Fabiano do Nascimento and Vitor Santos Orchestra: Fela Review – Imaginative mood music from a virtuoso | music

HeyOver the past decade, Brazilian guitarist Fabiano do Nascimento has honed a sound so muscular and expansive, it might make you think the prolific soloist and collaborator had four hands plucking the six strings of his instrument. His 14 recordings since his 2015 debut Dança do Tempo include everything from a tender duet album with saxophonist Sam Gendel, The Room, to the electronically influenced Aquàticos with producer E Ruscha V, and the rhythmic drum textures of Cavejaz. At Villa, Nascimento leans toward orchestral composition, which appears alongside Vitor Santos’ 16-piece orchestra.

Using his signature blend of finger-picked melodies with percussive playing, Nascimento’s performance across Villa’s 11 pieces showcases his ability to weave seamlessly across the dynamic range of the orchestra rather than playing a single role. In the Spring Theme, he creates a simple main melody that guides the ensemble and is anchored by string swells and a soft shaker rhythm, while in Tema em Harmônicos, his finger mirrors echo the hand percussion while a muted trumpet takes the lead instead; A complex Plateau selection answers the staccato tones of the brass section, leading and following at the same time. Bandleader Vitor Santos’s arrangements reference the gorgeous bossa-influenced arrangements of his compatriot Arthur Verocai, producing enveloping, overlaid harmonies on the valsa and Floresta dos Sonhos.

It’s fantastical mood music that never reaches its full dramatic and explosive potential. Instead, the album is filled with gentle, expansive viola and violin lines, alternating between metallic picking and warm guitar playing. Nascimento is brilliant in its virtuosity and reaches a peak on O Tempo (Foi o Meu Mestre), where it switches from double swing to yearning effect in half the time, proving that even without a catchy crescendo or solo, it can still move listeners to its smooth melody.

Also out this month

Ghanaian singer For MessiLet Us Clap (The Real World) combines a fierce activist message about women’s rights with a stunning production featuring traditional Ghanaian folk percussion and electronics. The scattered claps and processed vocals of “No Orgasm in Heaven” are highlights. A rediscovered gem from the 1970s, Tilly JabrSaxophone Band with Dahlak (Muzikawi) features the Ethiopian psych-jazz saxophonist at the peak of his powers, anchoring everything from a reggae beat to organ-driven funk and a slow swing into a powerful saxophone tone. Malian masters of Ngoni strings and rhythmic balophone Nepa Sulu and Benego Diakite He released “A Faerie and a Hunter Gone Walking” (Nothing Like It), 10 tracks of highly funky grooves backed by delicate choral arrangements.