Search - Cyro Baptista :: Banquet of the Spirits

Baptista continues to lead the way in world jazz

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 06/08/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With his fourth CD as leader (if you count the duo outing with Kevin Breit) and 130 some dates as sideman (everyone from Geri Allen to Yo Yo Ma to John Zorn), Cyro Baptista knows his way around jazz beat.



This disc strikes me as falling somewhere between Vira Loucos and Beat the Donkey: basically instrumentally driven, like the former, but featuring quite a bit of vocal work, like the latter. The cut most like Vira Loucos is "Macunaima," showcasing the "out"rageous sax work of Zorn and deploying a kind of manic surf/Klezmer vibe morphing into a canzone-like short passage, then ending with a freak-out reprise. Very attractive, if you dig this kind of all-out sonic assault (which I do).



The last cut, "Anthropofagia" (literally, "to eat human beings," here used metaphorically as "cultural cannibalism"), problematic from a purely musical standpoint with its tongue-in-cheek although somewhat tedious narrative, nevertheless clearly lays out not only the approach informing this disc, but Baptista's fundamental MO as well: namely, that Brazil is a kind of musical omnivore, consuming, digesting, and regurgitating everything from European Catholic sensibilities to the basic native South American Indian ethos.



One aspect of this disc deserves special recognition: Baptista seems to have achieved the ultimate fusion of Jewish traditional music with aboriginal music sensibilities, a project, perhaps, pretty much at the center of the Tzadik mission, but here realized more fully that anywhere else that I'm aware of. An analog: What Jan Garbarek evoked with native Scandinavian music mapped onto jazz on Legend of the Seven Dreams.



Bottom line: this is music of substance, brilliantly conceived, consummately executed. Miss it at your peril."

A True Banquet!

Robert Stern | 03/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The range and artistry is exceptional! Baptista combines soulfulness with striking originality and instrumental mastery. He also gets wonderful performances from his collaborators.



Get this CD.









"

All I can say is WOW

B. Bias | New York, New York | 06/26/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This has to be one of the top albums released in the last year.



I got it and put it in my car CD player (where I do most of my listening) about 3 weeks ago.



It hasn't come out since. Every single song is different, amazing and perfect. Typically I rave about an album that has 3-4 really good tracks on it.. When a CD has 11 AMAZING tracks on it - I create an amazon acount and write my first review!!



I was lucky enough to see this band perform at their record release party in NYC at Joe's Pub. The only thing that could possibly trump this album is seeing this band live. The only thing that could trump seeing this band live is having Matisyahu sit in with them for a song (which is exactly what happened the second set of this show)



I would recommend this CD to ANYONE..

- from the packaging - in which Eleonora Alberto has given us some of the best album photography I've seen in a very long time...

- to the compositions - which Cyro has masterfully crafted and obviously taken great care with

- to the band - has to be the greatest grouping of young musicians I have ever heard.. Cyro's keen eye for talent as grouped him with a set of players that are talented WELL beyond their years.





BUY THIS CD!!! You won't regret it!!!



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