Catina Deluna & Otmaro Ruiz present the music of their Grammy nominated Lado B Brazilian Project 2!

LADO B BRAZILIAN PROJECT 2

"This exquisite Brazilian Jazz album by Catina Deluna and Otmaro Ruiz is refreshing, elegantly blending the past with the present. One that highlights obscure Bossa Nova gems and offering reinvented versions of well-known classics"

Musicians: Catina Deluna (vocals); Otmaro Ruiz (piano, accordina, synthesizer, composer, arranger); Larry Koose (guitars); Edwin Livingston (bass); Derek Oles (bass 9); Edu Ribeiro (drums); Special Guest: Gregory Beyer (percussion, mallets); Bob Sheppard (sax, clarinet, alto flute); Bruno Mangueira (acoustic guitar 4, 5); Carol Robbins (harp); Jimmy Branly (udu clay pot 6); Fabio Cadore (vocals 5)

Tracks List: Passarim; Mar E Lua; Na Volta Que O Mundo Da; Requebre Que Eu Dou Um Doce; Choro Das Aguas; Aguas de Marco; E Luxo So; Aluviao; Meu Silencio (Velho Companheiro); Vatapa

Behind the Scenes - The making of Lado B Brazilian Project 2: great work, harvest a wonderful recording

The program begins with Antônio Carlos Jobim’s “Passarim,” a piece that DeLuna has known since she was gifted the recording as a child. The melancholy piece compares man’s destruction of nature to fleeting love, with Ruíz’s arrangement providing driving motion and elements of nature enhanced by a background choir. The theme of Chico Buarque de Hollanda’s “Mar e Lua” remains prescient as it speaks of the dangers of love between two women and their sad story. Ruíz’s arrangement is cinematic in scope and assisted by Carol Robbins' elegant harp playing. The simplicity of Vicente Barreto and Paulo César Pinheiro’s adventurous “Na Volta Que O Mundo Dá” makes the piece’s beauty instantly infectious.

 

Dorival Caymmi’s naively suggestive “Requebre Que Eu Dou Um Doce” gets a playful choro arrangement for its agile melody featuring Sheppard’s lithe clarinet and Bruno Mangueira’s acoustic guitar. It took some time and living for DeLuna to want to attempt Ivan Lins and Vitor Martins’ heartbreaking and romantic “Choro Das Águas,” an undercelebrated piece by the master songwriters. DeLuna is joined by vocalist Fabio Cadore on this song, accompanied by Sheppard’s soulful tenor sax. “Águas de Março {Waters of March)” is one of Jobim’s most beloved songs and DeLuna and Ruíz knew they would have to transform it to pull off a new interpretation. Ruíz reverses the simple harmony and adds Sheppard’s flute and Jimmy Branly's Udu clay pot for an Indian motif that heightens the connection between the rains of Brazil and the monsoons of Southeastern Asia. 

Ary Barroso and Luiz Peixoto’s “É Luxo Só” celebrates the luxury of dancing and is a perfect vehicle to showcase the drumming of Ribeiro in duo with DeLuna. The couple fell in love with “Aluvião,” written by friends Delia Fischer and Sérgio Natureza. Their impactful arrangement leans into a supernatural feeling as the tune speaks of the washing away of love like floodwaters taking sediment to the sea. Claudio Nucci and Luiz Fernando Gonçalves’ emotionally charged “Meu Silêncio” recalls a somber attempt to reach a friend that has passed away. Derek Oles' acoustic bass adds balance to the somber ballad. The program concludes with Caymmi’s “Vatapá,” the fun and snappy piece that lists a recipe for a classic Brazilian meal performed by DeLuna and Ruíz in a moving duo.

Your Bossa Jazz combines elements of traditional samba with jazz influences, especially in its complex harmonies and rhythmic patterns.

It is easy to become attached to tradition when performing Brazilian song. CATINA DELUNA and OTMARO RUÍZ use their unique voices to create a stand-out experience with the brilliant source material of Brazilian songwriters on their new recording, LADO B BRAZILIAN PROJECT 2.

In 2016, Deluna and Ruiz recorded Lado B Brazilian Project with top-tier Los Angeles-based musicians guitarist Larry Koonse, bassist Edwin Livingston, saxophonist Bob Sheppard, percussionist Aaron Serfaty and drummer Alex Acuña. Although the album was an independent project with limited resources and no promotion, they earned a GRAMMY nomination for BEST ARRANGEMENT, INSTRUMENTS AND VOCALS.

Catina Deluna:

Born in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, Catina DeLuna grew up in a musical environment. Her father is a music lover and a huge supporter of local musicians, and her mother, a classical music aficionado. Catina grew up with frequent gatherings of musicians in her home, called saraus, where music played all night long. These seminal memories served as her first musical education and would become the primary inspiration for the unique musician Catina has become. A Bossa Nova fan in her teens, Catina fell in love with jazz piano. She began her performing career at age sixteen, playing solo piano in local venues and recording jingles both as a pianist and singer at top studios. Later, she received a B.A. in Brazilian Popular Music at the prestigious UNICAMP University in São Paulo and a M.M.A in Music at Northern Illinois University. Additionally, she served as a visiting scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Catina fuses genres in a unique blend of jazz and traditional Brazilian music, all with a melting tone, agile and emotive phrasing, and a singular, warm timbre. Whether singing or playing the piano, Catina is deeply informed by her experience composing and arranging, offering a sophisticated, evocative performance that only exists in a lifelong listener to Brazilian music, a speaker of its native tongue, and the extraordinary vision and musicianship to reimagine the genre in a contemporary context. Catina founded and developed two award winning musical groups in Brazil. In the United States, her debut album, "Catina DeLuna & Lado B Brazilian Project featuring Otmaro Ruiz” co-led by master pianist and arranger Mr. Ruiz received a GRAMMY nomination in 2016.

DeLuna’s voice is warm, clear and unaffected. There is authenticity to her approach, sound and style. As a native Portuguese speaker, she embodies the language and it contributes significantly to the effectiveness and effortless storytelling she conveys in her work.

She is equally accomplished at the piano. Vocally, she is technically savvy without sacrificing one iota of her performance prowess nor relying on licks or histrionics. She sings beautifully with a range of emotions with the same efficacy of legendary singers like Elis Regina, Gal Costa, or Tania Maria while being unrestrained in her presentation.
She was nominated for a Grammy in 2016 for Best Arrangement.

Otmaro Ruiz:

Considered one of the most important jazz pianists in the current scene, venezuelan Otmaro Ruiz is known for his versatility and virtuosity. After working intensively in Venezuela with artists such as Soledad Bravo and Ilan Chester, Otmaro moves to Los Angeles in 1989 to join the group of great names of the jazz world such as Alex Acuña, Justo Almario y Abraham Laboriel, with whom still collaborates in diverse projects.

With an intense musical career, filled with concerts, workshops and recordings worldwide, Otmaro worked for 5 years with Dianne Reeves as a pianist and musical director. During this period, Otmaro participated in the recording project of her CD “In The Moment – Live in Concert”, which won the Grammy Award 2001. In that same year, Alex Acuna’s album “Acuarelas de Tambores, also with Otmaro’s collaboration, was nominated to a Grammy. His collaboration with Weston Woods Studios for the Scholastic Series of animated children videos have won important recognitions like the “2004 Audie Award” in the Children Production Category and Bronze Remi at the 2004 Worldfest-Houston International Film Festival (for the Soundtrack of “Chato and The Party Animals”); Otmaro also received a Life Time Special Award “International Exposure” from the Venezuelan National Artist’s Institute (for outstanding career in a foreign country). In 2012, Otmaro was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Musical Arts from Shepherd University. His work as an arranger was recognized by the American Academy of Recording Arts with a 2016 Grammy Nomination and a double Latin Grammy Award Nomination in 2019.
The long list of re-known musicians with whom Otmaro works, constantly confirms his versatility, proving that this jazz giant sails with ease in many different styles, from Straight-Ahead jazz to Pop-Rock, from the most authentic Salsa & Afro-Cuban to the most exciting Fusion, with unusual ability to express his own language both at the acoustic piano and in the electronic world of synthesizers. Among these amazing artists: John McLaughlin, Randy Brecker & Bill Evans’ SoulBop Project, Simon Phillips’ Protocol, Tito Puente, Arturo Sandoval, John Patitucci, Paquito D’Rivera, Jing Chi, Nana Caymmi, Dori Caymmi, Akira Jimbo, Frank Gambale, Peter Erskine, David Weckl, Art Davis Quintet, Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra, Alain Caron, Gino Vannelli, Tolu, Frank Morgan, Robben Ford, Vinnie Colaiuta and Jon Anderson.
Regarded as one of the most sought-after keyboardists for recordings in today’s scene, Otmaro is still able to dedicate time to teaching, scoring of movie sound-tracks and to the production of his works as a leader with original compositional material, captured in the CDs “Otmaro Ruiz plays Ryuichi Sakamoto”, “Distant Friends”, “Nothing to Hide”, “Latino” and in his most recent album “Sojourn”. Released in September 2008, Sojourn encompasses the rhythmic complexity, harmonic sophistication and melodic beauty of his most recent compositions, under the architecture of a constant equilibrium, and presented with his own quartet, with the talented Jimmy Branly (drums), Carlos Del Puerto (acoustic bass) y Ben Wendel (saxophones and bassoon). In 2015, Otmaro produces and releases the album “Catina DeLuna and LADO B Brazilian Project featuring Otmaro Ruiz”, earning his first Grammy Nomination in the Arranging category, and in 2018,”Elemental” is released, featuring legendary bassist Jimmy Haslip and Jimmy Branly. “Elemental” marks the realization of a long time dream of producing a more electric infused Fusion project. “Elemental” generated international accolades and a double nomination at the Latin Grammy Awards in the categories of Best Arrangement and Best Jazz Album.
Otmaro Ruiz worked as Jazz Piano Faculty at University of Southern California (USC), at Cornell School of Contemporary Music at Shepherd University, has been a frequent guest clinician at Los Angeles Music Academy (LAMA), at Musicians Institute (MI) and continues to travel the world not only as a performer, but also as an educator, dictating workshops and Masterclasses in top conservatories.

Viva The Latin Jazz!!

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Note: The bestselling book "The Bible of Latin Jazz" by writer and musicologist Luis Raul Montell is now available on Amazon.