FAIXAS
Lado A
1. Muito à vontade (João Donato)
2. Tim Dom Dom (Codó e João Mello)
3. Pra que chorar (Baden Powell e Vinícius de Moraes)
4. Sambou... Sambou (João Mello e João Donato)
5. Jodel (João Donato e Patrícia Del Sasser)
6. Vamos nessa (João Donato)
Lado B
7. Minha saudade (João Donato e João Gilberto)
8. Naquela base (João Donato)
9. Olhou pra mim (Ed Lincoln e Sylvio Cesar)
10. Tema teimoso (João Donato)
11. Só se for agora (João Donato)
12. Caminho de casa (João Donato)
FICHA TÉCNICA
Músicos:
Bateria: Milton Banana
Baixo: Tião Neto
Percussão: Amaury Rodrigues
Produzido por Ismael Correa
Engenheiro de som: Sylvio Rabello
Técnico de gravação: Célio Martins
Reedição produzida por Dubas Música – Rio de Janeiro, 2002
O que foi escrito sobre: João Donato – Sambou, sambou
Texto da contracapa do LP:
Most listeners got their initial introduction to João Donato, the excellent new star of the Bossa Nova, in an album that this pianist-composer made with alto-ist. Bud Shank (Bud Shank and his Brazilian Friends, PJ-89). Donato contributed a passle of fresh new tunes and his own spare piano work to that effort. which dealt primarily in aspects of the bossa nova of a sonorous, introspective, even pensive nature. The average person thinks of the bossa nova as fairly limited to that winsome "girl from ipanema" attitude, but the present album should remind you that such categorization is dangerous and that there is a continuum of emotional expression within this Brazilian music from the introverted to the wildly baccanalian street dances-the carnaval, than which there is no more hotly clamoring a sound!
In “Sambou Sambou”, João, working with the bass and drums of Sebastian Netto and Milton Banana, and the added rhythmic assistance of Amaury Rodrigues, largely splits the difference between these two extremes, placing most performances in the medium to medium fast tempo, settling the rhythm in precise but prominent role, and improvising in, again, his spare clear melodic and rhythmic style. There is a crispness, and a no nonsense genuineness to his work here that most will find instantly captivating.
João Donato became interested music as a child, frist playing accordion and then adopting his sister’s piano. He was born in 1934 and grew to early teens in Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil in a largely rural atmosphere, some distance from the city. (Perhaps this has something to do with the charming simplicity that pervades his style.) Then, when he was in his early teens the family moved to Rio, where his musical maturation took place. A largely self-taught artist, he found an association in the 1950’s with the other well-known pioneers of the bossa nova, João Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim, and became, like they, one of its principal practitioners. Throughout this period he recalls his avid interest in jazz and the aspects of it which became incorporated into modern Brazilian music. Notably, he recalls the Bud Shank-Laurindo Almeida recordings for Pacific Jazz (see WP-1412, 1419, 1425). The urban life of Rio, then, added the sophistication and the fine musical growth (the easy “knowing” qualities you’ll hear within).
Thus, in 1959, when João felt he had reached a point where he needed more and different learning experiences, he immigrated to the U.S.A. Here he has spent over two years in New York and the remainder in Los Angeles. He currently studies with Lyle Murphy and works with, among others Astrud Gilberto in the bossa nova. Of course he has also worked a variety of musical gigs from the bands of Mongo Santamaria and Tito Puente of Spanish latin music to solo piano jobs of a more general nature – all in the interests of his musical growth. In 1963, he returned briefly to Rio to record two lp’s. He also toured Europe with João Gilberto.
As a player of both jazz and bossa nova, João espouses “beauty” and believes that it is a quality that should always be maintained no matter the musical goals otherwise to be sought. He should find many followers with that credo.
John William Hardy
Revista Billboard – 09 de outubro de 1965
Jazz Special Merit
"Sambou sambou"
João Donato. Pacific Jazz 90 (M)
Twelve selections of pop-jazz-bossa-nova in the easy-listening vein. Medium to up-tempo, the music has presence and subtle insistence. Light and melodic Brazilian compositions.
