JAZZ REVIEW : Harmonica Paired With ‘Brasil’ Sound

The “Brasil Project” concert presented Saturday at the Wadsworth Theater was the latest result of a mutual admiration society that sprang up last year between Toots Thielemans and a group of Brazilian musicians.

Thielemans, the Belgian harmonica master, and guitarist Oscar Castro Neves, co-producer of the two “Brasil Project” albums, were on hand Sunday, as were a couple of others heard on the record. Most notable was Eliane Elias, a pianist who has made formidable advances in terms of composition, technique and diversity.

Soloing in a wide-ranging original performance, playing standards from “One Note Samba” to Miles Davis’ “Solar,” even singing in Portuguese backed by Castro Neves, she brought the evening as close to a high point as seemed possible under the circumstances.

Thielemans was his inimitable self, dueting with everyone and reminding us again that the harmonica and musical creativity are not incompatible. For a finale he picked up his guitar, playing (and whistling nervously in unison) his best known tune, “Bluesette.”

Guitarists Ricardo Silveira (on “Triste”) and Castro Neves (in a charming original “Felicia and Bianca”) kept the artistic level high, but Dori Caymmi, hardly a world-class singer or guitar player, seemed lost in this heady company.

Brian Bromberg on bass was superb, but several numbers were almost ruined by the lead-footed bass drum of Mike Shapiro. A flute might have improved the results in an evening more notable for the pleasant camaraderie among the participants than for any extraordinary acts of discovery.