"Whatever happened to
Raul De Souza?" is a question that many admirers of the Brazilian trombonist found themselves asking in the 1980s and '90s.
De Souza kept a very low profile during those decades, recording sporadically and doing little to promote himself. But in South America and Europe,
De Souza experienced something of a comeback in the 2000s -- a decade that found him recording several new albums and doing a lot of touring.
De Souza was 73 when, in March 2008, he entered a Rio de Janeiro studio with pianist
João Donato, bassist Luiz Alves, and drummer
Robertinho Silva and recorded
Bossa Eterna. This Brazilian release was billed as a celebration of bossa nova's 50th anniversary -- it was in 1958 that the seminal
João Gilberto first recorded "Chega de Saudade" -- although
Bossa Eterna isn't bossa nova in the strict sense. Bossa nova (as executed by
João and
Astrud Gilberto,
Antonio Carlos Jobim,
Stan Getz,
Luiz Bonfá,
Charlie Byrd, and others in the '60s) was a gentle, introspective fusion of cool jazz and samba, and the melodic but swinging
Bossa Eterna has more of a hard bop/samba outlook. Regardless,
De Souza is in fine form on a 42-minute CD that ranges from three of his compositions ("Pingo D'Água," "A la Donato," and the title track) and three pieces that
Donato wrote or co-wrote ("Fim de Sonho," "Malandro" and "Lugar Comum") to
Jobim's "Bonita" and
Baden Powell/
Vinícius de Moraes' "Só por Amor." And
Donato's presence is a major plus on
Bossa Eterna, which isn't surprising when one considers that he has long been among Brazil's pianistic heavyweights. It's regrettable that
De Souza kept such a low profile in the '80s and '90s, but the trombonist's longtime fans will be glad to know that his attractive lyricism is alive and well on this 2008 recording. ~ Alex Henderson