Paulo Moura and Cliff Korman met at the Creative Music Studio, Woodstock in 1981 and have since then maintained and developed an intense exchange of musicalexperiences which brings together the traditions of North-American jazz with the many urban instrumental styles of Brasil.
In the years since their work has expanded in different directions that range from an alluring duo project (whose recording dedicated to Ellington and Pixinguinha is released on Jazzheads), to a ground-breaking quartet which includes Paulo Braga on drums and David Finck on acoustic bass, and a work-in-progress dedicated to the connections between Brazilian and North American composers such as Gershwin and Jobim or Gnattali and Monk.
Their most recent collaboration brought to stages in Europe and the United States the lush and sparkling sound of “Gafieira” ballrooms: possibly the first show of this kind ever presented outside Brasil, which features each time a different group of extraordinary practitioners, virtuosos and dancers of this exclusively Brazilian tradition.
Parallel Lives: Pixinguinha and Duke Ellington.
Born within a year of each other, the careers of Duke Ellington and the Brazilian composer Pixinguinha evolved in remarkably similar fashion. Today, both are revered in their respective countries for the unparalleled contributions they made to the local musical landscape. In this enlightening performance, an accomplished jazz duo takes the audience on journey through the music of these great masters, combining their playing with illuminating commentary.
From the Press
“If you don’t know Paulo Moura you don’t know Brazilian music. Paulo is perhaps Brazil’s finest reed man. (…) 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.”
Judith King (WBGO)
“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.” Michele Mannucci, Piano Time, June 1997
