Vinicius Cantuária

Indio De Apartamento

Naïve Records **** RECOMMENDED

Released next week hip New York-based Brazilian guitarist and singer (here also playing drums, keyboards and percussion) Cantuária emerges ever more prominently into the mainstream consciousness helped here by the presence of Norah Jones on Cantuária’s song ‘Quem Sou Eu’, the sixth song of 10 here, along with songwriter Jesse Harris whose song ‘Don’t Know Why’ made Jones famous in the first place. Harris appears with a vocal on his co-penned song in duo with the Brazilian, ‘This Time’, singing in English that provides some pointers to the A&R positioning of this album. That’s all very well, but thankfully Cantuária is not a mainstream bland artist and this is a quite beautiful record no matter who it’s aimed at. Bill Frisell, whose album with Cantuária Lágrimas Mexicanas was a strong seller in 2011, is on three tracks towards the end of the album and for jazz fans it’s Cantuária’s work with the likes of the great guitarist and a repertory cast over the years of maverick eclectic musical geniuses including Marc Ribot and Arto Lindsay that register most, and his appearance with Frisell in this country at Ronnie Scott’s fittingly garnered rare five star reviews in the broadsheet press.

Continuing to record with the commercially inclined French label Naïve Indio De Apartamento (‘Indian in the Apartment’), it’s the record company that has just signed Britjazz crooner Anthony Strong incidentally, the new release follows Cymbals, recorded with Brad Mehldau soon to return to these shores, alto sax man Dave Binney, and other leading lights of the eclectic non-genre jazzed diaspora.

Indio De Apartamento is not a massively long album as it’s song based in the short-form old school radioplay sense. Samba carioca (eg NYC samba) in nature first track ‘Humanos’ has a guitar-and-strings arrangement that recall (don’t run screaming) production on a massively successful Sting period in the 1990s and a song such as ‘Shape of My Heart’ while this brief atypical diversion gives way to gorgeous bossa nova on the second track. It’s soft, sensuous and the tempo on it is as good as anything I’ve heard since oh, Rosa Passos’ lovely 2004 album Amorosa. Cantuária adds many electronic textures to his music and the intro to ‘Purus’ allows a glimpse into his way of working, a gradual build that has a strong pulse and a kind of ‘wind of change’ momentum from the percussion that is very unusual. It’s a romantic album, full of sublime musicianship, soft textures that instantly compel further attention and the guests don’t distract although their input is not the strongest element of this fine album, as Cantuária is demonstrably The Man.
Stephen Graham

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