Bergeron 1

Joseph A. Bergeron
Professor Mark Harvey
Jazz 21M.226
11 November 2014
Milton Nascimento
It didnt take long to realize that Milton Nascimentos concert at the Berklee Performance
Center was no regular performance. Between the chanting in Portuguese by the majority of the
audience, people standing up and dancing, and a man behind me who had brought a shaker to
play along with the band, it was clear that the Brazilian musicians performance was a widely
cultural one, and unlike any other I have ever been to.
Nascimentos band was a small one, consisting of himself on guitar and vocals, a keys
player, electric guitarist, bassist, drummer, and woodwind player who switched between sax,
clarinet, and flute (and briefly the trumpet). Despite the small size, however, the band created
some of the most full and stylistically diverse music that I have heard live. The concert began
with Nascimento playing solo guitar, followed by some very modal sounding piano interjections.
This was followed by the entering of percussion in a very bossa nova sounding style. And, while
this and many other pieces played bore a very real bossa influence, it is impossible to pin one
genre on the music performed. While there were apparent influences such as samba, Nascimento
and his band also incorporated many elements from other sections of jazz. Between the sax and
piano, many of the solos sounded very vertical and arpeggiated, reminiscent of practices from the
era of bebop. The vocals present, often soloistic and expressive, often performed in unison by all
members of the band, reminded me immediately of soul or gospel music. And in that vein, the

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concert was exceptionally moving. While the music can definitely be considered popular music,
(and after hearing a crowd of strangers sing along to some of the songs in a foreign language, its
difficult to refute this,) Nascimento has the incredible propensity to turn a song with pop
elements into a spiritual experience.
The nature of the music was unlike any popular music in America. For many of the
songs, it was difficult to grab on to a constant (4/4) time signature, and much of the music
seemed to be through composed. Furthermore, it was at times extremely difficult to determine
whether or not something was improvised or written beforehand. Yet, at other times, it was very
clear, with the five man band performing orchestrated hits similar to those heard by big bands of
the swing era. Other songs still introduced broader influences flamenco guitar, African
rhythms. You could hear trumpet growls and rips over a samba pattern, while the keyboard
played the Rhodes piano and the electric guitarist interacted with Nascimentos vocals. I would
definitely describe many elements of the performance as some sort of modern fusion or
progressive jazz. The percussion at times suggested a foray into rock music, while the rest of the
band continued with what sounded like free jazz. And certainly, there were many times when the
clarinetist strongly reminded me of Eric Dolphy, playing virtuosic atonal solos. The trend
continues for all members of the band - never before have I heard a pianist pull off a descending
diminished run amidst a lively and bright pop tune. You could hear elements of call and
response, block chord voicing, and so on. Nascimento and his band took elements from all
throughout the history of jazz and popular music to create some of the most unique and
expressive music that I have heard. Indeed, there were times that I forgot I was in a performance
hall. It was as if the music lent itself towards a more open, standing, environment, where the
audience could share in the collective experience that was the music of Milton Nascimento.

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