Jazz guitarist Nate Najar and tenor saxophonist Scott Silbert along with Chuck Redd on drums and Tommy Cecil on bass, pay tribute to the landmark Charlie Byrd/Stan Getz album “Jazz Samba on the 50th anniversary of its recording and release on Saturday March 3
at 8:00 pm at the Mainstay in Rock Hall. Admission is $15. For information and reservations call 410-639-9133. Information is also available at the Mainstay’s website .
In 1961, Charlie Byrd went to Brazil on a State Department tour. There he met Antonio Carlos Jobim and João Gilberto. He brought their music back to the United States, introduced it to Stan Getz and convinced Getz to record an album with him.
50 years after it was recorded on February 13, 1962, Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz’s “Jazz Samba” remains a landmark recording in American music and in Jazz worldwide. Released in April 1962 on Verve, it set off a Bossa Nova craze in the United States.
It was the only jazz album to ever hit #1 on the Billboard pop chart, remained on the charts for 70 weeks, had a #1 hit single (“Desafinado”), introduced the Jobim standard “Samba de Uma Nota Só” (aka “One Note Samba”) and won Getz a Grammy.
Chuck Redd, who was Charlie Byrd’s drummer for many years (starting long after this recording) has recruited saxophonist Scott Silbert (from the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and the US Navy Commodores), guitarist Nate Najar and Tommy Cecil on bass to pay tribute to the album that reviewers have called “”crucial and groundbreaking” (Allaboutmusic.com), “pure rhythmic magic” (Allaboutjazz.com) and a “languorous combination of cool jazz and hot samba” (John Wilson in the New York Times). Longtime Mainstay supporters Marvel and Dick Evans are sponsoring the event.
The group will play the music from the “Jazz Samba” recording as well as some of Byrd’s later explorations of the wealth of Jobim material and other Brazilian music that he collected over a lifetime and played to the delight of audiences worldwide..
Redd says, “The sound of Charlie Byrd playing bossa nova has been in my ears ever since I can remember. His music, including ‘Jazz Samba’ was always playing in our house when I was growing up and I spent 19 years playing with Charlie beginning at age 21. Charlie shared his understanding and affection for the music of Brazil with the world and it all began with ‘Jazz Samba’ in 1962. Charlie Byrd’s unique interpretation of the Jobim classics occupies a special place in music history and in my heart.”
He added, “It’s impossible to imagine a saxophone sound more suited for bossa nova than that of Stan Getz. His soulful, melodic voice embodies the sensuality of this music. Scott Silbert is one of the few saxophonists today who carries on with sensitivity and feeling that captures the Getz mood while expressing a unique artistic vision.”
Scott Silbert is a multiple woodwind player and arranger who was born in Philadelphia PA, and is the chief arranger for the United States Navy Band. He began playing music after his family moved to Orlando, FL and attended Seminole Community College. He worked as a professional musician for 9 years at Walt Disney World before joining the Navy Band Commodores in 1991 on baritone sax.
He became part of the Navy Band arranging staff in 1999 and was appointed chief arranger in 2002. Since then he has composed/arranged more than 300 works for all of the performing groups of the Navy band. In addition, he has performed with or composed for the National Symphony Orchestra, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Natalie Cole, Stanley Turrentine, Rosemary Clooney, Bob Hope, Red Skelton, Quincy Jones, Andy Williams, Terry Gibbs, Scott Hamilton, Rich Little, the Spinners, the Temptations, the Four Tops, The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Michael Feinstein and many others.
Nate Najar is a young jazz guitarist from Florida who was heavily influenced by Charlie Byrd as he developed his own style. Though the two never met, Najar immersed himself in the study of Byrd’s music and techniques on the classical nylon string guitar. A student of jazz from Jobim’s Brazilian rhythms to the stylistic genius of guitar and piano innovators such as Barney Kessel, Django Reinhardt, Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans and of course, Charlie Byrd – Najar considers musicality central to his compositions and performances.
Together Silbert and Najar will recreate the Getz/Byrd magic of “Jazz Samba.”
The Mainstay (Home of Musical Magic) is the friendly informal storefront performing arts center on Rock Hall’s old time Main Street. It is a 501(c)(3), non profit dedicated to the arts, serving Rock Hal, MDl and the surrounding region and committed to presenting local, regional and national level talent, at a reasonable price, in an almost perfect acoustic setting. Wine, beer, sodas and snacks are available at the bar. The Mainstay is supported by ticket sales, fundraising including donations from friends and audience members and an operating grant from the Maryland State Arts Council. . For information and reservations call the Mainstay at 410-639-9133. More information is also available at the Mainstay’s website .
Upcoming Mainstay performances include:
March 8 Lynn Roberts Quartet
March 10 Quiet Storm
March 17 Warner Williams and Jay Summerour
March 24 Dick Morgan Trio
April 1 Kevin Clark Quartet
April 13 John Jorgenson Quintet
April 15 Alturas Duo
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