Brazilian singer Milton Nascimento has one of the most dextrous voices in global music. From his 60s samba-funk releases as part of the Clube de Esquina movement, where he sang with a soft, soaring falsetto, to his landmark 1975 collaboration with saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Native Dancer, and ensuing work with everyone from Herbie Hancock to Yusuf, Nascimento has matched their instrumental mastery with his maturing range.
Now 81, Nascimento’s voice has developed into a beautifully rich and vibrato-laden baritone that is the focus of a lively collaboration with bassist and composer Esperanza Spalding, Milton + Esperanza. Across 16 tracks, the pair reimagine compositions from Nascimento’s catalogue, such as 1969’s Outubro and 1972’s Cais, as well as featuring new works with the likes of Paul Simon and Lianne La Havas.
The new Cais slows the sprightly composition, allowing ample space for the yearning emotion of Nascimento’s older voice to anchor Leo Genovese’s tripping piano lines. When Spalding’s crisp falsetto enters the frame, their differences in tone blend smoothly to crescendo on a soaring note. The new Outubro equally replaces the original’s cinematic orchestration with a busier groove that bolsters Nascimento’s faster phrasing and builds to gorgeous snatches of falsetto during a solo by flautist Elena Pinderhughes.
Simon’s feature on Um Vento Passou fares less well, tentatively trading quiet lines with Nascimento’s confident baritone, yet guitarist Guinga’s plaintive finger-picked phrases on Saci provide the perfect setting for a downtempo unison duet between Spalding and Nascimento, allowing the cracks and fissures in his quiet voice to provide ample emotion.
It’s a remarkable feat. Fresh from Iphigenia, her jazz opera with the late Wayne Shorter, Spalding cements her status as a collaborator capable of extracting mighty performances from her elders. Her imaginative musical settings showcase Nascimento’s mature range, producing a late-career masterpiece that highlights the beautiful changes wrought by age.
Also out this month
Pioneer of the uptempo, bass-heavy burgeoning Filipino electronic genre budots DJ Love releases his debut album Budots World (Reloaded) (Eastern Margins): 15 tracks of infectious dancefloor heaters packed with wobbling basslines, face-slapping snares and trance synths. Ugandan griot Ekuka’s debut album, Te-Kwaro Alango-Ekuku (Nyege Nyege Tapes), showcases the raw power of his voice, often only accompanied by the tinkling melodies of his lukeme thumb piano to produce affecting, minimal compositions. Mongolian singer Enji’s latest release sees her collaborate with experimental jazz drummer Simon Popp as Poeji. Their debut album Nant (Squama) highlights the agility of Enji’s voice, percussively matching Popp’s textural drumming to create atmospheric work that masterfully treads the line between ambience and free jazz expression.
