Concert Review: Bill Frisell and Vinicius Cantuária – Lagrimas Mexicanas

Did you ever listen to the classic jazz album “Getz/Gilberto”, you know, the album with the timeless classic song “ The Girl from Ipanema”? That record, which came out in 1964, brought the sounds of Brazilian Bossa Nova to the world, and is a standard by which all other Brazilian music is compared.

So when I went to see and hear one of my favorite guitar players, Bill Frisell at Jazz Alley July 29, being joined by Vinicius Cantuária, I knew I was going to hear something special. But with the show being billed as “Lagrimas Mexicanas”, I was expecting more of a Mexican musical flavor. Much to my surprise, this was the next best thing to hearing “Getz/Gilberto” in concert.

Bill Frisell has become one of the great guitarists in the world that can play any type of guitar music. I became aware of his music over 20 years ago with his early jazz recordings to his soundtrack interpretations of the likes of Buster Keaton. I had always enjoyed Frisell’s guitar stylings, subtle but very much there and present.

Vinicius Cantuária has been recording since 1982 and has played with a list of some my favorite artists including Brian Eno, Laurie Anderson, Marc Ribot, David Byrne and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Seeing and hearing him on acoustic guitar, his lovely melodies filled the space between Frisell’s atmospheric guitar riffs, that made for a wonderful collaboration. Vinicius Cantuária sang in Portuguese, which took you right into the Bossa Nova groove and allowed for a pleasant trip back in time to 1964 when the music seemed to blow through the coastal breezes of Rio de Janeiro.