Alex Kautz: Where We Begin

Born and raised in São Paulo, drummer Alex Kautz moved to Mexico City with his parents in 1996. His sound world growing up included his parents' MPB (música popular brasileira), bossa nova and samba, along with North American rock and a bit of classical music. Jack DeJohnette's New Directions (ECM, 1978)—with Lester Bowie, Eddie Gomez and John Abercrombie—turned his head toward jazz in a big way. Chick Corea's Return to Forever (Light as a Feather, Polydor, 1973) caught his ear as well, with Airto Moreira and Flora Purim inspiring him to dig further into his own musical culture, including Afro-Brazilian genres.

After graduating from Berklee College and Manhattan School of Music, Kautz's goal was to become a first-call session drummer, a dream that became a reality in New York, where he has lived since the early 2000s, working with, among others, Tim Ries, Steve Wilson, Victor Prieto, Lionel Loueke and a host of Brazilian jazz players, including Leny Andrade, Nilson Matta, Gili Lopes, Vinicius Gomes and Livio Almeida. With guitarist Fabio Gouvea and bassist Felipe Brisola, Kautz founded Trio Afora (meaning Brazilians away from home), a collaborative ensemble conceived while touring in India. They released an invigorating first project in New York in 2017 (Afora, self-produced). As Brisola described it, the group "has its base in Brazilian music, but we try to keep our eyes and ears open about what is going on in jazz and world music."

With Where We Begin—his debut as a leader—Kautz reveals his personal musical voice, one shaped by his Brazilian upbringing as well as his experiences in the multi-cultural world of jazz. His band is comprised of noted fellow Brazilian New Yorkers guitarist Chico Pinheiro and pianist Helio Alves, along with bassist Joe Martin, saxophonist John Ellis and—in a guest spot—celebrated Mexican jazz singer Magos Herrera.

The album opens with a delightful version of Lyle Mays' "Chorinho" (Lyle Mays, Street Dreams, Geffen, 1988), Mays' nod to Brazilian choro. In Kautz's rendering, the Brazilian roots are revitalized and the piece is updated with a sensibility that extends beyond Brazil's borders. The effect is understated but evident—especially at the top of the tune—achieved through artful instrumentation and shifting instrumental roles. Ellis eschews the jazzier sound of a saxophone in favor of the clarinet, Kautz simulates pandeiro timbres and patterns on his drum kit and Pinheiro's guitar is more prominent in the mix than (the jazzier sound of) Fender Rhodes. As the song progresses, however, Kautz and Martin move the rhythm section further into a samba direction, with Alves' keys still recalling the historical link with Mays. The result is a singular Brazilian choro-jazz-samba style with the kind of soloing and ensemble interaction one would expect from a contemporary jazz group.

"Elvin da Bahia" closes the album with an equally compelling performance. One of three tunes penned by Kautz (with "Mira Eso" and "Within"), the title is a play on Joao Gilberto's "Eu Vim da Bahia" (I come from Bahia) and the song's ambiance is subtly reminiscent of Gilberto's gentle sound. The form is classic jazz (AABA), though, and the feel is more Elvin Jones, with a triple subdivision of the beat, melodic phrases gracefully draped over meters in five and three and Martin and Ellis contributing strong solos on bass and saxophone.

Herrera, with whom Kautz has had a long and fruitful relationship, makes a quietly thrilling cameo appearance singing Chico Buarque's mysterious "A Ostra e o Vento" (The Oyster and the Wind) from the soundtrack for Walter Lima Jr.'s award-winning film of the same name (Ravinia, 1997). The trio matches the hushed drama of Herrera's interpretation with a superbly expressive ebb and flow of collective energy. Like the wind in Buarque's lyric, it makes the heart swing ("põe o coração a balançar").

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