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Phill Fest: Cafe Fon Fon

By Jack Bowers
May 3, 2021
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While there is no sure cure for the blues, a large dose of Brazilian music often comes about as close to driving the dark clouds away as any remedy a physician is likely to prescribe. It is hard to listen to an album such as guitarist-composer

Phill Fest

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">Phill Fest's sunny Caf�� Fon Fon without smiling and tapping your toes as misery and sadness bid their goodbyes. Who could resist the urge to grin while listening, for example, to his rhythmic salute to an "Avocado"?

Fest sings on that tune, as he does on several others, and is quite good at that too, as is

Beatriz Mainic

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Beatriz Mainic who makes it a twosome on "Each and Every Week," "O Barquinho" and "Ele e Carioca." The carioca is delightful, but no more so than the samba or bossa, each of which is used to good effect on various songs. Whatever the rhythm, Fest and his ensemble (basically a sextet plus Mainic) are bright and able, even blending in some North American-style jazz from time to time, as exemplified by saxophonist

Pablo Gil

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Pablo Gil and (on "Bossa no Choro") by guest pianist

Antonio Adolfo

piano
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Antonio Adolfo. "Choro" was written by Phill Fest's late father, the renowned Brazilian-born pianist and composer

Manfredo Fest

keyboards
1936 - 1999

" data-original-title="" title="">Manfredo Fest.

Phill wrote the jazz samba "Isabel" for his wife, also "Avocado," the carefree "Smile on Your Face" and the irrepressible "Each and Every Week." Betty Krieger, proprietress of the Caf�� Fon Fon (yes, it really is a jazz club) in Porto Alegre, Brazil, composed the gently swinging "Para Lili Fest" for Phill's mother, giving Phill a chance to solo spaciously on guitar, as do Gil on flute and pianist

Robert Prester

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Robert Prester.

Antonio Carlos Jobim

piano
1927 - 1994

" data-original-title="" title="">Antonio Carlos Jobim wrote the easy-going "Ele e Carioca," another of Fest and Mainic's charming duets. The rhythm section, which sparkles throughout, consists of Prester, bassist

Paul Shewchuk

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Paul Shewchuk, drummer

Michael Brothers

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Michael Brothers and percussionist

Tuti Rodrigues

percussion

" data-original-title="" title="">Tuti Rodrigues.

For what it is, Caf�� Fon Fon is a splendid album whose compass is pointed for the most part due south. Would that there were more of it, as the playing time for its eight numbers is roughly thirty-three minutes. On the other hand, that's thirty-three minutes of lively music designed to boost one's spirits and banish the blues. You could do worse

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Track Listing

Isabel; Each and Every Week; Bossa no Choro; O Barquinho; Smile on Your Face; Para Lill Fest; Ela e Carioca; Avocado.

Personnel

Phill Fest

guitar

Pablo Gil

saxophone

Robert Prester

piano

Paul Shewchuk

bass

Michael Brothers

drums

Tuti Rodrigues

percussion

Beatriz Mainic

vocals

Antonio Adolfo

piano

Additional Instrumentation

Phill Fest: all guitars, vocals, percussion (1, 5); Pablo Gil: flute; Robert Prester: keyboards; Tuti Rodrigues: Brazilian percussion; Beatriz Mainic: vocals (2, 4, 7); Antonio Adolfo: piano (3).

Album information

Title: Cafe Fon Fon | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: Self Produced

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