Fragments: Modern Tradition is a collection of compositions written by Nana Vasconcelos for six films. The music is appropriately atmospheric, and takes on a myriad of ethnic influences from around the world. Indeed, the first track "Vento Chamando Vento" sounds amazingly similar to fellow multi-ethnicists Dead Can Dance. Vasconcelos utilizes a variety of percussion instruments – cowbells, shakers and drums – to achieve the sounds of open landscapes. The album is not all space and wind, however. A fine backing band helps Vasconcelos create a number of musical textures, including the incredibly peppy "Forro Para Antero" and the poly-rhythmic "Let's Go to the Jungle."
Andy Sheppard is a British jazz saxophonist and composer. He has been awarded several prizes at the British Jazz Awards, and has worked with some notable figures in contemporary jazz, including Gil Evans, Carla Bley, George Russell and Steve Swallow. Naná Vasconcelos was a Brazilian percussionist, vocalist and berimbau player, notable for his work as a solo artist on over two dozen albums, and as a backing musician with Pat Metheny, Don Cherry, Egberto Gismonti, Gato Barbieri, and Milton Nascimento.
This 1979 recording is probably Afro-experimentalist Vasconcelos' finest. It presents his various facets – berimbao playing, intricate overlain vocals, fine percussion, even gorgeous guitar – simply and almost overwhelmingly. This is one of those performances that remind one to never let natural dogmatism get too out of hand.
Sardinia, an island off the west coast of Italy, and Brazil may seem to inhabit different cultural and geographical zones, and yet if the music on this album - a collaboration between the Sardinian pianist Antonello Salis and the Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos is any indication, they speak a common creative language.
Lyle Mays waited a long, long time before straying from the Pat Metheny Group to issue his first solo album, but when he did, the results were at once removed but not totally untethered to the Metheny sound and feeling. On his own, Mays' synthesizer solos and textures are close in sound to what he was doing in the Metheny group, but the turns of phrases in his acoustic piano solos reflect the heavy shadow of Keith Jarrett.
Music in it's sacred form unites people and brings love and truth closer. But the music found here is particularly sacred. This 18 track collection brings together Nana's favourite sacred recordings, bringing her back to her roots as she shares her spiritual and musical journey. Their endless inspiration expressing a single harmonious desire, leading us toward faith in peace.
Jack DeJohnette's first Special Edition recording in five years finds him using completely different personnel than earlier. Greg Osby (on alto and soprano) and Gary Thomas (doubling on tenor and flute) bring M-Base influences to the band (their improvisations have a fresh new logic) while guitarist Mick Goodrick, bassist Lonnie Plaxico, percussionist Nana Vasconcelos and the leader-drummer (who doubles on keyboards) all make strong contributions. Other than Osby's "Osthetics," the repertoire is comprised of DeJohnette's originals and the somewhat unique music gives all of the musicians opportunities to express themselves and inspire each other.
This reissue of the album recorded in 1977 is a landmark of the careers of Gismonti and percussionist Naná Vasconcelos, his only accompanist here. Recorded in only three days, the album's concept is based on the history shared by both musicians, according to Gismonti: two boys wandering through a dense, humid forest, full of insects and animals, keeping a 180-feet distance from each other. The album received several international awards, in England, U.S., Germany, and Brazil. It also, changed both artist's lives: Naná immediately became a disputed international artist, touring worldwide; Egberto returned to Brazil, decided to research Amazon folklore, which would be reflected in his later work.
Sagn was the result of a commission for the 1990 Vossajazz festival that sealed the collaborative spirits of singer Kirsten Bråten Berg and bassist Arild Andersen. Blending folk songs from their native Norway, along with jazz and rock elements, the two shared the stage with percussionist Nana Vasconcelos, saxophonist Bendik Hofseth, pianist Bugge Wesseltoft, and guitarist Frode Alnæs. While we don’t have (so far as I’m aware) a live recording of what was surely an historic occasion, we do have this ECM studio rendition, buffed and polished to a mirror’s shine. Sagn is a massive effort, one of ECM’s fullest on a single disc, and stands as Andersen’s most personal statement to date.