The Making of "Five Roads" by Maurício de Souza

June 2020 

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Thank you for taking the time to read my notes on the making of my new album, "Five Roads". It is always a real pleasure to think back at all the steps involved in making a new album.  For my latest project, I decided to record mostly my own music.  Composition and composers have always fascinated me.  I love to sit down behind the piano with nothing but a blank page and (sometimes...) an initial idea.  When I began writing more of my own music, I started out numbering the tunes (back to 1, despite the fact that I had already written three other tunes prior.  It felt like a fresh start...).  When I handed them out to the guys in the band, all the charts had numbers.  When I decided to finally name my own tunes (not always easy when dealing with instrumental music...), I had to keep going back to the numbers on gigs and rehearsals so we'd all be on the same page (literally...). 

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Once the project started taking shape, I decided to dedicate some of the music to people close to me and my music.  As a way to thank them for their unwavering support and devotion.  Three of the tunes were dedicated to my Dad, my Mom, and my (at the time) fiancé.  Details on that below under each tune. 

It seems I am driven by motion.  There is so much to do and accomplish in life, I can't seem to spend too much time standing still.  So, once more, the title of my album reflects that.  The idea for the title, "Five Roads" came to me one day pretty much out of the blue.  I was thinking about writing a Bossa in 5 and "Five Roads" had a certain charm to it.  Then came the challenge of picking an album cover image that would visually reflect that.  Emily Cyrier ended up finding that image online (see album cover at the top of the page).  It was perfect and even had a not so obvious detail: there are four arrows but one of them is a double arrow, making it five directions (Five Roads).  I hope you enjoy/have been enjoying what is hopefully the first of many albums featuring mostly my own music.      

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Incidentally, most of these tunes were written in the "Brahms" room at Hunterdon Academy of the Arts in Flemington, NJ.  

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Before I start reflecting about each track in the album, I would like to take a moment to thank Andrew Beals, Bob Rodriguez, Gary Mazzaroppi, and Charlie Dougherty for their hard work in learning all this music and incredible musicianship in playing it.  

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Track 1: Estações by Maurício de Souza.

This tune kicked off the new wave of compositions.  I remember siting down to start working on this tune and thinking I wanted to move my music in a "different direction" (no pun intended...) then "Shasha", which was the last tune I wrote prior to this one.  Not that I didn't want to write that kind of complex and challenging music anymore but I wanted to explore other musical avenues and possibilities.  The intro is a link between the first wave of compositions and this new, second wave. Originally entitled, "1", I decided to name it  "Estações" ("Stations" in Portuguese) because when listening to it, I picture a train traveling through different towns, landscapes, and stations.    

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Track 2:  Bebeto by Maurício de Souza.

"Bebeto" is my dad's nickname.  I decided to dedicate this tune to him because of its adventurous nature.  My dad thoroughly enjoys the music of Moacir Santos and this tune has some similar elements.  I think of it as a lose "Maracatú", with its broken up rhythmic patterns.  We kick it off with a march like beat on the drums and the intro uses a sequence of bi-tonal chords (over A Major).  The slow Bossa section in the middle of the head in is used as another element of surprise.  An that's the only time it happens in the tune.  Like with most tunes from this "opus", I treat the solo section as a separate section of the tune.  It is based on the chord progression used underneath the melody but it has its own form (in terms of number of measures).  In terms of artistic expression, this is the tune I am most proud of in this album.

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Track 3: Folclórica by Maurício de Souza.

The melody in this tune has the same character as some Brazilian folkloric music I listened to growing up in Brasil.  Hence the title, "Folclórica" (Folkloric). This is a slow and floaty Bossa, with a dreamy introduction. The bridge uses some of the rhythmic elements from the introduction in a more dissonant environment to build contrast and excitement before going back to the initial melody. The overall mood of the music is tranquil and contented.            

Track 4: Bate Papo by Maurício de Souza.

"Bate Bapo" means, "chit chat". In the music, the converstaion starts with the bass and the drums. The piano joins in with the melody and the saxophone comes in later with the bridge. Since improvised music is all about communication and interaction, this medium, soothing Bossa conversation continues throughout the tune. 

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Track 5: BB by Maurício de Souza.

"BB" stands for "BeeBee" which, at the time, was my girlfriend's nickname (it can also stand for "Bossa Brasil" as a secondary thought...). This tune is dedicated to Emily Cyrier. When I began working on it, I wanted to write the sweetest, most delicate music I had written up until that point, in order to express my love through the notes. The use of brushes was a logical decision for this soothing and happy medium Bossa.   

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Track 6: Paisagens by Maurício de Souza.

Meaning "Landscapes" in Portuguese, this tune explores different Brazilian rhythms (different musical landscapes), starting with a "Partido Alto" in the intro, a "Baião" for the first part of the head and solos, and a slow Bossa for the second part of the head. The idea is to take the listener on a trip through the rich musical landscape of Brazilian music.    

Track 7: Ave Maria by Franz Schubert.

Growing up in Brasília, Brasil, I used to listen to mostly my dad's library of American jazz and improvised Brazilian music (in the car or at home). However, there was one song I used to listen to in my mom's car. One of the local radio stations used to play Ave Maria every day around 6pm. Mom would always turn on the radio to listen to it when we were driving back from "Casa Thomas Jefferson", where I studied English at the time. Years later, I had this idea to play it as a slow Bossa. I mentioned it to my good friend, pianist Bob Rodriguez, and, at first, he was a little hesitant. A few days later, while I was talking to him, the idea came up in conversation and he said, "Let's try it! I have the music for it, we can give it a shot on our next gig." And so we did and it instantly became a crowd and group favorite. I remember mentioning to Bob that we should record it as soon as we could! Unlike many jazz tunes, Ave Maria isn't that flexible when it comes to how fast/slow it can be played. It has its own unique tempo in which it sounds and feels good. The perfect way to set it up is to have Bob play a beautiful piano intro and bring us in at the right tempo for the song. Just like we did on the recording. 

Track 8: O Barquinho by Roberto Menescal. 

A Bossa Nova classic and a very easy choice for a composition by another Brazilian composer. We have been playing this tune on gigs for as far back as I can remember. It was a pleasure to record it and to do so in one take. It's such a joyful Bossa with such a positive, soothing energy to it. If I close my eyes when listening to or playing it, I can clearly feel myself in a small boat, enjoying the ocean breeze and the warmth of a beautiful, sunny day.  

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Track 9: Valsinha Para Elvira by Maurício de Souza. 

This track is dedicated to my mom. Waltz is one of her favorite styles of music. On a Saturday afternoon, I had finished teaching my lessons for the day at Hunterdon Academy of the Arts. I wanted to write a waltz and inspiration hit like magic that day. I wrote the entire tune in two hours (with the intro, melody, solo section, everything!). We had a live version of the tune which was recorded for a live video I produced. I thought it would be nice to have one tune with a live feel to it in the album so I decided to close off this journey with it.