Marcos Silva: Brasil From Head to Toe

All of Brazil

— Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Marcos Silva (Rio de Janeiro, 1954) has a new album with ten original compositions. After being away from the recording spotlight for 30 years, he returns with a solid new album, Brasil From Head to Toe. Marcos Silva plays acoustic piano, synthesizer, tamborim, shaker, triangle, and classical guitar, and he is accompanied by stellar musicians, including Scott Thompson (bass), Mauricio Zoltarelli (drums), Gary Meek (sopranoo and alto saxes, clarinet, flute), Jeff Denson (double bass), and other special guests Grégoire Maret (harmonica), Jeff Buenz (electric guitar), Ricardo Peixoto (classical guitar), Dillon Vado (vibraphone), and a small string ensemble (violins, violas, cellos).

When you hear Brasil From Head to Toe, you inevitably wonder why Marcos Silva would have had such a long absence from the recording studio. In reality, this is his third solo album. Previously, he had released Here We Go (1987) and White & Black (1989). After those albums, his career took off as a musician’s musician with names including Flora Purim, Airto Moreira (he was their music director for 24 years), Paquito D’Rivera, Leny Andrade, Emilio Santiago, Marcio Montarroyos, Jon Lucien, Claudio Roditi, Dori Caymmi, Nana Caymmi, Danilo Caymmi, Edu Lobo, and Joyce, among a long roster of household name in Brazilian music.

Brasil From Head to Toe offers a good sample of Brazilian genres that will satisfy any Brazilian music lover. The opener, “Dos Pés à Cabeça” is a lively samba with great featured solos to spice things up right from the start. Incidentally, the song title is the Portuguese equivalent expression for the album title, except that in Portuguese, we reverse the word order and say from your “feet to your head” (literally). With “It’s Gone,” Gary Meek’s saxophone leads the way to a beautiful soft ballad. The track also features a classical guitar solo by Ricardo Peixoto. Grégoire Maret’s harmonica solo in “New Life” adds a relaxed mood to another memorable track. “Hathor,” says Silva, was inspired by a trip to Egypt, and that explains the Middle Eastern introduction influence you will hear on the track. Hathor was the goddess of love, sex, and music. The track is dynamic and high-powered with a terrific synthesizer solo. You might have heard the next track, “Dry Land,” in Herbie Mann’s 1994 album Opalescence or in Duduka da Fonseca‘s 2006 Samba Jazz in Black & White. So, it’s time now to hear the composer’s take on this baião with a great flute solo by Gary Meek. Marcos Silva definitely puts his mark on this arrangement.

Brasil From Head to Toe exhibits the fine musicianship from an artist who understands and feels Brazilian music very well. His experience throughout the years is evident in the compositions and arrangements he wrote and created. Guinga said it well and succinctly in the liner notes: “Brasil is proud of its son.” The album is pleasing from beginning to end.

ALBUM INFORMATION

Marcos Silva
Brasil From Head to Toe
Goose Egg GE-8003 (2019)
Time: 54″00′

Tracks (all music by Marcos Silva):