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03-04-2008, 06:00 PM
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Builder for Audiokinesis and Fearful speakers Endorser for EA, Roscoe | | | | | voice leading
When playing a bossa or samba there are times where root to fifth isn't the best choice. I'm a real stickler with students about the best note choices leading into chords. Some of the best advice I got early in my career from a very experienced Brazilian player---initially think you are just playing a 2 beat---forget the leading rythmic notes. So your voice leading is similar to when you are playing a swing 2 beat. Chromaticism, tritone subs, octaves---the same rules apply. The advantage of hearing bossas like you would approach a 2 beat is that while Brazilian music has more forward motion than Afro- Cuban music, there is simutaneously a relaxed legato swing to it. Most players new to Brazilian music jump on beat 3 too much, or the anticated note leading into beat 3. I've learned this the hard way. I remember many times being in the studio and thinking that I was laying down a hip, funky Brazilian line and then listening to the playback and realizing that it sounded too nervous and broken up. Next take I'd simplify my line and play more relaxed and legato. While it seemed a bit pedestrian to me at the time, listening back-- it felt just right. As was said before listen to the Brazilian masters. Don't listen to the Brazilian chopmeisters---listen to guys like Luizao and other late 60's and 70's guys. As much as I respect and admire bassists like John Pattitucci and others, if I wanted to learn about walking feels, I'd be listening to Sam Jones, Ray Brown, PC, Ron Carter. Same thing with the Brazilians. As I've grown older and hopefully wiser I've realized that the most difficult chops to attain are the chops that make a walking line feel perfect. Or a samba sit perfecly in the pocket. While I've received compliments about solos and other technical stuff the compliment that meant the most to me was having Hermeto give me a bear hug and say " man, you got a great samba feel "
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03-04-2008, 06:22 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Brooklyn NY /SUNY Purchase | | | Check out Nilson Matta. The only recordings I have of him are with trio da paz, but he also plays with Ray Vega a lot and many other killin latin guys. |
03-05-2008, 01:55 AM
|  | Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor | | Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Brighton, England, UK, Europe | | Quote:
Originally Posted by hdiddy  That's not playing music. That's an exercise in narcissicm or envy.  | I agree - hence the temptation to "sabotage" their ego trip with some "interesting" rhythmic variations!!! 
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“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.”
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03-09-2008, 04:22 AM
| | | | I'd like to recommend a DVD that's like a Brazilian masterclass:
"Gal Costa canta Tom Jobim ao vivo" - an ultimate lesson in taste over chops.
I really enjoy listening to virtuosos like Ney Conceição too, but this DVD was an eye-opener. |
03-09-2008, 10:12 AM
|  | Moderator Moderator | | Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Bloomington, IN | | Quote:
Originally Posted by BassFelt "Gal Costa canta Tom Jobim ao vivo" - an ultimate lesson in taste over chops. | I heard a recording of her doing "Dindi" with Jobim at the piano on the radio last week and I about had to pull the car over. I actually called the radio station to get her name; what gorgeous music. |
03-10-2008, 12:58 PM
|  | Official Forum Flunkee | | Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: San Francisco, CA | | Ooooh... dig that bassline! Very different and very awesome.
I think it's easier to get away with playing solely on the 2 & 4 when you have a good drum section that includes a guitar & tamborim. Hrmmmm.....
EDIT: Here's another Gal Costa example with a great surdo-like bass. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j46Yr...eature=related
I'll take Gal Costa's voice over Astrud's any day of the week.
Last edited by hdiddy : 03-10-2008 at 01:03 PM.
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03-10-2008, 01:47 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Ridgewood, NJ | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Clay_Bass Check out Nilson Matta. The only recordings I have of him are with trio da paz, but he also plays with Ray Vega a lot and many other killin latin guys. | It's about time his name was mentioned.
The last time I saw him, he played the entire first set in 2. I have never heard 2 swing so hard in my life. It's one of those things that sound so simple that we take it for granted and do a half-a$$ed job.
Another point: Brazilian and Afro-Cuban bass playing are opposites. Too many Americans amalgamate the two, to the detriment of the integrity of Brazilian music.
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03-11-2008, 02:57 AM
| | Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor | | Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Brighton, England, UK, Europe | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Higdon It's about time his name was mentioned.
The last time I saw him, he played the entire first set in 2. I have never heard 2 swing so hard in my life. It's one of those things that sound so simple that we take it for granted and do a half-a$$ed job.
Another point: Brazilian and Afro-Cuban bass playing are opposites. Too many Americans amalgamate the two, to the detriment of the integrity of Brazilian music. | There are so many different South and Central American genres and the bass lines are crucially very different for say a Cuban Son, Rhumba or maybe a Merengue...?
But I have listened to a fair amount of contemporary Brazilian music and it is a melting pot for genres - so I have heard the same tune played by Brazilian bands with hugely different styles - on one recording with a Jamaican Reggae "One drop" style, on another with a hard funk bass line and also as a Jazz ballad! I have heard Brazilian records which are techno/disco versions of Bossas!! 
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