Galvao

Guitarist Paulo Morello and his three equally talented co-musicians merge jazzy bop and the variety of rhythms, forms and moods of Brazilian music into something new and beautiful. Paulo Morello has put together an exquisite band for 'Sambop', Lula Galvão (born 1962), is the star guest from Brazil on the acoustic guitar and one of the masters of his profession, who has played with Caetano Veloso, Rosa Passos, Ivan Lins and Guinga. The rhythmic drive is provided by Eduardo "Dudu" Penz on electric bass and Mauro Martins on drums - two Brazilians living in Switzerland, for Paulo Morello "the best Brazilian rhythm section in all of Europe".

Two widely respected Brazilian musicians, originally meeting and performing together on a 2014 tour, saxophonist Sergio Galvao & guitarist Lupa Santiago developed a quick and exciting rapport, vowing to work more together. Soon after a second tour, Galvao relocated to France where he formed a trio with two dynamic French musicians, bassist Clement Landais and drummer Franck Enouf, making plans to record as a trio in the spring of 2017. By coincidence, Lupa was touring Europe during the same period and the idea to join the trio's recording was born. Meeting in the studio in Normandy on the first day of recording, they brought their compositions and after many jokes concerning soccer, the name for the recording and band came very easily: 2x2. The music presented is fully jazz, but infused with rich experiences and deep influence from their own cultures and travels.

Equally concise and straight forward is the title of his latest album. Sambop is a fusion of two terms - the latter associating the core style of modern jazz, while the first alludes to the most important form and the most influential rhythm of Brazilian music - standing for the musical and artistic concept of the present album: the encounter of Samba and Bop, or rather: Morello and his three musical peers merging Bop jazz and the diversity of rhythms, forms, and voices of Brazilian music into a whole, into something new and beautiful, as if Samba and Choro had always been played on the semiacoustic jazz guitar; or as if Duke Ellington had first designed his "I'm Just a Lucky So and So" as a funky Baião". If they choose a jazz standard it becomes "brazilianized", and if they decide in favor of a Choro like "Nosso Amigo Esmé" Morello's soloing comes out to be just as jazzy and bop-style, as if Brazilian Choros have always been a part of the jazz repertoires and influences of role models like Wes Montgomery, George Benson, and Pat Martino.