Luiz Morais launch album ‘Nascente’ in the famous 606 Jazz Club

26 Apr, 2014

Read in English below | Leia em Português aqui By Shirley Nunes Brazilians do things well; the music scene is no exception. Every year, new, independent musicians come to England from Brazil, bringing with them the best of Brazilian music. We’ve seen this before in our 2012 review of Jandira Silva’s album and our interview with Marcelo Andrade in 2013. This month, the musician Luiz  Morais will launch his first album ‘Nascente’ in London, bringing Brazilian music to an English environment. He has been living in London since 2010 and now he is returning to Rio de Janeiro. Luiz  Morais plays the 7 chord guitar and despite being from Fortaleza Ceara, tells us that his greatest musical inspirations are Tom Jobim, Luiz Gonzaga, Moacir Santos, Pixinguinha, Ginga and Lobo. This shows through the album. The 31 year old has had a musical ear since he was a boy and decided to study music at University. However, he did not enjoy the course and travelled to Rio de Janeiro, where despite never having studied classical guitar, he began to play samba. At university in Rio de Janeiro, he studied Música Popular Brasileira (a famous Brazilian musical movement), which he says was mainly focused on musical arrangement.

The album ‘Nascente’

(Nascente in English translates as ‘fountain’ or conceptual ‘birth’)

Luiz crafted Nascente in Rio de Janeiro, in the city’s largest musical school. It took 5 months to prepare and record with the producer Yuri Villar in 2013. The collection consists of songs he has worked on with his sextet, which he describes as ‘a quick recording process’. Luis adds he would like to launch the album in Europe as well as London. The predominantly instrumental album brings together a variety of influences, from the Northeast of Rio to rhythmic MPB roots with a touch of sophisticated jazz. The blue toned cover, is reminiscent of water and fountains. It was designer Fernanda Queiroz’s idea to marry the colour and album name together. Luiz says ‘the album came to be called Nascente because it is his first disk, it was really like being born again, I had grow and develop and now I’ve been born. Blue is my favourite colour and besides, it reminds us of the fluidity of water, which brings life and music is life’. However, the albums interior is red, representing blood, another nod towards birth.

The songs

Despite being a singer, Luiz Morais’ voice doesn’t feature on any of the songs. However, the collection does feature the voices of Brazilian singer Luiza Salles, Pedro Ivo and the English singer Alice Zawadzki, who will be present at the album’s launch. In the majority of songs, Luiz’s trademark sound is a melodic streak, with songs that lace together Brazilian rhythms with more jazzy harmonies. This is most obvious in the song ‘ De volta ao Rio ’, a jazz samba ode to Rio.‘ Saudade do Ceará ’ & ‘ Simples Baião ’, carry memories of his roots, with lyrics that refer to nostalgia and fruits which grow in the Northeast. ‘ Simples Baião ’ is collaboration with Pedro Ivo, who thought his songs were complex and needed stripping back. There are two stand out songs, ‘ Viva Dominguinhos ’, an instrumental song influenced by Bahian music, its distinct rhythm mixes accents, flute and accordian. The song ‘ Passeio Brazuca ’ mixes different Brazilian rhythms, such as different Maxixes with a sound influenced by Hermeto Pascoal. The only song that is not by Luiz is ‘ Constant Summer ’, a jazzy tune sung by Alice with music by Pedro Araujo. ‘ Branca Flor ’, a piano accompanied tune has profound lyrics that touch on the psychology of man. And to finish the cd we have a Brazilian waltz ‘ Valsa Venuasiana ’. The Brazilian professor Vittor Santos ‘ This musician from Ceara’s talent and effort show that he is an authentic ‘researcher of sounds’, as a musician he is constantly maturing, fluidly and genuinely’ .

The album launch for Nascente

The Luis Morais sextet with Marcelo Andrade, Andrew Woolf, Sam Watts, Mateus Nova and Rafael Delphino, will launch the ‘Nascente’ on 7 May in the prestigious 606 Jazz Club, one of London’s biggest jazz extablishments. From 8.30pm you will be able to hear and enjoy his Brazilian sound in a London setting. We will finish with a comment from the artist himself ‘It’s a joy to launch the cd here in London. Long live Brazilian music- the joy of Brazilian music’. Lançamento do CD | 07.05.2014 |  8pm |  Luiz Morais + Sextet – O 1º Album “Nascente”  | @ 606 Jazz Club (606 Club Jazz (90 Lots Rd, London SW10) | Estação mais próxima – Overground Imperial Wharf   ||  606 Jazz Club  |  Website Luiz Morais     |   £10