Maucha Adnet & Helio Alves, Milagre

For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all tasks, and the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation. Rainer Maria Rilke

MILAGRE ("Miracle") is the debut ZOHO release by one of the most exceptionally soulful Brazilian jazz singers of our time, Maucha Adnet, and her duo partner, one of the foremost lyrical and swinging virtuosos of contemporary jazz piano, Helio Alves, and it is truly a labor of love and wonder, on many levels, and in many ways.

This heartfelt and continually miraculous recording represents the culmination of two great artists working together in a variety of musical contexts over the course of two productive decades, for the first time ever in the musically demanding "vocals and piano" duo format.

On MILAGRE, Maucha and Helio explore the inner and outer boundaries of 14 classic anthems of love, loss, longing, and life's celebration by Brazilian master musical story tellers such as Dori Caymmi, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Hermeto Pascoal, Edu Lobo, Moacir Santos, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and others.
Milagre most literally translates from Portuguese into English as "miracle," and this dynamic duo constantly reminds us here of one of the most miraculous possibilities of human life and song.

For the final decade of the legendary composer Antonio Carlos Jobim's illustrious life, from 1984 to 1994, Maucha Adnet performed and recorded with Maestro Jobim and his group Banda Nova. For the past twenty years, Maucha has been singing and playing all over the world with her own ensembles, as well as being a special guest soloist with Trio Da Paz, Claudio Roditi, Duduka Da Fonseca, Helio Alves, Oscar Castro-Neves, Slide Hampton, Herbie Mann, and Randy Brecker. 

The exciting Brazilian pianist and composer Helio Alves began performing with singer Maucha Adnet shortly after he moved to New York City following his musical studies in Boston in 1993. Helio is one of the most in-demand sidemen in all of jazz, having worked extensively with Joe Henderson, Paquito D'Rivera, Gato Barbieri, Joyce, Airto Moreira, Rosa Passos, and many others.

Dori Caymmi and Nelson Motta's O Cantador was one of the first two songs that Maucha and Helio performed as a duo, and Maucha's relationship with Dori Caymmi dates back to her earliest days with Jobim, when Dori was playing guitar with the Maestro in 1984 at the Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro. This profoundly moving melody speaks about the unstoppable power of a soul's song to transcend our pain and human limitations.

Maucha explains, "I have a special love for a lot of Gilberto Gil's songs. Ever since I first heard Joao Gilberto's recording of Eu Vim da Bahia, which means 'I came from Bahia, to sing, to tell, a lot of the beautiful things that Bahia has. It has my ground, my sky, my sea. I came from Bahia, but I'll be back there, one day I'll be back there again."

read more: http://www.zohomusic.com/cds_detail.php?cds_id=120

Live in Blue Bay 2010. Maucha Adnet, Helio Alves, Duduka da Fonseca, Ark Ovrutski

Helio Alves CD Release Show for Música Blue Note....

Helio Alves CD Release Show for Música, on Jazz Legacy Productions (JLP)

Blue Note Sunday Brunch Series:
Helio Alves: Piano
Hans Glawischnig : Bass
Donald Edwards: Drums

"Highly recommended" - Ken Dryden, All Music Guide

"This latest release by Brazilian pianist Helio Alves proves, without a question, that he belongs among the top rank of today's keyboard artists." - Bob Bernotas, Host of WNTI's Just Jazz

"...[Alves) penchant for articulate self-expression within multiple functions and styles keeps him busy on several New York scenes." - Ted Panken, Down Beat Magazine.

Duduka da Fonseca & Helio Alves

"Drummer Da Fonseca perhaps the best Brazilian trap drummer of his generation, plays with uncommon mix of finesse and drive.”- Mark Holston (Jazziz)

"Alves' work melds a percussive edge with a lively, fluent right hand..." - John Ephland (Downbeat Magazine)

 
Featuring:
Maucha Adnet - Vocals
Claudio Roditi - Trumpet & Flugelhorn
Toninho Horta - Guitars & Vocals
Marc Johnson - Acoustic Bass
Helio Alves - Piano
Duduka Da Fonseca - Drums & Percussion

Appearing at:
Dizzy's Club Coca Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall - Jazz at Lincoln Center Broadway at 60th Street, 5th Floor. Online reservations: http://www.jalc.org/dccc

Tue-Sun, April 27-May 2, 2010
7:30pm and 9:30pm sets nightly with an 11:30pm set on Friday & Saturday

At The Kitano....

The Kitano

66 Park Avenue@ 38th Street

HELIO ALVES QUARTET
CD Release Event for "It's Clear"
Friday & Saturday, November 27 & 28, 2 sets: 8 PM and 10 PM

Helio Alves: Piano
Romero Lubambo: Guitar (Friday)
Dave Binney: Saxophone (Saturday)
Scott Colley: Bass
Alex Kautz: Drums

"It's Clear is not only a brilliant piano recital, it is also an ambitious group project..."
Thomas Conrad in Jazz Times Magazine
"Highly recommended"
Ken Dryden, All Music Guide
"This latest release by Brazilian pianist Helio Alves proves, without a question, that he belongs among the top rank of today's keyboard artists."
Bob Bernotas, Host of WNTI's Just Jazz
"...[Alves) penchant for articulate self-expression within multiple functions and styles keeps him busy on several New York scenes."
Ted Panken, Down Beat Magazine

Helio Alves......

Pianist & Composer
Helio Alves was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1966 and started piano lessons at age 6. Following his early immersion in playing the pop standards and classical music favored by his parents, he gravitated to jazz in his teens. Alves moved to Boston to study at Berklee College of Music and received his BA in 1990. In Boston he met trumpeter Claudio Roditi, who advised the 24-year old pianist to move to New York City, and urged him to get in touch when he arrived.

Alves eventually moved to New York City in 1993. Since then pianist and composer Helio Alves has received high praise as an in-demand sideman with Joe Henderson, Yo-Yo Ma, Paquito D'Rivera, Gato Barbieri, Dave Samuels, Airto Moreira & Flora Purim and Oscar Castro-Neves, to name but a few. Alves has recorded two Reservoir releases with Roditi, Samba Manhattan Style (1995) and Double Standards (1997). He is also featured on Roditi's 2009 release "Brazilliance X4 (Resonance).

From 1995 to 1997, Alves toured extensively with Joe Henderson's DoubleRainbow Quartet celebrating the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim, and was featured in the Grammy-winning release, Joe Henderson's Big Band (Verve, 1996). Alves was the pianist on Grammy-winning releases by Yo-Yo Ma (Obrigado Brazil, 2003) and Paquito D’Rivera (Brazilian Dreams, 2002), and on the Grammy-nominated Samba Jazz Fantasia (Malandro Records, 2002), by Duduka Da Fonseca.

His growing discography includes releases by Rosa Passos (Amorosa, SONY/Classical, 2004), Joyce (Samba Jazz e Outras Bossas, Far Out Recordings, 2007), Louis Hayes ( The Time Keeper, 2009), Slide Hampton (Slide Plays Jobim, 2002), Gino Sitson (Bamisphere, 2005, and Way To Go, 2009) and Brazilian Trio (Zoho, 2008). He's also been featured on recordings and performances with The Caribbean Jazz Project, Phil Woods, Herbie Mann, Gal Costa, Sadao Watanabe, Randy Brecker, Don Braden, Santi Debriano, Hendrik Meurkens, Paul Winter, David Sanchez, Harry Allen, The New York Voices, Andy Narell, Mike Stern among many others.

Helio has also released three albums under his own name "Trios" (Reservoir Music, 1998), featuring John Patitucci, Al Foster, Nilson Matta and Duduka Da Fonseca, "Portrait in Black & White" (Reservoir Music, 2004) featuring Matt Wilson and Santi Debriano and "It's Clear" (Reservoir Music, 2009) featuring Romero Lubambo, Scott Colley and Ernesto Simpson.

Helio Alves, Oscar Stagnaro, Alberto Netto - Montreux