CLIFF KORMAN
FROM THE PRESS
Artist’s profile
José Domingo Raffaellli, O Globo,
Segundo Caderno, 2001
“Alma Brasileira em talento
americano. The passion for Brazilian music led this American
pianist to dedicate himself to it “body and soul”.
Artist’s profile
Estado de Minas, 1994
Minas guitarist Juarez Moreira and New
York jazz pianist Cliff Korman show what they have in common
through a selected repertoire that mixes their own compositions
to true classics of a universal song-book.
Artist’s profile
Estado de Minas, 1993
Toninho Horta invited as a partner for
this show the New York pianist Cliff Korman. (...) and with
exceptional fluency, Korman explains in flawless Portuguese his
heartfelt affinity with Brazilian popular music.
Bossa Jazz
Luiz Orlando Carneiro, Jornal do Brasil,
2001
American pianist Cliff Korman, proponent
of the fusion of jazz and música popular brasileira (see
The Feeling’s Back, 1999 with smooth trumpeter Chuck Mangione),
shows his jazz creativity (and stylistic correctness) in Bossa Jazz.
Bossa Jazz
O Globo, Segundo Caderno, José
Domingo Raffaelli, 2001
American pianist Cliff Korman launches
“Bossa Jazz” with his quartet and guests,
interpreting the music of Pacifico Mascarenas. Korman has
absorbed the secrets of MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira) and
affirms once again his mastery of the Brazilian language and
his improvisational skills. One of the best CDs of the year.
Gerry Mullingan’s Paraiso
Sunsh Stein, Jazz Times, 1995
Brighter spots are added every now and
then with the boucy, percussive “O Bom Alvinho”
where Cliff Korman’s piano solo almost steals the
tune….
From the presentation of Cliff
Korman’s concert
Sala Villa Lobos, Teatro Nacional,
Brasilia
Today’s program shows very well
what has been Cliff Korman’s work of the past twenty
years: a well-tempered blend of Brazilian music and Jazz.
Please welcome to the stage this American
pianist who is also genuinely Brazilian.
Mood Ingênuo
Egidio Leitão, Bossa Magazine
What would happen if Pixinguinha and Duke
Ellington met face to face? Both masters were born the same
month one year apart, and they also died one year apart from
each other. Though contemporaries, they never met. However, if
they could have made music together, a likely result of such
meeting would be Mood Ingênuo, an outstanding collection
of music by those composers performed by two of the most
prominent jazz artists in Brazil and the U.S.: Paulo Moura
(saxophone) and Cliff Korman (piano). This live CD was recorded
at the Cantar da Costa in Italy in 1996. In just about one
hour, Moura and Korman will astound your senses with their
artistic and touching performances of classics such as
Ingênuo (Naive), Satin Doll, Carinhoso (Affectionate),
and more. The music is not restricted to Pixinguinha's and Duke
Ellington's. Though the Ellington-Pixinguinha Medley is clearly
the majestic piece in the CD, there are also other incredible
numbers. Korman's solo in Tom Jobim's Luíza is
absolutely heaven on earth. These two accomplished musicians
know the material they perform, and they play it majestically.
Like me, I'm certain you will finish listening to this CD and
wonder why it is so short. One can only dream that future
encounters between Moura and Korman will soon happen again. And
again and again...
The Dream of Pixinguinha & Duke
Ellington
Michele Mannucci, La Repubblica, 1996
Paulo Moura is an Afro-Brazilian whose
face, illuminated by eyes the color of the sea, expresses a
profound and direct wisdom. Cliff Korman is a New Yorker who
plays piano with the luxurious sound and the rhythmical
attention of Keith Jarrett...he has long studied in Brasil
where he has learned how to unassumingly accompany the grace of
a musician like Paulo Moura. They enchanted the audience with a
delicate and penetrating insight that brought them back to the
poetry that early jazz must have had.
Mood Ingênuo
Judith King (WBGO)
If you don't know Paulo Moura you don't
know Brazilian music. Paulo is perhaps Brazil's finest reed
man. He's a musician's musician, the teacher of many of a new
generation of Brazil's more renown sax players... At a time
like this when highly contrived and mass produced sounds
dominate the Brazilian music industry, Paulo's reading of
Brazilian standards like the songs of Pixinguinha, Zeca de
Abreu and Tom Jobim are more important than ever. Paulo
represents a bridge between at least three Brazilian musical
traditions: he is credited for reviving the choro of the early
20th century which is his musical heritage; he was a
significant player in pre-bossa Brazil; and he is at the
forefront of a newer tradition based on his Brazilian roots,
yet influenced by and in continuous dialogue with his North
American jazz counterparts. (...) Although Cliff hasn't been on
the scene as long as Paulo, he's definitely someone to keep
your eye on as a substantial jazz pianist and a musician whose
playing will help other North Americans better understand
Brazilian music and the bridges between the two worlds.
Gafieira Dance Brasil
Michele Mannucci, Piano Time, 1996
Moura is an outstanding sax player who
has chosen to be the heir of Pixinguinha, the great reed man
that brought the saophone to Brasil at that time when Sidney
Bechet made it poopular among the North Americans. The subtle
counterpointed of Korman's piano made us clearly hear the
meaning of intercultural dialogue.
Gafieira Dance Brasil
Guido Festinese, Il Manifesto, 1999
We have heard the grandiose latest output
of the Paulo Moura & Cliff Korman's project who -- at the
margin of the cross-cultural commerce -- continue to explore
places where sound meets with body language, and Western forms
meet the pulsing beat of Africa. A gentle priest, Paulo Moura,
whose clarinet is worldwide recognized as being the indelible
memory of hundred years of choro, has enchanted the public by
intertwining with the powerful geometries of Cliff Korman's
piano and the acrobatic changes of the cavaquinho of Zé
Paulo Miranda. A challenge to the spreading MTV-influenced idea
of cultural interaction as inconsequential juxtaposition, the
Moura-Korman musical research re-establishes and reinvents
narrative as a viable structure for the sound of the
twenty-first century.
Mood Ingênuo
Ultrasuonati, Il Manifesto, CD reviews,
June 2000
When Paulo Moura and Cliff Korman brought
on stage for the first time their performance “Mood
Ingênuo”, the unexpected happened: one sound
celebrated the music of two giants of the African-American
tradition who never had a chance to meet in life: Edward
“Duke” Ellington and Alfredo da Rocha Vianna
(“Pixinguinha”). They lived exactly during the same
years and the sumptuous grammar that one instilled into jazz,
the other infused into choro, the instrumental music of urban
Brasil. Two parallel roads that carried as common values the
ability to improvise, to catch the harmonic substance on the
spot, to highlight the individual pronunciation of each player,
and to turn simple raw material into complex art. In a nutshell
the whole path of non-classical musics of the 20th century. The
malleable jazz piano of Cliff Korman and the unmistakable sound
of Paulo Moura’s clarinet engage in a knowledgeable
dialogue, whose dreamy dimension of touchable lightness pays a
well deserved homage two the two giants of music.
Gafieira Dance Brasil
Egidio Leitao
The album name already says it all: this
is Brazilian dance music. No, not the electronic music
some might have in mind. This album takes you back to the
golden days of Brazilian casinos and good gafieira hangouts.
I have to praise the producers for choosing a repertoire
that features both Brazilian and U.S. classics, but without
falling into the repetitive mode of playing the same choros we
find in so many other choro albums. You will not miss the
fact that 'Gafieira Dance Brasil' does not include
"Carinhoso" or other choro standards. Why would
you when you have "Noites Cariocas,"
"Baião Delicado" and Bicho do Pé"?
The only problem this album has is the fact it was a live
recording. It might have been essential to do it live to
capture the essence of gafieira music. However, as
expected with some live albums, there are glitches in the sound
(instrumentation balance and reverberation,for example).
Luckily, 'Gafieira Dance Brasil' gets over that in track
2. And what a welcome surprise to see "Manhã de
Carnaval" included here. Not a song I'd think as
gafieira, but it is a great moment in the album when you can
hear Korman's piano wizardry in the forefront. Cliff, how
about a solo album? You always leave your listeners
wanting more (I recall your solo with Carlos Malta in
'Pimenta').
Blue Bossa
Mike Quinn in the Audio Files section of
the April 2002 issue of Jazz Times.
Ana Caram's recent outing is successful
on the technical side, and no slouch on the content side
either. Blue Bossa allows this talented Brazilian-born singer
to float in her element, a silky-smooth rendering of
jazz-tinged bossa nova performed with no frills and no
gimmicks, just soulful small group readings of some real gems.
Though backed by the cream of New York's Brazilian crew, it is,
of course, her voice that carries it all. And the Chesky sound
locates us in very enviable seating indeed, but next time I'd
like to be just a bit closer so the dynamics of instruments and
vocals are more palpable and exciting, my one complaint with
the Chesky technique in general, even in stereo.