João Lenhari – The Last Minute

João Lenhari is a friend of PANM360. We often interview him in his role as musical director of the Université de Montréal Big Band, where he also teaches. But the “Brésicois” trumpeter — a Brazilian living in Quebec — is also pursuing a career as a musician and composer. The Last Minute is a perfect embodiment of that.

This is his first full-length solo album, after having accompanied numerous musicians, both Brazilian and Montreal-based, on stage and on record. And it sounds quite good — not at all like an album put together at the last minute…

Recorded almost entirely during a session in a studio in São Paulo, Brazil’s economic metropolis, The Last Minute leans more toward modern hard bop than Brazilian music, although it also features an interpretation of Drip Coffee, a jazz samba by Raphael Ferreira. And it swings hard from beginning to end.

The Last Minute opens with Chanson d’Amour, a long ballad of over ten minutes, in which Lenhari’s trumpet begins with an emotional solo before the rest of the group joins in. We are dealing here with excellent musicians and improvisers: Brazilians Vitor Cabral on drums, Thiago Alves on double bass, Marcos Romera on piano, Raphael Ferreira on tenor and soprano saxophones, as well as Quebecer Guillaume Carpentier on tenor saxophone. They truly let loose on Chanson d’Amour, which moves from a ballad into a flurry of improvised notes before settling back down.

The album features five tracks, including three compositions by João Lenhari. The Last Minute does not reinvent jazz, but it delivers music of a very high caliber, with inventive solos and bold harmonies.

Lenhari delivers an excellent debut album here. The good news is that this project will be followed by another: a duo album with the brilliant pianist Manoel Vieira, also Brazilian and a professor at the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Music.

Mark my words: the future of Montreal jazz will be “Brésicois” — at least in part.

All this recording activity will not prevent the affable musician from resuming his role as director of the student Big Band, which PANM360 will continue to follow.