John Finbury – Sorte!

The colorful and exciting sound of Brazilian music seems to be a perennial favorite not only with jazzers but also World Music fans into sublime, guitar-centric music. A good example of the elegance and music magic of contemporary 21st century Brazilian music is Sorte!, a short but sweet, six-track, 29 minute CD featuring music by John Finbury and lyrics and vocals of singer Thalma De Freitas. Well known in her native Brazil as an actress and vocalist, Ms. Freitas is a natural in the style of 1960's favorite Astrud Gilberto—the great voice on many of Jobim’s classic early tracks. Writing and performing for over 40 years, John Finbury is a gifted American keyboardist and composer, that is said to have shocked the Latin music scene with his 2016 album Imáginario. As John tells it "The reason I may have "shocked" the Latin music community, or rather "emerge from obscurity" is because my song "A Chama Verde” from my album Imaginário was nominated in 2016 for a Latin Grammy for “Song Of the Year.” Reflecting on the unique World Beat approach on his three recent albums, John explains it this way, "I think my compositional style is consistently ‘me’ in all three records. I like lush chords, key indeterminacy, chord substitutions, uneven bar lengths, time and key changes, vamps, and of course, moody ballads. I know that I am on the right track with my compositions when the mood is strong." Speaking about the notion of an American from Boston writing music in the Brazilian Bossa Nova music domain, John also explains, "American composers have been working in Brazilian genres for a long time. Burt Bacharach certainly knew how to adapt Brazilian music in his songs. I tend to listen to my own chestnuts and explore new music by listening to the work of the musicians with whom I am working." A fine band backs up John's music and Thalma's vocals on Sorte! including guitarist Chico Pinheiro, bass ace John Patitucci and the legendary Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira. Lyrics in both English and Brazilian accompany the red-hot looking CD packaging. Recorded in NYC and produced by Emilio D. Miler, Sorte! is one of the most intriguing Brazilian World Beat albums of 2019.