Tag Archives: John Finbury

More 2020 Releases

A lot of new albums have been released in the last few months and so I prepared another list of recommendations.


Dave Stryker – Blue Soul

http://www.davestryker.com/

The incredibly productive guitarist Dave Stryker has released a great album with Bob Mintzer and the WDR Big Band. The sound and style from his Eight Track band has been uplifted with the arrangements by Bob Mintzer. Same spirit but bigger sound and more colors. Another great album by Dave Stryker.

Blue Soul

 


John Finbury – Quatro

https://www.greenflashmusic.com/quatro/

More music from composer John Finbury has been released on this album, mixing contemporary jazz, Latin American and Spanish influences and alternating vocal and instrumental tracks. The album was produced by Latin Grammy winner Emilio D. Miler, and features Magos Herrera on vocals, Chano Domínguez on piano, John Patitucci on bass, and Antonio Sánchez on drums.

Quatro

 


The TNEK Jazz Quintet – Plays The Music Of Sam Jones

https://www.tnekjazz.com/

The quintet around bass player Ken Miller recorded six Sam Jones plus one Kenny Barron composition on this straight-ahead jazz album. A great swinging rhythm section and two saxophone players in a great performance. The best known song for me was Unit 7 because of a famous Wes Montgomery version. So some more music to discover from Sam Jones.

The Tnek Jazz Quintet Plays The Music Of Sam Jones

 


Tony Davis – Golden Year

https://www.tonydavismusic.com/

Guitarist and composer Tony Davis has released his debut album on Posi-Tone records. Seven of the eleven songs are original compositions by Tony Davis and with the guest appearances from Steve Davis on trombone, Steve Wilson on alto sax and flute, JK Kim on drums and Alina Engibaryan on vocals the album has a nice variety.

Golden Year


Finally a complete playlist with all songs from the four albums

John Finbury & Thalma de Freitas: Sorte!

SORTE-Digital-Cover-1

Today’s album “Sorte!” comes from composer John Finbury and singer-lyricist Thalma de Freitas.

John Finbury is a lawyer and musician from Andover, Massachusetts, who become well known in 2016 when he was earning a Latin Grammy nomination for his song “A Chama Verde” as Song of the Year. He teams up with Brazilian singer Thalma de Freitas (who wrote all the lyrics for these songs) and an all-star band featuring Vitor Gonçalves on piano, Rhodes and accordion, John Patitucci on bass, Chico Pinheiro on guitar, Duduka Da Fonseca on drums, and Rogerio Boccato and Airto Moreira on percussion.  The album was produced by Latin Grammy winner Emilio D. Miler.

The album starts with the title song “Sorte!” a relaxed and soft song with the classical sound of Bossa Nova music, an acoustic guitar and a Fender Rhodes play the harmonies, drums and percussion create a transparent and steady layer and the soft voice of Thalma completes the perfect impression. The solo is played on piano before Vitor Gonçalves returns to the Rhodes for the outro.

“Filha” is the singer’s message to her daughter and starts with vocals and acoustic guitar only. A great melody that reminds me a little bit of Sally Oldfield.  Chico Pinheiro and Thalma get sophisticated percussion support and John Patitucci has the chance to play two solo parts.

“Ondas” (which means waves) the next song is my favorite on the album. A pushing groove alternates with long notes. The highlight of the song is the incredible electric guitar solo.

“Maio” refers to the fact that Thalma de Freitas and John Finbury share the same birthday in May. The sound of this song is soft, much like we heard it before in “Filha”. Piano and vocals close this song beautifully.

“Oração” comes with a complete different mood.  Vitor Gonçalves on accordion and Chico Pinheiro on guitar create a very meditative ambience. The solo goes again to John Patitucci on bass.

A nice video has been produced for this song:

The album closes with “Surrealismo Tropical” a song with an incredible groove by an electric band with Rhodes, electric bass and electric guitar. The lyrics are inspired by author Robin Kelley’s (“Freedom Dreams”) belief that “to make a better world, we must first imagine it”.

“Sorte!” is a beautiful album with great compositions, meaningful lyrics (the booklet of the album contains English translations for all songs) and an incredible band performing on the highest level. 30 minutes of Brazilian Jazz music which I can really recommend.

Finally a playlist on Spotify to listen to the complete album: