Brazilian group gives a fusion lesson

It would be an exaggeration to suggest that there’s been a buzz on the jazz scene regarding the Brazilian group Banda Mantiqueira. Despite a 1998 Grammy nomination for its recording “Aldeia,” the Sao Paulo-based, 14-piece ensemble has largely been known only via word-of-mouth recommendations from musicians who have heard the impressive band either in Brazil or during one of its international tours.

In the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s Segerstrom Hall on Saturday night, Southland listeners finally had an opportunity to experience the work of what is obviously a world-class jazz aggregation.

The initial announcement of its appearance with the Orquestra de Sao Paulo listed the debut performance of a work titled “Night Flight to Rio.” But, perhaps in an effort to present a program with more familiar material to an audience that clearly had no idea what to expect, the combined ensembles instead offered a set of material embracing the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joao Bosco, Chico Buarque and Ary Barroso.. The resulting performances were extraordinary examples of what was once referred to as Third Stream music -- a seamless blending of classical and jazz.

In the past, however, “seamless” was usually an illusion. Not so with the Banda and the Orquestra, either in the arrangements and compositions, or in the capacity of the musicians from each unit to generate an astounding degree of rhythmic swing.

A medley of choros by Pixinguinha and Jaco do Bandolin was arranged by Mantiqueira leader Nailor Azevedo (more familiarly known as “Proveta”) into a work that climaxed with a wildly exuberant exchange of fleet-fingered passages curling in and around both ensembles. Brazilian composer Guinga’s “Baiao de Lacan” (also arranged by Proveta) offered similarly highflying passages. Stunning solo passages surfaced throughout each of the works -- from saxophonist-clarinetist Proveto, trumpeter Walmir Gil and valve trombonist Francois de Lima.

Banda Mantiqueira clearly deserves wider exposure -- at the very least a tour of its own. But its work with the Orquestra is equally important. At its best it is a model for jazz-classical fusion that should be examined carefully by the many American composer-arrangers who seem to have such a difficult time threading these seemingly disparate genres together. The Brazilians, as it turns out, have found a way.