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Joe Chambers: Samba De Maracatu
ByChambers returned to Blue Note in 1998, with the modal set Mirrors. The lively and engaging Samba de Maracatu is his second own-name album for the label and this time Chambers plays not just kit drums but also overdubs vibraphone and a battery of percussion instruments, as he did on his most recent release, Landscapes (Savant, 2016). Chambers credits part of the inspiration for both albums to pianist Bill Evans' groundbreaking Conversations With Myself (Verve, 1963), one of the first jazz albums to use extensive overdubbing.
Maracatu is a samba rhythm thought to have originated in the West African-diaspora of northern Brazil, and while Samba de Maracatu is not a full-on Brazilian jazz album, it does feature Brazilian percussion and draws on samba and bossa nova. Chambers' "Circles," which he first recorded with M'Boom, uses a samba rhythm, and Wayne Shorter's "Rio" starts in straight-ahead four-four before morphing into bossa nova. Other covers include Bobby Hutcherson's "Visions," Horace Silver's "Ecorah" and Jay Livingston and Ray Evans' "Never Let Me Go," which has a guest spot from New Orleans singer Stephanie Jordan.
Chambers demonstrates an affinity with hip hop on the penultimate track, "New York State Of Mind Rain," a mash-up of Nas' 1994 hit "N.Y. State Of Mind," which sampled portions of Chambers' "Mind Rain" (taken from his 1978 Muse album, Double Exposure). Parrain's lyrics link the two songs over a beat which fluctuates between in-the-tradition jazz swing and hip-hot backbeat. You are, truly, as young as you feel.
Track Listing
You And The Night And The Music; Circles; Samba De Maracatu; Visions; Never Let Me Go; Sabah El Nur; Ecaroh; New York State Of Mind Rain; Rio.
Personnel
Joe Chambers
drumsBrad Merritt
pianoSteve Haines
bass, acousticStephanie Jordan
vocalsMC Parrain
vocalsAdditional Instrumentation
Joe Chambers: vibraphone, conga drums, claves, guiro, cowbell, surdo, repinique, shakere, quica; Brad Merritt: synthesizer.
Album information
Title: Samba De Maracatu | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: Blue Note Records