(Reprinted from the June 2023 issue of Downbeat magazine)
Photo: Artist website
A pair of mountains along the Ipanema coastline serves as inspiration for Two Brothers, the latest offering from Brazilian guitarists Chico Pinheiro and Romero Lubambo. The 12 duets on this Sunnyside release give expression to the breadth of the instrumentalists’ musical passions, from classic sambas to jazz standards to contemporary pop. Whatever a song’s provenance, however, the co-creators approach the material with the rigor of an étude and the spirit of a jam session.
The melancholic air “Morro Dois Irmãos” gives the album its title; in this tune, an emotional storminess roils just beneath the surface. But these darker colors only limn the light-heartedness of the album’s other Brazilian selections, such as “Aquele Um,” with its vibrant rhythmic conviviality, and “Samba e Amor,” an exercise in nimble, intervallic soloing. The pair also joins forces on two popular Antônio Carlos Jobim tunes: “Red Blouse,” its sweetly articulated intro spilling into a profusion of cheery riffs on the head, and “Wave,” a soothing, bluesy mélange of both familiar and unpredictable ideas.
A bright take on Bill Evans’ “Waltz For Debby” benefits from the pair’s fluid, economical approach to melody, even as Henry Mancini’s “Sally's Tomato,” a lesser-known Songbook contender from Breakfast at Tiffiny’s, provides opportunity to expand into jagged harmonies and shifting tempi. Taking cinematic themes further, the pair uncover both the glint of hope in Michel Legrand’s somber ballad “Windmills of Your Mind” and the melodic sophistication in Sting’s “Until.” The biggest surprise on the album, however, is a gentle rendering of Billie Eilish’s “My Future, with its bended notes and jazz changes that land just this side of defiance.
Two Brothers: Aquele Um; Samba e Amor; Windmills of Your Mind; Red Blouse; Waltz for Debby; Wave; Send One Your Love; My Future; For No One; Morro Dois Irmãos; Sally's Tomato; Until (57:28)
Personnel: Chico Pinheiro, acoustic & electric guitars; Romero Lubambo, acoustic & electric guitars.