AVAILABLE NOW:
Composer/Pianist ROGER DAVIDSON Melds
Multifaceted Sounds of Brazil with French Roots on
Latest Soundbrush Records Release, Journey to Rio
Double-Disc Release Featuring 28 Original Davidson Compositions Recorded in Rio de Janeiro
Alongside Producer Pablo Aslan
"Davidson is an impeccable player..." - JazzTimes
Soundbrush Records is proud to release pianist Roger Davidson's new album, Journey to Rio (available now). Recorded in Rio de Janeiro, the project features a wide range of top-flight Brazilian musicians and was produced by Pablo Aslan, the gifted Argentine bassist.
For Roger Davidson,
music is a world without boundaries. Both as a composer and pianist, he
has a fearless reach. Though often termed a classical artist, Davidson
has explored tango, klezmer, Latin music, and jazz in recent years,
however he has always held the multifaceted sounds of Brazil especially
close to his heart. His long-standing passion for Brazilian music has
resulted in several albums, including Bom Dia (2007) and Brazilian Love Song (2009). His latest, Journey to Rio (available now on Soundbrush Records, co-founded by Davidson in 1998), is a double-disc release showcasing 28 original Brazilian compositions.
Having
traveled the world to learn about all styles of music, international
synergy is in Davidson's blood. Born in Paris to a French mother and
American father, his family relocated to New York shortly after.
Davidson began playing piano at the age of four, ultimately discovering
the bossa nova recordings of Stan Getz at age 10 through his babysitter
playing Getz' Big Band Bossa Nova. "That was the start of my
lifelong love affair with Brazilian music. I thought it was beguiling,
uplifting, sexy, relaxing, and very melodic. It made me want to go to
Brazil to find out where the music came from." Nearly fifty years later,
he found out.
In
October 2011, accompanied by Aslan, Davidson took his first trip to
Brazil with the intention recording this project. "I've been living with
the music for forty years," he says, "so it was almost like a
homecoming." Most of his eight days there, which he spent in Rio de
Janeiro, were occupied by six recording sessions.
Journey to Rio features
deeply emotional Brazilian love songs alongside Davidson's French
inspired compositions. These compositions enforce a sense of rooted
emotion that melds Davidson's vast life experiences of international
culture with the modern expressions of Brazilian jazz. With
Davidson melody always comes first. "Any music has to start with a
strong melodic line," he asserts. Like Debussy with his Preludes,
Davidson gives his compositions titles that evoke scenes suggested by
the music. They focus largely on love and nature, the prevailing themes
of the bossa nova. Meanwhile, he pays more than passing respect to the
moody, pulsing sound he heard on those Getz bossa records.
The sessions include two respected bassists: bossa nova veteran and acoustic player Sérgio Barrozo and electric bassist Ney Conceição, who was a longtime collaborator of João Bosco. The resulting line-up of trombonist Gilmar Ferreira, soprano and tenor saxophonist Marcelo Martins, percussionist Marco Lobo, guitarist Leonardo Amuedo, and alternating drummers Paulo Braga and Rafael Barata showcases some of Rio's finest musicians.
Ultimately, Davidson's entire career and love of international jazz has led up to the release of Journey to Rio.
"It's been a great blessing that I've been able to do so many things
well, and that they feel natural, as part of the global musical
vocabulary I've developed," he says. "I feel a lot of empathy for all
kinds of good music - music that really comes from the heart and that
seeks to communicate passion and positive feelings."
| Roger Davidson in Brazil - Soundbrush Records |
Upcoming Roger Davidson Appearances:
June 14 / Zinc Bar / New York, NY
Roger Davidson· Journey To Rio
Soundbrush Records · Release Date: June 11, 2013
For more information on Roger Davidson, please visit: rogerdavidsonmusic.net
For more information on Soundbrush Records, please visit: soundbrush.com
For media information, please contact:
DL Media · 610-667-0501
Don Lucoff · don@dlmediamusic.com
Amy Miller · amy@dlmediamusic.com
Information and press materials (including album covers, promotional photos
and bios) on all DL Media artists can be found at our new website: dlmediamusic.com
