FIJM | Dianne Reeves and Romero Lubambo: An Intimate Duo of Virtuosos

Dianne Reeves is no longer the jazz flavour of the month. Her last solo album dates back to 2014. This year, all the talk is about Samara Joy, and rightly so. But the Grammy-winning singer of the ’90s and ’00s still has plenty to sing about. She gave us a convincing demonstration of this in a duet with Brazilian-born guitarist Romero Lubambo.

By sheer coincidence, over the past two weeks I’ve been attending a succession of intimate concerts in the immense Place des Arts: Alain Souchon and his sons, Mexican soloist Natalia Lafourcade and now this American-Brazilian duo. It’s like being in a living room … even though it’s huge, but in each case, it’s hit the spot with me.

Dianne Reeves and her classical guitar accomplice began with a total reinterpretation of Fleetwood Mac’s rock fetish “Dreams.” We soon realized that these two people complement each other perfectly. This voice, which climbs three octaves, skating, meditating, whispering and shouting, intertwines with the guitar notes, inspired as much by jazz as bossa nova or blues.

A great admirer of Dianne Reeves, whom I met by chance, confided to me that she never sings a song identically. As for this Romero Lubambo, he’s an outstanding and inventive guitarist.

This concert was undoubtedly marked by Brazil, as we heard versions of Egberto Gismonti, Carlos Lyra, Antonio Carlos Jobim and …Minuano by Pat Metheny. As for the rest, it was Miles Davis and McCoy Tyner, seasoned with two compositions by Madame Reeves: “Tango” and “Nine.”

Dianne Reeves also shared personal slices of life and ended on a political note, sharing her concern about the situation in her country as well as her love for Canada and Canadians. By the end, the vast majority of the 800-strong audience were humming the blues with her, clearly happy.

Now approaching 69, the singer shows no sign of letting up. She will soon be releasing an album with Romero Lubambo and participating in an album with Branford Marsalis, to commemorate the centenary of John Coltrane’s birth.

Please don’t tell me that 69 is old. I’ll reach that age in a few days…