A Brazilian CD

Origem; Ijexa

After moving to the Washington, DC, area in 1999, It wasn’t long before I was playing jobs and making new friends in the area. One of my first gigs was with a close colleague named Glen D. The first time I played with his group, I was utterly blown away by the drummer.

Now, there are some people who know me who are dropping their computers right now. And to you, I apologize. I should have thrown up my usual warning:

Danger!! Danger!! Drummer Compliment Ahead!! Consider Alternate Route!!

I am not renowned for my praise for all things percussive. However, my respect for artists who have developed their talent and skill to a point far beyond the median, who seek to say something profound and personal with every stroke of their brush, whose music is not the end but a means to a much broader, even universal, artistic end, my respect for these artists is not limited to people who play instruments that I like. And these qualities were personified on that evening in the guise of a quiet, unassuming gentleman named Alejandro Lucini.

Though I’ve played with him two times, I don’t know a lot about him except that he was born in Rio de Janeiro and that he and his brother have a band called Origem. We didn’t have much of an opportunity to talk, but we really didn’t have to. His whole persona was right there in his playing. He had some of his CDs with him the night I met him and I was happy to buy one.

“Ijexa” features the Lucini brothers' band Origem and is a Brazilian percussion feature throughout. Every performer is astounding on this album, particularly Alejandro’s brother Leonardo Lucini on bass, Peter Fraize on saxophone, and flutist Enrique Rios. A variety of keyboard players, Dan Reynolds, John Ozment and Vince Edwards give rock solid support and play some sweet, sweet piano. But the hero of the day on this CD is the rhythm; rhythm that glows on every track, rhythm that serves up the warmest Latin spices, rhythm that is never over the top but sets up camp right there at the peak, rhythm that proclaims, “This is Brazil, dance with us!” And all in the most capable percussive hands of Alejandro Lucini.

At the expense of perhaps preaching, allow me to say that I’ve worked with more than a few drummers who were there to keep the rest of us in line. They were the commanding officers in charge of one, two, three and four and thank heaven they were there otherwise the whole evening would have been a rhythmic nightmare. The drummers whom I have enjoyed working with the most are those who have confidence that rhythmic stability was there in the first place, without them, and that they were to supply what the rest of us couldn’t supply with a pitch. And if the tempo changed, they didn’t call the police, but saw that excitement was brewing and they wanted to come along. And they were warmly welcomed. All of us are drummers. Most of us just happened to pick a different instrument to play.

Credits: To Glen D., for recognizing a musician’s desire to make music with other musicians and for embracing them and welcoming them into a new community by hooking them up with playing opportunities, pronto. And for being a tremendous musician himself. Thank you, dude.