a basis for re-interpretation. 

The interesting cohesion of native Brazilian music with American jazz forms presents here an unusual excursion into modern sounds. This collection combines the talents of brilliant Brazilian guitar virtuoso, Laurindo Almeida, playing an unamplified Spanish Concert Guitar (finger style), and the bright jazz alto of ex-Stan Kenton-star Bud Shank. 

The compositions, with the exception of "Noctambulism", written by Harry Babasin, and "Hazardous", written by Dick Hazard, stem from the pens of composers from Almeida's native Brazil. "Tocata" was written expressly for this record session by one of Brazil's foremost classical composers, Radámes Gnattali. 

Harry Babasin, bass, and Roy Harte, drums, complete the quartet. Babasin is best known for his work with the Woody Herman Second Herd, the Benny Goodman orchestra and small band jazz groups. Most recently he collaborated with Oscar Pettiford in a group of recordings featuring Pettiford and himself playing cello duets. Roy Harte is well known for his work in the past with the Boyd Raeburn and Les Brown orchestras, and the Howard Rumsey Lighthouse All Stars.

*(from the liner notes)*

A valuably unusual collection. The freshly interacting lines are handled by Almeida and ex-Kentonite Bud Shank on alto, with Harry Babasin on bass and Roy Harte on drums. Brazilian-born Almeida is a master of the unamplified Spanish concert guitar and for years many jazz guitarists have admired his classical finger-style skill. The chance to hear him at length is alone worth the album, but there is a great deal more.

Each side is a carefully constructed small composition (four of the composers are from Brazil). But there are sections in each — least in Hazardous — that have the free feel of jazz improvisation and during these parts, Babasin and Harte provide an underlying jazz pulsation. So I expect that either the composers made provision for improvisation or Shank and Almeida inserted the interludes. The result, however you define it, justifies the statement in the notes: "...the interesting cohesion of native Brazilian music with American jazz forms presents here an unusual excursion into modern sounds".

After several listenings, I feel both the need and desire to hear this even more thoroughly. There is a refreshing lack of pretentiousness, but as simple as the lines and construction appear, they grow in emotive meaning with each hearing — as with Flamenco songs and dances though these so far seem to me to lack the depth of Flamenco music.

Shank blows with authoritative distinction. Babasin and Harte are excellent. Only objection is to the recording itself which could have had more bass and drums definition. Congratulations to Pacific Jazz on a legitimately different approach to contemporary sounds and structures.

*Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, March 10, 1954 [5 stars])*

1 - Tocata

(Radamés Gnattali)

2 - Hazardous

(Richard "Dick" Hazard)

3 - Cariñoso

(Alfredo da Rocha Viana Filho  ~ a.k.a Pixinguinha)

4 - Nonô

(Romualdo Peixoto)

5 - Noctambulism

(Harry Babasin)

6 - Blue Baião

(Humberto Teixeira, Luiz Gonzaga)

Laurindo Almeida (guitar), Bud Shank (alto sax), 

Harry Babasin (bass), Roy Harte (drums).

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, September, 1953