Nelson Latif, Tributo a João Pernambuco

The musical legacy of João Pernambuco (1883-1947) was almost forgotten for three decades after his passing away, only a small selection of his compositions was recorded by other musicians (i.e. Dilermando Reis and Jacob do Bandolim) in the 1950s and 1960s. However, with the essential release of some of Pernambuco's choros on two LPs by Turibío Santos in 1977 and 1979 featuring magnificent arrangements of some of his most well known and beloved pieces arranged for solo violão and choro group the music of João Pernambuco was relived and saved from oblivion. From then on Pernambuco's compositions have been considered a part of the choro standard book, and since the recordings by Turibío Santos several other artists have made recordings of his works both in Brazil and elsewhere. In 1983, the centennial Of Pernambuco was celebrated through a recording by pianist Antonio Adolfo and the choro ensemble Nó Em Pingo d'Aqua featuring new arrangements of some of Pernambuco's pieces, another essential recording that I have commented earlier. - There have also been several released recordings by solo guitarists featuring Pernambuco's compositions, some of them by Brasilian artists are mentioned in an earlier entry at this blog, and you can also find more info at Angelo Zaniol's website dedicated to Pernambuco's legacy, click here

Last year guitarist and cavaquinho player Nelson Latif recorded the above shown cd, Tributo a João Pernambuco (NL002), that has been just released. The cd is recorded in Brasilia and Amsterdam from April to December 2009 and contains 12 tracks of both solo pieces and arrangements for choro ensemble - 10 tracks feature compositions by João Pernambuco, the 2 remaining are compositions by Latif and guitarist Bosco Oliveira, who accomponanies Latif in the ensemble tracks on the cd and further is a regular member of Latif's various ensembles excelling in different variations of Brasilian and world-music styles. The ensemble tracks have further participation by Flávio Sandoval on tenor and soprano sax and Rafael dos Santos on pandeiro. The cd takes off with a great arrangement of Pernambuco's 'Dengoso' featuring Latif on violão 7 cordas and cavaquinho overdub and solo contributions from Sandoval's reeds backed by Oliveira and Rafael dos Santos. This is followed by a duo recording of 'Sons de Carrilhões' by Latif on violão 7 cordas and Oliveira on violão including an improvisation by Latif reflecting the famous duet recording of the piece by Raphael Rabello and Dino Sete Cordas from the early 1990s. 'Graúna', 'Interroganda', 'Brasileirinho' and the Oliveira composition 'De João para João' are trio recordings featuring Latif on both violão 7 cordas and cavaquinho, the reed playing by Sandoval is featured again on 'Mimoso'. 'Sentido', 'Lágrima', 'Saudosa Viola', 'Rebolico' and the Latif composition 'Uma Toada para o João' are solo contributions by Nelson Latif on violão 7 cordas, the Pernambuco pieces reflecting the historical recordings from the late 1920s by João and Zezinho. - The cd is highly recommended as an example of the fact that João Pernambuco's musical legacy is taken good care of today and still challenges musicians to offer their best and as such relive the soul and heartbeat of true Brasilian music.
Learn more about Nelson Latif from his official website (in Portuguese, English and Dutch), the above mentioned cd and other released recordings by Nelson Latif are available from his website using the link in the Discography section.

To end this small review of 'Tributo a João Pernambuco' I found an uploaded video on YouTube from a live performance in Amsterdam last year featuring Latif on violão accompanied by ensemble, the title of the tune is 'Feira de Mangaio', the style is much in the vain of João Pernambuco - enjoy the music and have patience with the rather bad footage!



Jo