Biography
Paulo Moura is an Afro-Brazilian whose face, illuminated by eyes the color of the sea, expresses a profound and direct wisdom. Cliff Korman is a New Yorker who plays piano with the luxurious sound and the rhythmical attention of Keith Jarrett...he has long studied in Brasil where he has learned how to unassumingly accompany the grace of a musician like Paulo Moura. They enchanted the audience with a delicate and penetrating insight that brought them back to the poetry that early jazz must have had.
If you don't know Paulo Moura you don't know Brazilian music. Paulo is perhaps Brazil's finest reed man. He's a musician's musician, the teacher of many of a new generation of Brazil's more renown sax players... At a time like this when highly contrived and mass produced sounds dominate the Brazilian music industry, Paulo's reading of Brazilian standards like the songs of Pixinguinha, Zeca de Abreu and Tom Jobim are more important than ever. Paulo represents a bridge between at least three Brazilian musical traditions: he is credited for reviving the choro of the early 20th century which is his musical heritage; he was a significant player in pre-bossa Brazil; and he is at the forefront of a newer tradition based on his Brazilian roots, yet influenced by and in continuous dialogue with his North American jazz counterparts. (...) Although Cliff hasn't been on the scene as long as Paulo, he's definitely someone to keep your eye on as a substantial jazz pianist and a musician whose playing will help other North Americans better understand Brazilian music and the bridges between the two worlds.
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Moura is an outstanding sax player who has chosen to be the heir of Pixinguinha, the great reed man that brought the saophone to Brasil at that time when Sidney Bechet made it poopular among the North Americans. The subtle counterpointed of Korman's piano made us clearly hear the meaning of intercultural dialogue.
We have heard the grandiose latest output of the Paulo Moura & Cliff Korman's project who -- at the margin of the cross-cultural commerce -- continue to explore places where sound meets with body language, and Western forms meet the pulsing beat of Africa. A gentle priest, Paulo Moura, whose clarinet is worldwide recognized as being the indelible memory of hundred years of choro, has enchanted the public by intertwining with the powerful geometries of Cliff Korman's piano and the acrobatic changes of the cavaquinho of Zé Paulo Miranda. A challenge to the spreading MTV-influenced idea of cultural interaction as inconsequential juxtaposition, the Moura-Korman musical research re-establishes and reinvents narrative as a viable structure for the sound of the twenty-first century.
When Paulo Moura and Cliff Korman brought on stage for the first time their performance “Mood Ingênuo”, the unexpected happened: one sound celebrated the music of two giants of the African-American tradition who never had a chance to meet in life: Edward “Duke” Ellington and Alfredo da Rocha Vianna (“Pixinguinha”). They lived exactly during the same years and the sumptuous grammar that one instilled into jazz, the other infused into choro, the instrumental music of urban Brasil. Two parallel roads that carried as common values the ability to improvise, to catch the harmonic substance on the spot, to highlight the individual pronunciation of each player, and to turn simple raw material into complex art. In a nutshell the whole path of non-classical musics of the 20th century. The malleable jazz piano of Cliff Korman and the unmistakable sound of Paulo Moura’s clarinet engage in a knowledgeable dialogue, whose dreamy dimension of touchable lightness pays a well deserved homage two the two giants of music.
The album name already says it all: this is Brazilian dance music. No, not the electronic music some might have in mind. This album takes you back to the golden days of Brazilian casinos and good gafieira hangouts. I have to praise the producers for choosing a repertoire that features both Brazilian and U.S. classics, but without falling into the repetitive mode of playing the same choros we find in so many other choro albums. You will not miss the fact that 'Gafieira Dance Brasil' does not include "Carinhoso" or other choro standards. Why would you when you have "Noites Cariocas," "Baião Delicado" and Bicho do Pé"? The only problem this album has is the fact it was a live recording. It might have been essential to do it live to capture the essence of gafieira music. However, as expected with some live albums, there are glitches in the sound (instrumentation balance and reverberation,for example). Luckily, 'Gafieira Dance Brasil' gets over that in track 2. And what a welcome surprise to see "Manhã de Carnaval" included here. Not a song I'd think as gafieira, but it is a great moment in the album when you can hear Korman's piano wizardry in the forefront. Cliff, how about a solo album? You always leave your listeners wanting more (I recall your solo with Carlos Malta in 'Pimenta').
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.