| Jazz |
Brazilian drummer and percussionist, settled in Washington DC, spends his time on this album exploring various rhythms on shimmering music, with the advantage that his Brazilian culture is very strong musically, allowing him to navigate between jazz and exotic rhythms with disconcerting ease. We are all dependent on our culture, and in this case, it is a real strength! Having played and recorded with numerous artists including Tedd Baker, Michael Bowie, Shawn Purcell, and renowned Brazilian artists such as Vinicius Dorim, Rubinho Antunes, Bruno Mangueira, and Felipe Silveira, among others.
The principle of the Juan Megna Group, founded in 2017, is to play original compositions, a successful bet due to the quality of these jazz/ world/ fusion works that burst from all sides, with perfectly crafted arrangements to match the many qualities of the musicians in this group: Ted Baker on saxophone, guitarist Shawn Purcell, Jose Luiz Martin on piano and electric guitar, Leonardo Lucini on bass, and Juan Megna on drums and percussion, who also signs the compositions, which are particularly fiery and exciting. Here, there is a desire to highlight the drums and percussion, which is often the case in Brazilian music. Juan Megna studied at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP-Sao Paulo BR), obtaining his undergraduate degree in 2008. He earned his Master’s at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music (2017) and his Doctorate in Musical Arts at George Mason University (2021). As an educator, Juan Megna lectures at the School of Music, Theater, and Art at the Catholic University and also leads the Latin American ensemble at George Mason University. This group has been awarded by DownBeat magazine with the 42nd (2019), 43rd (2020), and 44th (2021) student awards for “Outstanding Performance.”
This gives you a bit of the dimension of this musician who does not confine himself to a strict style; he adopts and adapts musical genres to his universe, which is particularly audible on the track ‘Si Estuvieras,’ here between classical music, jazz, tropical rhythms, accordion that could very well be a European bandoneon from the way the melodies are written. One can get lost in these multiple and almost excessive propositions, but the mastered art of Juan Megna makes us always land on our feet, and through this album, we can very well see these compositions forming a magnificent show for festivals. A particularly pleasant album for this summer period, which will remind you of your holidays in September. For my part, besides discovering Juan Megna’s artistic qualities through this album, I also greatly appreciated Tedd Baker’s saxophone playing. We must also salute the talented musicians who brought their art to this album: Emmanuel Tiffilio on bandoneon, David Sacks on trombone, and the excellent vocalist Alison Crockett, whose album “My Father’s Record Collection Vol.1” released in 2023 was particularly appreciated. Read it here. Enough to make the Juan Megna Group one of our “Essential” albums.
Thierry De Clemensat
USA correspondent – Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, August 7th 2024
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