Nate Najar Trio - Aquarela Do Brasil (2014)

The American musician Nate Najar is rapidly emerging as one of the top international acoustic jazz guitarists featuring the nylon string, finger style classical guitar technique and gathering new audiences worldwide. This brilliant album was recorded in New York City at Nola Studio - the same as most of the legendary recordings made for Candid by Nat Hentoff at the beginning of the sixties' decade. This, his second Candid recording, is Brazilian in concept and represents a wide cross section of Brazilian musical influence, a sort of Watercolor of Brazil in fact. Jobim's Ligia is from Joao Gilberto and Fotografia from the wonderful record Elis and Tom featuring Elis Regina. Canto De Ossanha originally entered the musical lexicon via guitarist Baden Powell all those years ago, and Aquarela Do Brasil is that gorgeous, soaring 1939 melody from Ary Barroso known throughout much of the world simply as Brazil! Prominent here are Chuck Redd and bassist Tommy Cecil - while Duduka da Fonseca adds his unique approach to the drums. Harry Allen's sax, featured on Ligia and Samba for Felix is lyrical, inventive and sensitive and is admirably suited to the Brazilian lexicon.