Officially, it says that Maria is a debut album for Brazilian/London-based composer and bassist Moyes Dos Santos. But behind that dry sentence lies a full career of a musician who has made a name for himself not only in Brazilian music, but in worldwide jazz circles. In that respect, it is no wonder that helping him with this ‘debut’ is a renowned cast of musicians that includes Brazilian producer/composer legend Arthur Verocai, Chicago trumpeter Theo Crocker and renowned London-based vocalist Lynda Dawn.
So then it is not a wonder that from every single note you can feel that confidence and experience that has given Dos Santos the possibility to previously play with the likes of Nile Rodgers, Janelle Monáe, Emile Sandé, Gregory Porter and Omar. Sure, you can label this music with a number of labels that have earned not such a good reputation, like smooth jazz, but then if you take that path of reasoning, it is smooth jazz (with Brazilian inflexions) that sounds like its name should – brilliantly played but with a soul and substance that differ it from its quick cash hungry variant that currently dominates the streaming services.
As the best among bass players do, Dos Santos sticks to keeping a perfect, song-fitting rhythm without any unnecessary show-offs, and it is actually his songwriting that carries the day here, along with the impeccable playing of everybody involved. It is smooth jazz that involves both things involved in the term itself – jazz and smooth (as silk).
