Wagner Tiso Albums

What The Critics Say

An album of instrumental Brazilian music, not a jazz album. Many would resent the distinction, but not Wagner Tiso. Very fond of the truest Brazilian musical tradition, Wagner kept improvisation at the minimum here. Instead, he highlighted his talents as a pianist/composer/arranger/orchestrator. This album brings Wagner at the piano and the eight figures of the Rio Cello Ensemble, joined by Márcio Montarroyos (flügelhorn/trumpet) and Nico Assumpção (bass) on a couple of tracks, and recorded live at the extinct Jazzmania nightclub in Rio. The compositions, chosen between highly representative names of the Brazilian classical (Villa-Lobos) and popular music, both modern and old, Wagner included, draw a faithful representation of Brazil, not very much known: that country's culture was constituted through classical European civilization, in dialectical synthesis with the African contribution. American jazz music couldn't be out of the rich set of influences, and it inspired the arrangements for Caetano Veloso's "Dom de Iludir" and some other passages. Minor flaws such as the lacking of a more authoritative Brazilian swing or more adventurous writing in Waldir Azevedo's "Brasileirinho," along with some funk bass playing, can be fully absorbed in an album where the classical side of the synthesis arises as Wagner's personal style. ~ Alvaro Neder, All Music Guide