Orfeu

1	Saudade 6:34
2	Manha de Carnaval 5:57
3	Por-Do-Sol 5:17
4	Goin' Home 7:27
5	117 Special 6:53
6	Obrigado 5:34
7	Samba de Orfeu 7:36

Barnes & Noble

No bassist shapes ensemble flow more determinedly than Ron Carter, whose fine melodic ear, nuanced attention to detail, and definite point of view impact every performance he participates in as sideman or leader. On the first six tunes of ORFEU, the 62-year-old virtuoso focuses on his excellent rhythm section, laying down deep, insinuating grooves that propel them with leopard-like grace through a variety of sambas ("Saudade," "Manha de Carnival," "Por Do Sol," "Obrigado"), a spiritual ("Goin' Home") and a blues-funk strut ("1:17 Special"). He entrusts the preponderance of solo duties to guests Houston Person (tenor sax) and Bill Frisell (guitar), both melodic improvisers of the first rank with immediately identifiable sounds. Lest you forget his solo gifts, on the concluding title track Carter conjures a magisterial seven-minute statement, complemented by Frisell's pristine, intuitive comp and whispery percussion. It caps a mature tour de force whose pleasures lay in subtle understatement. Ted Panken

All Music Guide

The great Ron Carter continues his intermittent love affair with Brazilian music, joined by a somewhat unlikely cast of characters. Guitarist Bill Frisell delivers yet another of his superb sideman performances, including a pinpoint harmonic dissection of "Goin' Home," Carter's bossa nova adaptation of Dvorak's "New World Symphony." The sonic blend of Frisell's guitar, Houston Person's tenor saxophone, and Stephen Scott's piano is consistently delightful, especially on the melody of Carter's "Por-Do-Sol." All three soloists turn in excellent performances on the three remaining Carter originals, "Saudade," "Obrigado," and "1:17 Special," as well as two Luiz Bonfa tunes from the film Black Orpheus, "Manha de Carnaval" and "Samba de Orfeu." Carter's melody statement and solo on the latter are his only steps into the spotlight; otherwise, he remains in a rhythmic support role, along with drummer Payton Crossley and percussionist Steve Kroon.

This record could have been merely one more Latin-themed album by an American jazz musician. But creative production choices and fantastic musicianship make it artistically solid and uncommonly beautiful. David R. Adler