Keep (it) Swinging: Jovino Santos Neto Quinteto: Current

Three-time Latin Grammy nominee releases latest album Current.
Tired and tested in Hermeto Pascoal's bands
Hans Koert

Jovino Santos Neto, Brazilian born piano player, recently released a new studio recording with his Quinteto entitled Current. Born in September 1954 in Rio the Janeiro, he started to play his sisters piano as a child and became fascinated by the popular music of his times, like the British Rock band Yes and King Crimson, but he was also inspired by classic composers like Bach .......
He left for Canada in to study Biology at the Montreal University. He became fascinated by jazz-rock music from bands like Weather Report and Chick Corea and became part of several rock bands in Canada. But the music of his native country was still very important for him.

Jovino Santos Neto ( photo courtesy: Daniel Sheehan)
He returned to Brazil to graduate and met Brazilian composers, like the great Hermeto Pascoal, a remarkable person being an albino with a flowing white beard and long, luminous white hair. His performances on stage must have been remarkable, and Howard Mandel described him as a pan-global a leader as Sun Ra and as surefooted an individualist as Roland Kirk. Neto played with him and was inspired by his music. Maybe some of you may remember that Hermeto was part of Miles Davis recording band for the LP Live-Evil in which he played the piano, but also inspired great jazz men like Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and more of those Jazz-Rock heroes of the 1970s and 80s.

Jovino Santos Neto Quinteto: Current (AM1068) (Graphic Design: Maria Camillo)
Jovino Neto returned to Brazil to finish his study and to work at the Research Institute of the Amazon, where he found a job, but soon he was invited by Hermeto Pascoal, who lived next door, to join his band ........ and so he became a professional musician and cancelled his job at the Institute. Neto played for 15 years in Pascoal's band before he decided to go his own way ........I had to deal with more and more of the daily grind of running the band on the road, Jovino told Chip Boaz for the Latin Jazz Corner: Those responsibilities were becoming more and more me. I did a good job, but on the other hand, that was taking a toll on the music side. I was not having the time to practice and grow.

Jovino Santos Neto ( photo courtesy: Mario Camillo)
He started a study in conducting at the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. He became a member of Fourth World of Airto Moreira and founded his own Quinteto, featuring Chuck Deardorf on bass, Mark Ivester on drums, Harvey Wainapel on reeds and Jeff Busch on percussion. This Quinteto recorded several albums and Neto is still searching the roots of his music, which are in his motherland Brazil. I'm still anxiuous to have the possibility to listen to some of his previous albums Veja Om Som ( a series of duets) and Alma do nordeste, music from the north-eastern part of Brazil, which inspired Neto.

Jovino Santos Neto's latest album, entitled Current contains nine tracks, all own compositions. It's hard to point to some of the tracks that I liked best, but tunes like Vivendo no Presente, Outras Praias and Matraca should be part of such a list. It's a great album played by a solid band. Chuck Deardorf, double bass player, toured and recorded with Bud Shank, George Cables, Art Farmer, Chet Baker, Pete Christlieb, Monty Alexander, guitarist Larry Coryell and dozens of other well known. Drummer Mark Ivester played with Kenny Werner, Larry Coryell and Michael Brecker.

If you like the Brazilian music, inspired by a wide range of contemporary Brazilian styles, like choro, baido, xote and samba's you should hear this great album. It will surprise you! This album was released by Adventure-Music.

Hans Koert

keepswinging@live.nl

The Brazil born US piano player, composer and band leader Jovino Santos Neto was inspired by the great legendary Brazilian performer Hermeto Pascoal and played in his band for years. Since the early 1990s Jovino Santos Neto leads his own quintet and recently he released a great album, entitled Current. Keep (it) Swinging loves to point you to remarkable albums like Current - If you don't want to miss any information, follow the Keep (it) Swinging blog at Twitter (#keepitswinging) or ask for its free monthly newsletter ( keepswinging@live.nl)