On his first release stateside, Brazilian guitarist
Marcos Amorim
sets the bar high.
Cris on the Farm
is a trio date that showcases not only
Amorim
's deft and often amazing playing skills, but also reveals the considerable mettle of his compositional talent and his alacrity as a bandleader. With bassist
Ney Conceicao
and
Robertinho Silva
on drums,
takes listeners for a gentle yet instrumentally compelling journey though the intersections between
samba
jazz
without trying to blur their divisions. Deeply influenced stylistically by
Baden Powell
,
Pat Metheny
, and
Charlie Byrd
is one of the most elegant and graceful guitarists to come from Rio in a long time. He is a master of counterpoint and tonal invention. His fluidity, like
Powell
's, runs across the plectrum/chord-voicing boundary and into the space where both occur simultaneously. Like
Metheny
, he looks for the space in melody where it opens up to a euphoric edge and consciously reaches for the seam, and like
Byrd
, his sense of rhythmic dynamic is uncanny as even as a soloist he is an ensemble player. The interplay between
Conceicao
(who should be leading his own band) is nothing short of symbiotic -- check tunes like
"Cristina Na Fazenda"
or
"Juca e Helena,"
where counterpoint and melody are executed, exchanged, and incorporated in lightning-quick harmonic changes and rhythmic invention turns on a dime, allowing
Silva
to roam over the proceedings and bring beats in to accent the depth and complexity of what is happening on the front line. All of this said, however,
is a gentle, soul-stirring album full of blessed-out textures, gloriously pastoral moments, and stunning solo interludes. Highly recommended. ~ Thom Jurek