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Duduka Da Fonseca Trio: Rio Fantasia

After 15 years in operation, the Duduka Da Fonseca Trio remains one of the most vital Brazilian combos in the business. Since forming this Rio de Janeiro-based unit with pianist David Feldman and bassist Guto Wirtti back in 2009, the celebrated leader/drummer/composer has created an impressive body of work highlighting a triangular symbiosis like no other. With Plays Toninho Horta (Zoho Music, 2011) and Plays Dom Salvador (Sunnyside Records, 2018), Da Fonseca paid tribute to two giants of the genre while putting his own uniquely vibrant slant on their respective oeuvres; for New Samba Jazz Directions (Zoho Music, 2013) he built on drummer Edison Machado's groundbreaking Brazilian-jazz rhythmic mergers of the '60s and his own ebullient trio innovations (with pianist Cesarius Alvim and bassist Richard Santos) in the '70s; and through Jive Samba (Zoho Music, 2015) he flipped the script, focusing on American jazz standards influenced by Brazilian currents.

Returning to Rio and musically investing in its splendors for this project, Da Fonseca now adds to that trio story with a well-balanced program saluting Cidade Maravilhosa and honoring his mother and her guiding light. Four choice Brazilian covers capture the sonic spirit of the city and the personalities at play, and four originals—one a piece from the leader and Wirtti, two from Feldman—bring out the best in what these composers have to offer. Opening on Feldman's "Navegar," the band balances brooding and buoyant sentiments within a variegated modal framework. Then pliant rhythms introduce sparkling tides as trio mates excitedly kick Horta's "Soccer Ball" around the field. Effervescent escapism at its finest, it's also a shining example of what comes of high-level communication.

Continuing on, Da Fonseca and company give Francis Hime's "Minha" a metric facelift, rebranding it as a swaying downtempo waltz, and bring vocalist Maucha Adnet and tenor saxophonist Paolo Levi into the picture for a wafting and wondrous look at Antonio Carlos Jobim and Chico Buarque's "Retrato em Branco e Preto." Then, shifting gears, the trio engages in puckish interplay over a comfortably paced samba feel on Feldman's "Esqueceram de Mim No Aeroporto," relaxes into airy reverie for Johnny Alf's "Eu e a Brisa" and nods to the town where Wirtti grew up, painting scenery with the bassist's tuneful, waltzing "Santa Maria." Closing the program with his own "Manhattan Style," Da Fonseca uses the kit to brilliantly meld Big Apple boldness with Brazilian daring, connecting both of his home bases with serious style. When it comes to latter day samba jazz stylists, Duduka Da Fonseca is a school unto himself. And with Rio Fantasia, this longstanding trio under his leadership continues to uphold its singularity.