Marco de Carvalho

For the Moment is an album of light Brazilian jazz from Rio-based composer/guitarist Marco de Carvalho, now living in Seattle. The mood is thoroughly laid-back (as the third track will confirm), with de Carvalho's light guitar work dominating the proceedings, and some soft drumming from Tad Britton, and Daniel de Carvalho laying the rhythm at the base of the compositions. The backing musicians are a collection of Seattle-ites and Brazilians, with horn work coming from Seattle's Hans Teuber, and the lighter wind coming from master flautist Lucas Robatto, out of Rio. While de Carvalho is constantly reminiscent of the days of Astrud Gilberto's samba, he is never trying to emulate the sound entirely. It's his own take on the basic framework of samba, with the guitar always standing as the worthy centerpiece. While jazz has moved forward from the samba days to a degree, this is a welcome return, making for some excellent lazy Sunday afternoon music. Pick it up for two reasons: the first being de Carvalho's exceptional guitar ability as he picks carefully through the scales to fit the pieces, and the second being that this is an outstanding example of a contemporary piece of mood music, with the album making a coherent sound to play in the background of the end of a day easily. ~ Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide