Yossi Harsonsky, "Maariv".

August 2000.

Tucan Trio: Homemade Brazil

I think it would be true to claim that we like to absorb from others. To imitate styles, to assimilate influences. Sometimes good things come out of it. The Tucan Trio, named after a South American bird with a colorful beak, are locals who try to redefine Brazilian music. For us, Brazilian music is Jobim, Jorge Ben, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gill. Suddenly we discover that there is an abundance of Brazilian songwriters unknown in our territory. Hagai Rehavia's acoustic guitar, Amir Milstein's flute, and Joca Perpignan's percussions are interwoven into a rhythmic-harmonic texture rich in color, and with a dynamic and lively rhythm.

Joca is the Brazilian angle. He performed with a variety of ensembles in Brazil, in Capo Verde. He wrote a lovely piece on Soccer, what else? The Brazilian music flows in the veins of this creative percussionist. Hagai Rehavia studied with the best guitar artist in Brazil. Amir Milstein had this love of music passed on in his genes: his father originates from Brazil. The moment they start playing a beautiful rainbow of colors spreads out; the colors of Brazilian music from the ethnic to the Jazz. The difference between the Samba-for-Tourists and the music I heard is in the arrangement. Good arrangement is an art in itself. Folk music from northern Brazil (Bahia), Choro – a combination of Samba and the European Polkas and Mazurkas, interactions between Jazz and Brazil.

Joca plays the Cavaquinho (a small Brazilian guitar) and the Berimbao, which is a unique string instrument. When it comes to improvisations, the evening belongs to Amir Milstein: he has intensity, rhythm, a melodic and harmonic sound and the lyric sensitivity of a soft and languishing flute. Together those combine to give everything that can be had from a flute.

Here we have a flautist who improvises with a surprisingly melodic orientation, a guitarist who masters nearly every Brazilian nuance, plucks rich textures, is proficient at the most miniscule details of playing a guitar, and a percussionist who employs every instrument (including his voice) as well as noisy toys, at the exactly right dosage. Tucan have changed the arrangements of compositions. They used the basis and reworked it to their hearts delight, but stayed solidly on Brazilian ground. The beauty is in the relationship between the instruments and how, at the same time, one can hear each instrument clearly.

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