Dom Um Romão for old and new fans
The classic bossa nova drummer is back at age 75 with Lake of Perseverance, a mix of standard jazz and innovative electronic dance music
Silvio Essinger
22/02/2001
At age 75, drummer Dom Um Romão (a bossa nova forerunner who performed with Frank Sinatra, Tom Jobim, Tonny Bennett, Weather Report, Jorge Ben, Herbie Mann, Elis Regina, Marcelo D2 and others) proves that he did not sit and watch as time went by. Lake of Perseverance 
, his second album on the label Jazz Station Records, hits the stores this week - the other album is Rhythm Traveller (1998).
A lot more varied than the previous, Lake... is a kind of response to the good reception that Dom's music has been getting at clubs in Europe. He has deepened his relation with electronic music, producing hybrid sounds. But that is only one aspect to the album that features guests like Eumir Deodato, Dj Marcelinho da Lua and Danilo Caymmi.
Recorded in Rio and New York, the disc opens with the title-track, dedicated to Dorival Caymmi, with whom Dom Um recorded Caymmi Visita Tom in 1964. Settled in New York City, the drummer tells the story: "On my last trip to Brazil, I spent one day with Dorival and woke up in the middle of the night with that melody in my head." In order to record it, Dom Um picked the drums and numerous percussion instruments. "I did this weird beat, which is not samba or baião, but has some Latin flavor", he says. Arranged by bassist Luciano Alves and featuring bass, drums, flute and vocals by Romão and Ithamara Koorax, the track is the real highlight of the album.
Rated second best percussionist and seventh best drummer by the magazine Downbeat in 2000, Dom Um explains that he wanted to make a "creative, modern, bold and cliché-free" album out of Lake..., which brings us to tracks like House Carnival (Luciano Alves) with typically house keyboards, programmed beats and percussion duels between Romão and Marcelo Salazar. In addition, Dom Um's vocal interventions are bound to turn the song into a dance-floor hit.
Another good dance track is the funk-jungle Groovystation (Salazar and Marcelinho da Lua). It features interesting cavaquinhos, scratches and vocals, being an homage to bossa nova songwriter Carlos Pingarrilho with a taste of Jorge Ben. The electronica approach in the album is complete with Apache Groove (Danilo and Salazar), with percussion orchestra and wooden flutes in a slight house beat, and Bit Box (Eumir Deodato), with pre-set beats and keyboards by the maestro that sound like they came right from the 80s.
The wide range of styles and sounds goes on. Dom Um sings and jokes on Sambão, by the organist and lounge music myth Walter Wanderley, who had had Romão record the original instrumental version on Kee Ka Roo (Verve, 1967). Pianist Paula Faour pays homage to Walter with a cool organ solo. More samba? A version of the worn out Mas Que Nada (this time around featuring drums and Ithamara's voice only) and the heavy drumming of Tentação (Lord K and Teddy Kumpel). Jazz? Fusion, on Eric's Stuff (Nani Palmeira and Dom Um), an homage to guitarist Eric Gale; traditional on Naima (John Coltrane), featuring moody percussion interventions; Afro Blue (Mongo Santamaria) and Blue Bossa (Kenny Dorham). One thing's for sure: Lake of Perseverance shall please old and new fans.
, his second album on the label Jazz Station Records, hits the stores this week - the other album is Rhythm Traveller (1998).A lot more varied than the previous, Lake... is a kind of response to the good reception that Dom's music has been getting at clubs in Europe. He has deepened his relation with electronic music, producing hybrid sounds. But that is only one aspect to the album that features guests like Eumir Deodato, Dj Marcelinho da Lua and Danilo Caymmi.
Recorded in Rio and New York, the disc opens with the title-track, dedicated to Dorival Caymmi, with whom Dom Um recorded Caymmi Visita Tom
in 1964. Settled in New York City, the drummer tells the story: "On my last trip to Brazil, I spent one day with Dorival and woke up in the middle of the night with that melody in my head." In order to record it, Dom Um picked the drums and numerous percussion instruments. "I did this weird beat, which is not samba or baião, but has some Latin flavor", he says. Arranged by bassist Luciano Alves and featuring bass, drums, flute and vocals by Romão and Ithamara Koorax, the track is the real highlight of the album. Rated second best percussionist and seventh best drummer by the magazine Downbeat in 2000, Dom Um explains that he wanted to make a "creative, modern, bold and cliché-free" album out of Lake..., which brings us to tracks like House Carnival (Luciano Alves) with typically house keyboards, programmed beats and percussion duels between Romão and Marcelo Salazar. In addition, Dom Um's vocal interventions are bound to turn the song into a dance-floor hit.
Another good dance track is the funk-jungle Groovystation (Salazar and Marcelinho da Lua). It features interesting cavaquinhos, scratches and vocals, being an homage to bossa nova songwriter Carlos Pingarrilho with a taste of Jorge Ben. The electronica approach in the album is complete with Apache Groove (Danilo and Salazar), with percussion orchestra and wooden flutes in a slight house beat, and Bit Box (Eumir Deodato), with pre-set beats and keyboards by the maestro that sound like they came right from the 80s.
The wide range of styles and sounds goes on. Dom Um sings and jokes on Sambão, by the organist and lounge music myth Walter Wanderley, who had had Romão record the original instrumental version on Kee Ka Roo (Verve, 1967). Pianist Paula Faour pays homage to Walter with a cool organ solo. More samba? A version of the worn out Mas Que Nada (this time around featuring drums and Ithamara's voice only) and the heavy drumming of Tentação (Lord K and Teddy Kumpel). Jazz? Fusion, on Eric's Stuff (Nani Palmeira and Dom Um), an homage to guitarist Eric Gale; traditional on Naima (John Coltrane), featuring moody percussion interventions; Afro Blue (Mongo Santamaria) and Blue Bossa (Kenny Dorham). One thing's for sure: Lake of Perseverance shall please old and new fans.