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Roger Davidson & Raul Juarena @ Americas Society

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Wednesday, 08 April 2009 10:06

 

passion

The first thing the audience at the Upper East Side venue noticed on this rainy Friday night was that Roger Davidson and Argentinean-born Raul Juarena had fantastic chemistry, and that was evident as they went through the songs from Pasión Por La Vida (Soundbrush). It's little wonder that the two musicians have a long history together, and have collaborated together in a handful of other recordings.

The concert opened with "Fuerza Milanguera," an original composition by Roger Davidson (who also wrote all the tunes on the disc). It was a great chose to kick the concert off with - the playing was vigorous and energetic, setting the tone for the rest of the program.  Up next was "Volveré," a more slow-tempo number that seemed to fit the ambience of that room - the unamplified instruments' sound reverberated on the walls, sending each nuance to fans' ears.

One of the first melodies that broke from the norm was "Si Loin de Toi" ("So Far Away From You"), a very romantic tune that centered mostly on Davidson's piano. The number is clearly influenced by Brazilian music and one could hear strains of Villa-Lobos and Ary Barroso in the melodic structure, which was a bit far away from the evening's more Argentinean feel.

Another great moment was "Canción de La Montaňa," a tune that Davidson said was inspired by what he'd imagined the mountains of the Andes would look like - before he had a chance to actually visit them.  Also memorable was "Tarde Soleada," a very nostalgic-sounding piece that reminded us of '40s-era chorinho. The tune (title translates as "Sunny Afternoon") had a very oprimistic groove, once again reminding us of Brazilian composers like Jobim and predecessors like Pixinguinha and Dorival Caymmi.

The concert closed with "La Cumparsita" (the sole cover in the entire program) played in a more sped-up arrangement that surprised us - it was a great opportunity for both Juarena and Davidson to improvise freely, giving the finale a jazzy edge.

Roger Davidson is one of these few American jazz composers who can cross over to Latin sounds without sounding fake. Last year's effort "Bom Dia" paid homage to Brazilian jazz and sounded as if we'd wandered into a Rio de Janeiro jazz club in the mid-fifties. The same goes with  Pasión Por La Vida- with the amazing Raul Juarena by his side, one could say that Davidson's heart is somewhere around the Avenida 9 de Julio - even if he was raised in the northeastern US.

 

words and images by Ernest Barteldes

 

 

 

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