Download NINHO DE VESPA, THE FIRST US RELEASE FROM THE

NINHO DE VESPA, THE FIRST US RELEASE FROM THE SPOKFREVO ORQUESTRA, COMING FROM
MOTEMA ON OCTOBER 28
17 Piece Orchestra from Pernambuco, Brazil, Fuses Tradional Frevo with Jazz Improvisation
Seven City US Tour Kicks off on October 19 in Boston
Bringing a traditional style of music into the 21st century is no easy task, yet virtuoso saxophonist and
arranger Inaldo Cavalcante de Albuquerque, better known as Maestro Spok, has done just that on his US
debut, Ninho de Vespa (Wasp’s Nest). Spok has assembled a 17 piece orchestra, performing what is
arguably Brazil’s most creative music – frevo – and infusing it with the improvisational spirit of jazz. Just
as The Buena Vista Social Club served to shine a light on the legacy of the great players of Cuban music,
Ninho de Vespa‘s guest performers include many of the legendary musicians from Pernambuco, the
birthplace of frevo.
Ninho de Vespa will be released on October 28, 2014, on Motema Music, as the Orquestra kicks off a
multi-city tour that includes stops in Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Iowa City and Lemoni, Iowa,
and St. Louis.
Much more than a style of music, frevo’s combination of music, dance with the uniquely Brazilian hybrid
of martial arts and dance known as capoeira represents the wealth of imagination and originality that is
at the heart of Brazilian culture. Its vivid, frenetic and vigorous rhythm stems from the amalgam of
several music genres such as march, Brazilian quadrilha, polka and pieces from the classical repertoire,
all of which can be found among Ninho de Vespa’s 13 tracks, which include compositions from leading
lights of Brazilian music, including Dori Caymmi, Jovino Santos Neto, Hamilton de Holanda.
“The fact that these songs were mostly unknown was definitely a factor that made us choose them, but
it’s also true that there just aren’t that many frevos in the repertoires of Dori, Jovino and Hamilton,”
says Spok. “ ‘Ninho de Vespa’, by Dori Caymmi and Paul Cesar Pinheiro, was released in the early 1990s
and is representational of what we want to promote in Brazil – to have composers from several states
and of different origins, and not only from Pernambuco, composing frevos. This is why we chose songs
from composers that were not from Pernambuco: Hamilton and Jovino are from Rio de Janeiro and
Nelson Ayres is from Sao Paolo.”
Spokfrevo Orquestra formally emerged as a group in 2003, but its roots go back at least another decade.
Inaldo Cavalcante de Albuquerque, aka Maestro Spok, is the band’s saxophonist, arranger and musical
director, fronting a true big band with saxophone, trumpet, trombone, rhythm sections, bass and guitar.
In the northeastern state of Pernambuco, from which frevo emerged over 100 years ago, the genre was
performed mainly at street festivals. Spokfrevo Orquestra adds a new dimension to frevo, moving it
from its supporting role to that of a leading actor, shedding light on its original texture and complex
playing techniques while remaining faithful to its more traditional origins; succinctly, the group breaks
patterns and reinvents tradition without subverting it.
Spok provides a bit of historical background to Spokfrevo Orquestra’s evolution of the style. “Originally,
in Recife, frevo was essentially music for dancing, played by orchestras in clubs in the months that
preceded Carnival, and on the streets during Carnival itself. People usually didn’t pay as much attention
to the musicians or the arrangements as they did to how well the groups could reproduce the classics.
Felinho was a saxophone player in the famous orchestra of Maestro Nelson Ferreira who began
improvising during their performances. That sparked a major revolution in the way that frevo was
played since, for the first time, people began to notice an individual musician’s performance. As frevo
musicians today, we have been very influenced by that bold approach that Felinho took, showcasing his
performance instead of just being part of a party orchestra.”
NINHO DE VESPA
The infectious energy of Ninho de Vespa’s opener, “Onze de April,” introduces a set that is marked
simultaneously by a sense of graceful movement and a playful mood, a pair of contrasting yet
complimentary sensations which the Orquestra’s seventeen musicians and twelve guest artists express
throughout the album.
And what an impressive cast of guest artists have been tapped to join the Orquestra! Clarinetist Paulo
Sergio Santos, best known to international audiences for his work in Uakti and their collaborations with
Peter Gabriel and Phillip Glass in the 1980s, virtually shimmers on “Onze de Abril,” written by the
renowned composer and musician Dominguinhos. Jovino Santos Neto’s “Comichao”, which the
acclaimed pianist recorded on his own 2003 album, Canto de Rio, here feels somehow richer and even
more vibrant than the original. Adelson Viana, who guests on electric piano on his own “Spokiando”
(co-written with João Lyra), brings a sparkling sophistication to the song’s propulsive marching rhythm,
supported by Spok’s equally effervescent solo. Beto Hortis takes center stage on the accordion on
“Capibarizando,” and Luciano Magno’s capering guitar seems to literally embody the title of his “Pisando
em Brasa “ (“Jumping in the Embers.”)
The prominent pianist/composer/arranger Nelson Ayres, who has worked with an astounding array of
internationally acclaimed artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Carter, and Milton Nascimento
throughout his nearly sixty-year long career, brings an imposing elegance to “Quatro Cantos.” Ayres has
also worked with the equally venerated singer and composer Dori Caymmi, whose “Ninho de Vespa”
(“Wasp’s Nest”), is the album’s only track with vocals. Master Zé Maria (trumpet) and Nilsinho
Amarante of Trombonada ( a five piece trombone only band whose collaborations consistently
challenge genre pigeon holes)perform together on “O Que Nelson Gostou,” a sprightly light-hearted
romp.
Mandolin virtuoso Hamilton de Holanda’s performance on his composition, “Tá Achando Que Tá
Devagar? “ seamlessly integrates the mandolin, which has a long and rich tradition in Brazilian folk
music, into Spokfrevo’s big band sound, once again positioning de Holanda among the most eclectic
innovators on his instrument. Further innovation takes “De Baixo Do Frevo,” with its almost
improvisational bass solo by bassist, arranger, producer and songwriter Bráulio Araújo, well into jazz
territory, a region also explored by the the lively “Pipocando,” (“Popping”) led by flutist César Michilles,
and “Cara de Carranca,” written by guest artist, pianist Thiago Albuquerque, who trades strong solos
with the Orquestra’s guitarist Renato Bandeira. Spok takes center stage on the album’s final selection,
“Moraes É Frevo,” which cements his reputation as an audacious catalyst for musical evolution.
“Frevo has always been very identified as a music from Pernambuco, made by musicians from the state,
but what we have been trying to prove is that this regional restriction has never been a real limitation,”
says Spok. “We believe that frevo is a style that can easily touch people from all over the world. Even if
the songs sometimes have lyrics, frevo is essentially an instrumental genre, so there’s no linguistic
barrier that would stop anyone from enjoying it – it’s vibrant, it’s rich, and it’s very energetic.”
With the release of Ninho de Vespa, fans of Brazilian music around the world will discover yet another
facet of the music that moves them both in the flesh and in the spirit. Frevo, as performed by Spokfrevo
Orquestra, will join samba, choro, MPB , bossa nova and forro in the rich cultural mélange of Brazil.