The Brazilian Jazz All-Stars, Duduka Da Fonseca, Maucha Adnet, Helio Alves and Chuck Redd return to the Mainstay in Rock Hall, MD at 8:00 p.m. on Friday November 7. Admission is $20.
Maucha Adnet
Duduka Da Fonseca, one of the most admired Brazilian drummers in the world, Maucha Adnet, a vocalist who toured for 10 years with Antônio Carlos Jobim’s Banda and their frequent collaborator the Brazilian jazz pianist Helio Alves will be joined by Mainstay favorite and jazz mentor Chuck Redd on vibes for this concert of Brazilian jazz highlighting the Jobim songbook and other Brazilian classics.
Since Da Fonseca and Adnet’s nearly sold out performance at the Mainstay in 2010, Adnet and Alves have released a highly acclaimed duo recording, “Milagre” and Alves and Da Fonseca have released “Constelacao” as 2/3 of the Brazilian Trio.
Brazilian jazz is often described as “magical”. The polyrhythms of the samba and bossa nova drive the music forward while the seductive vocals encourage a listener to linger and savor the experience of each note. It is a distinctive sound immediately evocative of the lush beauty and the cultural crosscurrents of Brazil.
Helio Alves
Duduka da Fonseca has literally written the book on Brazilian jazz drumming, “Brazilian Rhythms for Drumset” (Manhattan Music/Warner Bros. Publications.) Born in Rio de Janeiro, he began playing the drums at the age of thirteen. By fifteen he was appearing on television, performing and recording with top Brazilian musicians.
In 1975 he moved to New York City establishing numerous Brazilian jazz groups including Trio da Paz, nominated as the best New Latin Jazz Group of 1993 and winner of the Jazz Journalist Association awards for the best Brazilian jazz album of 2002 (Partido Out), Brazilian Express, the New York Samba Band and the Brazilian Trio, nominated for a Grammy for their previous release, “Forests” in 2009.
He has recorded on over 200 albums and performed with artists such as: Antônio Carlos Jobim, Dom Salvador, Astrud Gilberto, Herbie Mann, Claudio Roditi, Joanne Brackeen, Eddie Gomez, John Scofield, Lee Konitz, Joe Henderson, Gerry Mulligan, Jorge Dalto, Mário Adnet, Paulo Jobim, Phil Woods, Jacques Morelenbaum, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Emily Remler, Nana Vasconcelos, Nancy Wilson, Slide Hampton, Kenny Barron, Tom Harrell, amongst many others. His first solo album “Samba Jazz Fantasia”(Anzic) was nominated for a Grammy in 2002 and his latest “Samba Jazz in Black & White” (Zoho) has been well received by jazz critics. JazzTimes describes the music as “infectious”, “churning” and “appealing” and said that he plays with a “nuanced touch and loose polyrythmic aplomb”.
Chuck Redd
Maucha Adnet was also born in Rio de Janeiro and started her professional singing career at the age of 15 as a member of vocal group Ceu da Boca who recorded two albums released by Polygram. From 1984 to 1994, she performed, toured and recorded with legendary composer Antônio Carlos Jobim and his group Banda Nova. The recordings included four CDs, “Passarim”(Polygram, Verve,1987), the Grammy winner “Antônio Brasileiro” (Sony Music,1995),”Tom Jobim Inédito”(BMG-Ariola,1995) and “Rio Revisited” Antônio Carlos Jobim and Gal Costa (Polygram, Verve, 1987).
She has also recorded with a who’s who of jazz artists including Dorival Caymmi, Chico Buarque, Dorí Caymmi, Caetano Veloso, Toninho Horta, Mário Adnet, Joyce, Nara Leão, Charlie Byrd, Gil Goldstein,Emily Remler, Rob Mounsey, Othelo Molineaux, Trio da Paz, Harry Allen, Duduka Da Fonseca, Slide Hampton and many others. She was the guest vocalist on Randy Brecker’s Grammy winning CD “Into the Sun”. JazzTimes described her vocal work as “alluring”.
Married to Duduka da Fonseca, Adnet has lived in New York for many years. She performs regularly with her own band and as a guest artist in concert with Claudio Roditi, Herbie Mann, Trio da Paz, Oscar Castro Neves, Eliane Elias, Mark Johnson, Slide Hampton, Randy Brecker, and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band. In 2002, she performed as guest vocalist with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Cyro Baptista at Alice Tully Hall (NY).
Adnet has two solo CDs: “Songs I Learned From Jobim” (Venus Records) and “Jobim Songbook”(Kind of Blue), released in 2006, with arrangements by her brother Mário Adnet. She was the guest vocalist on Slide Hampton’s CD “Slide Plays Jobim”, on Duduka da Fonseca’s CD “Samba Jazz Fantasia”(Anzic Records) and was featured soloist on Latin Grammy winner (2004) and Grammy nominee (2006) Jobim Sinfônico(CD/DVD).
Her duo recording with Helio Alves “Milagre” is receiving rave reviews. In his review on LatinJazzNet.com Oscar Montagut says, “…Maucha Adnet permeates the air with her velvety, warm, and passionate voice full of incomparable diction and unique pitch. Her masterful way of pausing and continuing with whispers can move anybody´s heart, reaching an intimate and soft point in her singing…”
Joining Duduka da Fonseca and Maucha Adnet at the Mainstay will be their frequent collaborator, Brazilian pianist Helio Alves. Alves was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1966 and started piano lessons at age 6. Following his early immersion in playing the pop standards and classical music favored by his parents, he gravitated to jazz in his teens. Alves moved to Boston to study at Berklee College of Music and received his BA in 1990. In Boston he met trumpeter Claudio Roditi, who advised the 24-year old pianist to move to New York City, and urged him to get in touch when he arrived. Alves eventually moved to New York City in 1993.
Since then pianist and composer Alves has received high praise as an in-demand sideman with Joe Henderson, Yo-Yo Ma, Paquito D’Rivera, Gato Barbieri, Dave Samuels, Airto Moreira & Flora Purim and Oscar Castro-Neves, to name but a few.
From 1995 to 1997, Alves toured extensively with Joe Henderson’s DoubleRainbow Quartet celebrating the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim, and was featured in the Grammy-winning release, Joe Henderson’s Big Band (Verve, 1996).
Alves was the pianist on Grammy-winning releases by Yo-Yo Ma (Obrigado Brazil, 2003) and Paquito D’Rivera (Brazilian Dreams, 2002), and on the Grammy-nominated Samba Jazz Fantasia (Malandro Records, 2002), by Duduka Da Fonseca, and “Forests” (Zoho Music 2008) by the “Brazilian Trio”, that he co leads with Da Fonseca and bassist Nilson Matta.
Vibraphonist Chuck Redd, a Mainstay favorite and a mentor to the Mainstay’s jazz program, was the drummer for many years in the Charlie Byrd Trio. Byrd, along with Stan Getz, introduced Brazilian jazz to US.
The Mainstay (Home of Musical Magic) is the friendly informal storefront performing arts center on Rock Hall’s old time Main Street. It is a 501(c)(3), non profit dedicated to the arts, serving Rock Hall, MD and the surrounding region. It is committed to presenting local, regional and national level talent, at a reasonable price, in an almost perfect acoustic setting. Wine, beer, sodas and snacks are available at the bar.
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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