JAZZ REVIEW : A Taste of Brazil Sparks Set by Cunliffe

Pianist Bill Cunliffe spent a few weeks in Rio last summer recording an album of Brazilian music. He must have had a great time. The impact of that colorful experience (he was there for the celebration of the return of the world champion soccer team) coursed through most of the music he played Wednesday in a one-nighter at the Jazz Bakery.

The 1989 winner of the Thelonious Monk Jazz Piano Award and the holder of a master’s degree in music, Cunliffe has in the past sometimes sounded like a highly efficient, if not especially emotional player. But Brazil--as it does to so many American jazz musicians--has urged Cunliffe into a far richer, far more fascinating range of expression. Working with Peruvian guitarist Ramon Stagnero, bassist Dave Carpenter and drummer Peter Erskine, Cunliffe moved easily and comfortably from standards such as “The Way You Look Tonight” to Brazilian tunes by Caetano Veloso and Luis Bonfa.

He was extremely effective on the samba-based material, with the surging undercurrent of rhythm creating a particularly felicitous setting for his busy, nonstop, right-hand lines. But the most moving moments in the set were reserved for a lovely, too-brief solo rendering of Veloso’s “Saudosismo,” in which Cunliffe surrendered his technical prowess to a spare, but lyrical blend of melody and harmony.

Carpenter and Erskine played with the ease of well-integrated partners, with Stagnero laying down an unobtrusive background. But, sadly, everything once again was overamplified. The Bakery’s quest to deal with its audio problems is admirable, but placing two microphones in front of the drums and mixing the bass louder than the piano is not a viable formula for improving the sound.