Press

jovino santos neto

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Read an interview with Chip Boaz from The Latin Jazz Corner

Review of "Veja o Som' from Jazz Inside Magazine, February 2011:

Five stars ranking here! No, on second thought, six stars minimum – the highest of the highest ratings for SEE THE SOUND, a fabulous compendium of duo recordings with world-class musicians from Brazil and the United States! Jovino Santos Neto’s piano is omnipresent, matching up magnificently with the best of the best in a variety of instrumental and vocal combinations.
Synaesthesia is not as easy to achieve in any of the arts, but when it happens and the senses intersect it’s often mind blowing and heart enhancing. So it is with this project of twenty songs performed by as many musicians-- and all of it superb. For example, you think you might have heard
and enjoyed “How Insensitive,” the great Jobim bossa, but wait until you hear Gretchen Parlato’s ultra-intimate and super-sensitive rendering. You’re there, man! You feel it. You know it … what the song’s all about. Just Jovino Santos Neto chording softly to the softest of softest whispering of the song: the loneliness, the regret, the acceptance of knowing, of empathy when a love affair is over. Things are hardly over, however, just three songs into it. There’s Bill Frisell, his guitar, his harmonics and octaves, his wispy, ever-tender, soon playful “Caminhos Cruzados” (“Crossed Paths”), showing again his innovative spirit in taking the guitar on new roads, new paths of sound and sensibility. But wait, there’s “February 1” and Anat Cohen, this time on soprano sax rather than clarinet, and much at ease with the choro form in 7/4 time composed by Santos Neto’s mentor, the illustrious Hermeto Pascoal on his birthday, thus the date. But the date for the listener is when Cohen picked up her horn to record this lively song to ultimate perfection. Much more to come, much more…Danilo Brito’s magnificently understated mandolin plectrum playing on “Gloria”; Joe Locke’s match up of vibraphone virtuosity with “Nature Boy,” along with Santos Neto’s flute and piano, taking the listener far beyond the echoes of Nat King Cole into the exoticideas of Eden Ahbez. Then there’s Monica Salmaso’s gloriously pure, truly authentic singing of “Sonora Garoa,” (“Sonorous Drizzle”); or Ricardo Silveira’s acoustic guitar
on “Morro Velho” (“Old Mountain”), proving once again that the guitar is at the very heart, or in this context, the very peak, the essence of the Latin spirit. But there’s more…more…even more beauty. One could go on with countless superlatives about the quality, passion, dedication and pursuit
inherent in this year-long quest for the best; however, more words of praise would fail. Just listen. You’ll see the meaning … see the sound!

“Obrigado!” indeed! By Bob Gish

"Beautiful Brazilian jazz from pianist Jovino Santos Neto -- playing here in a wonderfully fluid mode that sparkles with lots of warm acoustic touches! Neto's playing mostly piano for the session, but also brings in a bit of melodica, flute, and accordion -- further expanding the colors in the tunes, as do some of the album's great guest performers -- who include Joyce, Hermeto Pascoal, Hamilton De Holanda, and Marcos Amorim! There's a sense of grace here that's totally great -- one that really recalls an older sound of Brazilian jazz back at the end of the 70s, and which is recorded here without the overly glossy production style that sometimes hurts other albums of this nature." Roda Carioca review from www.dustygroove.com website

"Carefree and spontaneous, yet finely crafted and performed with virtuosic flair" - Mark Holston on Roda Carioca, JAZZIZ

"...the exciting set plays like a vibrant musical encyclopedia of the musical spirit of his homeland. The joy keeps growing through "Coco na Roda"-- whose feisty drumbeat and whimsical mix of instruments create a Brazilian version of Mardi Gras music -- and tracks like the lively samba "Gente Boa." - Roda Carioca review by Jonathan Widran, All Music Guide.

On the new live disc, Neto presents himself as a solid jazz musician whose passion and verve reflect time spent with Pascoal. Neto often visits his native roots on this fine album of all original material " Gambit Weekly, New Orleans, Dec.12, 2000

"He is a brilliant and intuitive keyboard player (and flutist) who explores jazz, classical and Brazilian traditional music with equal zeal " Paul de Barros, Seattle Times, Aug. 30, 2000

" Jovino Santos Neto(piano) and Hans Teuber (saxophone) are two of the few jazz musicians in town who truly bridge the gap between local and national talent...Neto continues to enrich the local scene in many ways: whether it's performing at local joints like Serafina or adding that extra dash of greatness on local recordings like Ben Thomas' The Madman's Difference." Nathan Thornburgh, The Stranger, Sept.23, 1999

"...Jovino Santos Neto's Once Again for the First Time was a bold and sweeping piece with aggressive fistfuls of Ives -cum-Messiaen chords at the climaxes" Gavin Borchert, Seattle Weekly, Oct.7, 1999

"...Ben Thomas' music is really about the rhythm that underlies the many intricate communications that transpire betweonstant sparkle. They seem to inspire each other with regular improvisatory banter, continually interweaving one sound after the other....Burton and Corea set the standard for this form of music, yet Thomas and Neto have attempted to carve their own identity, This same successful interplay permeates the other tunes as well, giving the album a fastpaced gait and vitaliten Neto and him. The two set a pace that keeps flowing with cy" Frank Rubolino, Cadence Magazine"

" ...a warm, high-energy player, as fun to watch as he is to hear." Mark Fefer, Eastside Weekly"

"...all original compositions, which were highly rhythmic and beautifully arranged." Sandra Burlingame, 5/4 Magazine"

"...an uninhibited young keyboard soloist who writes boppishly self-propelling numbers." Jack Massarick, The London Evening Standard"

"Soft, expressive waltzes and ballads were convincingly paired with juxtaposed dance rhythms; the borders between notated "serious" music, "intuitive" folk and "improvised" jazz were crossed to the point of becoming irrelevant. "Neue Zürcher Zeitung." Switzerland

"...an uninhibited young keyboard soloist who writes boppishly self-propelling numbers." Jack Massarick, The London Evening Standard

"...lyrical and romantic, rhythmic and natural." Roberta Penn, Seattle Post-Intelligencer.