Hamilton de Holanda Trio - Jacob 10ZZ

Hamilton de Holanda Trio - Jacob 10ZZ (Deckdisc, 2018)

Readers of this blog will already know that Brazil this year celebrates the Centennial of Jacob do Bandolim. Some official events have already been settled and more will follow during 2018 paying homage to the musical legacy of Jacob do Bandolim. Among other musicians, who lead the legacy of Jacob further, is Hamilton de Holanda, who has just released a set of 12 recordings celebrating the music of Jacob do Bandolim issued by the Brazilian Deckdisc label as digital download and in the vinil LP format only (- more info, here)

Hamilton de Holanda (photo by Gustavo Marra)

Hamilton is accompanied by Guto Wirtti (acoustic bass) and Thiago da Serrinha (percussion), and the title of the disc refers to the 10 string bandolim used by Hamilton as well as the word jazz. Hamilton explains further in the notes published at his blog, quote "I looked for a title with few letters and a direct sound that could give meaning to the conception of this work. It's Jacob's choro with a hint of jazz. Not necessarily all tracks are of this genre, but they have this way of playing, which uses a lot of improvisation and solos created at the time of recording. The name summed up the spirit of the album well"  - The disc has 12 tracks, ten of them featuring compositions by Jacob do Bandolim and the remaining two are a composition by Jacob's son, Sérgio Bittencourt, who wrote the tune titled Naquela Mesa following Jacob's death in 1969, and Hamilton's own Serenata Jacarepaguá composed in studio during recording of the disc, a homage to the location in Rio da Janeiro where Jacob lived and opened his house for the famous choro meetings which helped this music to evolve and survive during a difficult time in Brazil. The twelve recordings have all been uploaded by Deckdisc at YouTube in the audiovideo format, below I'll insert some examples to give you an impression of this great project production, which will be followed by more later this year. Hamilton uses Jacob's unique 10 strings bandolim in all tracks, it's the first time this instrument has been recorded.

Hamilton with Jacob's 10 strings bandolim (photo by revistadachoro.com)

The recorded repertoire of tunes by Jaob do Bandolim comprises both well known compositions like Remelexo, Alvorada, Assanhado, Mágoas, a.o. and lesser known tunes, even some of which Jacob did not record himself (Saracoteando). Here is first Hamilton de Holanda trio performing Alvorada

Next is a rendition of Jacob's Assanhado, a samba attributed the term choro-jazz by many critics. Hamilton convincingly demonstrates inspiration from modern jazz improvisation in this recording of the tune

Another up-tempo composition by Jacob do Bandolim is Bole-Bole, a samba-choro first recorded on a 78 rpm by Jacob in 1951. Here is the version recorded by Hamilton de Holanda trio

As mentioned above the twelve recordings by the Hamilton de Holanda trio are the first in a series of recordings featuring the music of Jacob do Bandolim in a contemporary interpretation by one of Brazil's greatest bandolim players. You have the opportunity to listen to all tracks at YouTube, here - or at streaming audio services like Spotify a.o. - the vinil version has not yet been released outside Brazil, I think. - To end this small presentation of the project, here is Hamilton's Serenata Jacarepaguá

This blog entry was also published at the keep(it)swinging.blog, here 

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Jo

choromusic.blogspot@gmail.com