The Nate Najar Trio celebrates the release of their recording “Aquarela Do Brasil,” a collection of much loved Brazilian melodies, Jobim masterpieces and jazz tunes given the samba treatment. They will perform a concert of Brazilian jazz for classical guitar at the Mainstay in Rock Hall, MD on Saturday October 4 at 8:00 p.m. This is the first concert in a “MainstayBrasil” series showcasing the sounds of Brazil. Admission is $20.
Nate Najar is one of the few guitarists playing jazz on the nylon-string classical guitar. Though they never met, he is much inspired by the late jazz guitarist Charlie Byrd who was, in part, responsible for bringing Brazilian jazz to the United States in 1962. Becky Byrd, Charlie’s widow, (who also tends bar at The Mainstay and is President of the Mainstay Board) says, “There is no doubt that there is a piece of Charlie’s soul in Nate’s mind, heart and fingers.”
The new recording, “Aquarela Do Brasil,” (Watercolors of Brazil) is a follow-up to Najar’s 2012 Candid Records release “Blues For Night People – The Nate Najar Trio Remembers Charlie Byrd” which introduced Najar to the international stage, including performances at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club and the 2013 London Jazz Festival in the UK. He will be joined by Alejandro Arenas on bass and Mark Feinman on drums.
Najar’s performances reflect his desire to create a connection between himself and his audience. He likens his performance to a conversation that is uncontrived and full of expression. He admires musicians like Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones and Stevie Wonder for their natural ability make a song their own while connecting to their audience.
“I always try to play a tune my own way,” said Najar. “It’s not for esoteric reasons. I always try to put a personal statement on a tune. The most important thing I do is to make sure that I convey the character of the tune.”
The MainstayBrasil concert series honors the lively sounds of Brazil as exported to the United States and the memory of the Mainstay’s early mentor the world renowned jazz guitarist and Annapolis resident Charlie Byrd. Byrd was responsible for introducing the sounds of Brazil to US pop culture when he returned from a State Department sponsored cultural tour to Brazil and asked Stan Getz to join him in recording jazz based on the sounds that he heard on his trip. The result was the classic groundbreaking album “Jazz Samba” which introduced Samba and Jobim to the American mainstream. The album went to #1 on the popular music charts and remained on the charts for 70 weeks igniting a “samba craze” among jazz musicians.
In addition to The Nate Najar Trio on October 4, the MainstayBrasil series will feature a Brazilian jazz performance on Friday November 7 by Brazilian jazz vocalist Maucha Adnet, Brazilian percussionist Duduka Da Fonseca and Brazilian pianist Helio Alves, all living in New York City and a performance on December 6 by Matuto, a young band from New York whose members from Brazil and the US combine the folkloric Forro sounds of Brazil with Appalachian, jazz and world music.
The Mainstay (Home of Musical Magic) is the friendly informal storefront performing arts center on Rock Hall’s old time Main Street. For information and reservations call the Mainstay at 410-639-9133. More information is also available at the Mainstay’s website https://www.mainstayrockhall.org.
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