Coming inside from a bitterly cold winter’s night in Melbourne it took the audience, with their encumbrances, some time to squeeze along the extremely narrow rows to their seats in the Recital Centre. This awkward situation detracts from the ambience of this elegant venue. However, the superb acoustics soon removed the irritation as the caressing sounds of the Orquestra Do Brasil transported listeners straight to the warmth of South America. Centred around the well-honed skills of Musical Director, Doug De Vries, this specially formed orchestra of Australian talent performed faultlessly. As a leading exponent of Brazilian guitar music and a composer in his own right, De Vries, with Matt McMahon on Piano; Gideon Brazil, Flute; Alastair Parson, trombone; Jorge Alberqueque, guitar and Alastair McGrath-Kerr, drums and percussion, delivered a seductive rhythm that soon engulfed the audience like the rolling waves on the beach, so exquisitely described in many of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s compositions.
They’re sublime, romantic melodies that take you to the people and places that Jobim loved, like the promenade in Ipanema where he watched the beautiful, sensual woman glide by without so much as glancing at him. ‘The Girl from Ipanema’ became a Grammy award-winning hit in the 1960s as Brazilian bassa-nova rhythms captured hearts world-wide. But it wasn’t only the sound that stirred hearts, it was the words: ‘Love is the saddest thing when it goes away’ and ‘What is the evening without you, it’s nothing’ and ‘No More Blues.’
If you’ve been used to hearing Astrud Gilberto or Diana Krall singing Jobim’s melodies, it may have taken a moment of adjustment to tune in to the slightly raspy delivery by Vince Jones but his opening song, ‘How Insensitive,’ immediately put aside any doubts that this renowned vocalist’s interpretation of Jobim’s genius was going to be unforgettable.
The wonderful thing about singers who’ve been around for several decades is that, while their voices may change a little, the clarity of the words remains the same and, in that dimension, Jones is truly an expert. He sings with the words and around them, manipulating them with light and shade, to bring the maximum depth of soul in them to the fore. His interpretation of all manner of songs is always unique and has you on the edge of your seat as he clings to each syllable, each phrase – what will he do with it? It never disappoints and no more so than his rendition of ‘Dindi’, the name of a farm in Brazil which Jobim used to visit with friends, including Brazilian singer, Sylvia Telles, to whom the song is dedicated. As the orchestra left the stage, Jones, who also has a special love for the bush, performed the song , with a darkened background and only the piano accompaniment of his personal Musical Director, Matt McMahon. The effect was rivetting and the applause resounding.
This evening was perfection in so many ways except for a few technicalities that seem to show themselves in contrast to the performances of artists from overseas. I cannot condemn the microphone Jones used. It worked perfectly for his songs but the sparse lines of introductory patter in between were almost indistinguishable and there was that casual attitude of paying tribute to the other performers who helped make his performance so easy. A wave of the hand in different directions and names, only mumbled, is unforgiveable.
4 ½ stars out of 5
Jobim’s Masterpieces – From Ipanema to the World
Vince Jones and the Orquestra Do Brasil
Musical Director: Doug De Vries
Melbourne Recital Centre
10 June 2017
Melbourne International Jazz Festival
melbournejazz.com
2-11 June 2017
