JAZZ REVIEW : Horta Creates Din at Le Cafe

At the heart and soul of the Brazilian guitarist Toninho Horta one suspects there is great musicality lurking. But he made it very difficult to discover Monday night at the Room Upstairs at Le Cafe.

After waiting more than an hour for his first set to even begin, Horta proceeded to make the full house wait even longer for anything of musical significance as he led his sextet through a series of tunes that could best be described as deafening.

Granted, the Room Upstairs is far better suited for softer acts, but Horta, who has recently been featured with singer Flora Purim, and his fellow players should know how to make such adjustments (leaving half of the amplifiers at home would have been a good start). It was a sad mistake that short-changed an enthusiastic audience as the rich textural qualities, rhythmic excitement and subtle flavorings of much of Horta’s music were exchanged for a muddled din of monotonous excesses.

Horta has fueled the Brazilian compositional traditions with electricity, creating an unattractive fusion like one that might occur if Jobim ever sat in with Spryo Gyra. And from the few established fusion traditions, Horta has borrowed such elements as unison melody statements, odd-metered transitions and riff-based improvisations. It was the samba that couldn’t dance, the bossa without the nova.

Contributing to all of this nonsense was the ever-dashing drummer Mike Shapiro and the booming bassist Gary Brown, both of whom seemed eager to be heard in Riverside without ever having to leave Sherman Oaks.

All of Monday evening’s interminable first set wasn’t lost, however. Like the momentary aural refreshment offered when the subway finally stops, came a handful of beautiful ballads to offer pleasant respite. Horta’s guitar playing took on new dimensions--ones of grace and simplicity--and his vocal on “Waiting for Angela” revealed a sensitive vocal stylist.