Black Orpheus Medley: Manha De Carnaval/A Felicidade (Adieu Tristesse)/Samba De Orfeu
Soul Samba
Flamenco
Spoken Introduction
Coisa Numero Um
Satin Doll
Nine months before a certain other guitarist made a huge splash at a Monterey music festival, Brazilian acoustic guitarist Bola Sete left his own mark on an American jazz audience still feeding its voracious appetite for a... more »ll things Brazilian. To be sure, Bola Sete didn't sneak up on the American public quite like Jimi Hendrix did--after all, Sete had made waves as part of Vince Guaraldi's ensemble in the years leading up to this historic 1966 performance. The classically trained Sete wowed fans with a unique style that seemed to fall somewhere between Andrés Segovia's elegance and Django Reinhardt's exuberance, a space not as wide as you might think. By the summer of '66, Sete had graduated to his own trio with bassist Sebastião Neto and percussion master Paulinho Da Costa.The centerpiece of this performance is the three-song "Black Orpheus Medley," but Sete adds a pair of noteworthy originals. "Soul Samba" has subtle blues inflections that remind you that Barney Kessel was the first jazz guitarist to catch his ear. "Flamenco" is a simply stunning solo performance that blends challenging chording with incredibly speedy single-note runs, and offers the most overt example of his comfort with the folk traditions of his homeland. At some points, he amazingly plays his own bass accompaniment to his upper-register notes. This long-overdue 2000 CD reissue fleshes out the original LP release by adding 4 minutes to the medley as well as 2 unreleased cuts (with poorer sound quality) from the show, including a bossa nova arrangement of Ellington's "Satin Doll." --Marc Greilsamer« less
Nine months before a certain other guitarist made a huge splash at a Monterey music festival, Brazilian acoustic guitarist Bola Sete left his own mark on an American jazz audience still feeding its voracious appetite for all things Brazilian. To be sure, Bola Sete didn't sneak up on the American public quite like Jimi Hendrix did--after all, Sete had made waves as part of Vince Guaraldi's ensemble in the years leading up to this historic 1966 performance. The classically trained Sete wowed fans with a unique style that seemed to fall somewhere between Andrés Segovia's elegance and Django Reinhardt's exuberance, a space not as wide as you might think. By the summer of '66, Sete had graduated to his own trio with bassist Sebastião Neto and percussion master Paulinho Da Costa.The centerpiece of this performance is the three-song "Black Orpheus Medley," but Sete adds a pair of noteworthy originals. "Soul Samba" has subtle blues inflections that remind you that Barney Kessel was the first jazz guitarist to catch his ear. "Flamenco" is a simply stunning solo performance that blends challenging chording with incredibly speedy single-note runs, and offers the most overt example of his comfort with the folk traditions of his homeland. At some points, he amazingly plays his own bass accompaniment to his upper-register notes. This long-overdue 2000 CD reissue fleshes out the original LP release by adding 4 minutes to the medley as well as 2 unreleased cuts (with poorer sound quality) from the show, including a bossa nova arrangement of Ellington's "Satin Doll." --Marc Greilsamer
CD Reviews
Comments by Anne Sete
Glada Anne de Andrade | USA | 05/26/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"05-25-00: This is an amazing album, out of print for 30 years. It represents the peak of Bola's playing of the Brazilian/American Jazz milieu. It is a classic recording. /It even has Bola speaking on the CD! Buy it while it's available."
BOLA SETE AT THE MONTEREY JAZZ FESTIVAL
L. Dequesada | JAMAICA,, NY United States | 09/25/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is a long overdue and terrific album by Bola Sete. I remember listening to some of his recordings during the 1950's in Cuba and I believe he traveled to Havana and performed on Cuban television. He was well known and admired everywhere. I'm glad I wrote to Fantasy Records in late 1996 or early 1997 and requested they release Bola's recordings with Vince Guaraldi on CD format. In 1998 the CD "From All Sides" with Vince and Bola was released. I'm glad to see it started a "revival" or re-issues of his recordings here and elsewhere. Bola Sete was and still is my favorite Brazilian guitarist and musician. His musical concepts and arrangements paved the way for the Bossa Nova. "Bola Sete Live at the 1966 Monterey Jazz Festival" is a special treat to all of us who saw and heard him perform in the "good old days". I'm also very happy that we have heard from Anna Sette and that she reviewed this great CD re-issue on my birthday, May 26! What a beautiful coincidence! At long last we can enjoy Bola's great recordings!"
Fiery latin jazz under the stars
Jeffrey Harris | South San Francisco, CA United States | 06/25/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I can only imagine what it must have been like to be in the audience at the Monterey Fairgrounds in September of 1966(I wasn't since I wasn't born yet! )when this amazing performance was recorded. The energy is so immediate and intense that it's hard to believe that there's only three musicians playing here. Sete plays along side bassist Sebastiao Neto and drummer Paulinho DaCosta, then relatively unknown but today is one of the most recorded musicians in history, look at the credits of any major album recorded in the last twenty five years, and you'll probably find his name. This long out of print album is back with three unreleased tracks and sounds wonderful. A must have if you love Brazilian jazz."
I've loved this album since 1973
Peter Bridge | San Diego CA | 10/14/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I bought this in vinyl (obviously) in 1973, when I was 17, and I've been listening to it and loving it ever since. Could there be a higher compliment? Although my LP is in surprisingly good shape, I'm thrilled that it's been re-issued as a CD. I bought two copies.
Soulful, unpretentious, un-affected, intimate, candid, organic Afro-Brazilian jazz. The musicians are effortly masterful, without losing personality. They play games with each other, wrap melodies and percussion around each other, and provide the listener with pleasure, stimulation, and reward after reward. There are moments of humor, climaxes with the crowd roaring approval, and sponteneity is constant.
Thanks to this album, I've been listening to Brazilian jazz for three decades. I enjoy all the usual old suspects, Jobim, Joao, Getz, Gilberto, but Bola Sete at Monterey is personal, raw-er, more authentic. I hesitate to call Getz/Gilberto "contrived", but next to the sponteneity of Bola Sete, many of the better known samba practitioners feel.. um, kind'a "smooth", if you catch my meaning."
Track Listings (6) - Disc #1