Brazilian Jazz Evening Hosted by Russell Berg – 22nd April 2022

Yes it finally happened. We had a wonderful night exploring music and anecdotes from Russell about life at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club in London over many decades. If you couldn’t be there in person then hearing about it from a regular made for entertaining interludes between the music selections.

We enjoyed the sound quality presented via the Aesthetix Romulus Signature CD / DAC player and the Aesthetix Rhea Signature Phonostage. Both these sources were connected with Stage III Typhon RCA to the Ypsilon PST100 MKII Silver Preamp into Hyperion Power amps. Stage III Triton/Trident/Aegir Power Cables and Wilson Benesch Eminence Loudspeakers as reference transducers. Analog source Reed Muse 1C with Reed 2G Cocobolo 10.5 Silver AG tonearm. We cracked open a new Koetsu Blue Lace for the evening to get some hours up for the Koetsu Shootout night (coming up).

We genuinely felt the attendees were treated to something new as the Shazam buttons were being madly pressed to capture the artists for further exploration. Most of us have heard Hugh Masekela at hifi shows. I, for one, wasn’t aware he was into the Brazilian Jazz scene.

Jorge Albuquerque also demonstrated the differences between a native Brazilian drummer playing a Samba on a 2/4 beat and most western Jazz drummers when they start playing Brazilian Jazz coming from a 4/4 upbringing having to adapt. Russell then threw in a very complex interpretation of a Brazilian Jazz classic which showed off a 6/8 beat and the talent of the musicians being able to keep time with such complex multi-layering of instruments was very impressive. I kind of noticed from the glint in Russell’s eyes that he knew a bunch more about the music and we were given only a taste of the genre. He later remarked he held back a little from the deeper roots of the music as the complexity of rhythm rises as the village joins in with more and more percussive devices (it seems if you have the ability any bit of percussive architecture can be engaged to add another layer to the sound).

We’d like to express our gratitude to Russell and his partner Annie who is as passionate about live music as he is. We appreciate the time you spent with us. Also huge thanks for Jorge Albuquerque lending his Brazilian music and life experience to the night. We only explored the Rio neighbourhood but apparently whichever cardinal direction you follow the music lines will diverge into Salsa, Bossa, Bossa Nova, Capoeira, Maracatu, Candomble Afoxe, and apparently if you head a bit north of Rio, a strange blend of Country and Western from the cowboy culture which shows there are only two forms of music…

We were struck by the feelings of ‘joy and happiness’ inherent within the Brazilian jazz music, effortlessly expressed by the singers and musicians.

We might have to get Jorge in for a live night of Brazilian Jazz guitar!!