Handmade

Handmade Coming to Brazil 14 years ago was a kind of adventure that I expected to last only a couple of years. But private plans and destiny very often do not agree with each other. Now I'm married to my beautiful wife Marta, have three great kids: Stefan, Luisa and Clara, and I have met many marvelous people here. I am lucky to play with many of the very best Brazilian musicians and I've been learning a great variety of new musical styles and ways to play. Zé Eduardo Nazario and Alexandre Zamith became my partners almost 10 years ago and we continue to find opportunities to maintain our musical and personal friendship. I'm very pleased we managed to document some of the artistic material we've created during these years. Here are some comments about the music . . . 1) Don't Talk Crazy - I wrote this for a friend who is obsessed with the end of the world. The melody is in 5/4 and it stays in this meter on the B section where drums and bass do a metrical displacement. 2) A Xepa - Zé Eduardo Nazario wrote this song in 1976 when he was in Hermeto Pascoal's band. He composed the melody on a bamboo flute used in the Northeast of Brazil. The song uses a typical rhythm from the Northeast area, Baião - but Zé put his personal stamp on the tune by arranging it for jazz instruments. A Xepa, translated from Brazilian Portuguese, means 'our daily bread.' 3) Mil Saudades - is dedicated to my mum and my friend Jens Thurow who left us too early. 4) Lorca - Alexandre Zamith wrote this tune as homage to the Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca. The melody unfolds over a series of odd-meter combinations, mostly 6/8 and 7/8. In the improvisational section, the grouping of 6/8 and 7/8 totals a measure of 13/8. 5) Too Much, Charlie - The title of this song comes from an expression used often by Charlie Banacos during our lessons. Charlie was a legendary teacher in the Boston area and I had the privilege of studying with him for almost 5 years. He passed too soon, and I miss him a lot. 6 - 9) Suite For Jazz Trio 'Twelve Bars Down The Road I Met Youquot; - is dedicated to my wife Marta. We met at Berklee College of Music and played a lot of blues together. The entire suite is comprised of 4 movements. All of the movements are based in some way on the blues, although sometimes the connection is loose and/or very re-harmonized. 6) The Drums The first movement features the drum set by starting off with a solo and concludes with a bass melody and counterpoint based on a 12-tone row. My idea was 12 tones = 12 bars = blues. 7) The Bass - This movement is a feature for the upright bass in medium tempo with lots of double-stops. Although this is the most typical blues composition in the suite, the melody is actually 13 measures long. 8) The Piano - This movement is a very re-harmonized bluesy ballad in 3/4 meter. I particularly enjoy the impressionistic intro that Alexandre created. The last four chords of the form extend for free playing. 9) The Trio - This movement concludes the suite and is an up-tempo minor blues that features all 3 musicians. It ends on a G7sus chord, a dominant chord, which leaves everything open... Frank Herzberg São Paulo, Brazil 1st of September, 2011 It is my great pleasure to write a few words about the recording at hand. It is a product of the long-time artistic collaboration of three unique and special musicians. Each brings a lifetime of devotion and musical growth to their joint effort. Alexandre Zamith holds a Doctorate in Classical Perform