JACKSON CONTI: THE SOUTHLAND MEETS SÃO PAOLO
Jackson Conti: Upa Neguinho
From Sujinho (Mochilla, 2008)
The music and rhythms of Brazil have been a passion of Brian Cross (aka photographer B+) for years, but even more intensely since 2002, when he traveled to São Paolo to film Brasilintime, a documentary celebrating the country's sonic culture. Like B+'s first documentary, Keepintime, he's drawn to the kinetic complexities of percussion and he's encouraged collaborations between U.S. DJs and drummers and their Brazilian counterparts. The Jackson Conti project is very much in that vein, pairing the über-prolific Los Angeles producer Madlib with famed Brazilian drummer Ivan "Mamão" Conti.
Conti, better known as Mamão, came to fame as the drummer for the jazz fusion trio, Azymuth, and the way he and Madlib put together Sujinho plays to both men's strengths. Mamão laid down a series of rhythm tracks - pure percussion - which Madlib then sat with and eventually reworked into the final songs here. Fans of Madlib's YNQ style will be pleased here: lots of mellifluent keys and off-kilter rhythmic twists but Conti's drumming anchors the songs, providing a strong, organic core that allows Madlib to creatively swirl around.
"Upa Neguinho" was the first single off the album and it's a cover of a popular bossa nova track, best associated with Elis Regina (on the Jackson Conti version, Thalma de Freitas helms the vocals. You can hear Conti's thunderous drumming from jump - dropping hard and heavy - before Freitas' voice comes soaring in, lightly complemented by Madlib's sprinkling of keys. The overall song is bright and cheery in the best traditions of bossa nova but Mamão's drums layer a dazzling thicket of polyrhythms underneath that's a few steps more complex than some of the bossa you may be used to. Be sure to check out "Tijuca Man" too for some rawer, more uncut Mamão madness.
Tags: brazilian
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