JAZZ REVIEW : DYNAMIC AZYMUTH TAKES OFF WITH RHYTHM

Rhythm rules the roost when the Brazilian jazz-funk-samba band Azymuth hits the stage. As the band’s second set at Concerts by the Sea last week showed, Azymuth’s punchy, propulsive presentation is geared to make your body move and set your foot to tap, not to cause your mind to ponder.

Within a format that some might see as one-dimensional, pianist Jose Roberto Bertrami, bassist Alex Mahleiros and drummer Ivan Conti manage to mix things up nicely, especially through refreshing, indeed often startling, shifts in dynamics.

“Last Summer in Rio,” one of the group’s most popular pieces, was based around a brief, repeating melody line that Bertrami improvised on, offering tingling trilled figures, loping lines and banged chords. Several times during the tune the band built to a furious climax, then suddenly and dramatically dropped the volume to almost a whisper. Then it all began again.

“The Prisoner” and “Montreux” were similar, but subtle group interplay and charged rhythmic work from Conti and Mahleiros kept these tunes from becoming monotonous. Still, Jobim’s “Song of the Jet” and Ivan Lins’ “Madalena,” with a vital guest vocal by Kenia, a Brazilian songstress, gave the set a welcome melodic boost. One or two tuneful items like these would better balance the otherwise perky renditions. Azymuth closed Sunday.