Home » Jazz Articles » Live Review » Ensemble Novo At Mount Laurel Library

Ensemble Novo At Mount Laurel Library

View Slideshow

Courtesy Carl Medsker

By Carl Medsker
June 14, 2025
View read count

Ensemble Novo
Mount Laurel Library
Mount Laurel, NJ
June 8, 2025

In a spacious, windowed corner of the Mount Laurel, NJ public library (yes, library), amidst the Silent Zone signs, Ensemble Novo was anything but. The beautiful, sultry and sometimes melancholy sounds of Brazilian Samba and Bossa Nova filled the room and drifted soothingly through the building. Since 2013, Ensemble Novo has visited the libraries, art galleries, parks, gardens, breweries and restaurants in South Jersey and Philadelphia to share the sounds of Brazilian music, providing a balm for challenging times.

Former music writer and NPR critic

Tom Moon

saxophone, tenor
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Tom Moon founded Ensemble Novo in 2013, performs on saxophone and flute and composes for the band. Cofounders include master vibraphonist

Behn Gillece

vibraphone
b.1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Behn Gillece, also on the faculty of Rowan College, and guitarist

Ryan McNeely

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">Ryan McNeely, who studied Brazilian music at Temple University and in Brazil. The rhythm section has varied somewhat over the years, but currently

Nicholas Krolak

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Nicholas Krolak provides the steady, pulsing backbone on bass, with

Claudio De Pujadas

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Claudio De Pujadas frolicking creatively around the drum kit.

Stan Getz

saxophone, tenor
1927 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Stan Getz famously brought jazz saxophone to Bossa Nova in the early 1960s, a style Moon echoes, but his flute creates a sweet alternative voice. Gillece's ringing vibes strikingly brighten the music, rhythmically enhanced by his extensive jazz skills. The guitar is fundamental to much of Brazilian music, which flows melodically, fluidly and seemingly effortlessly from McNeely. They sensually sing Brazilian music, adding that swinging jazz feel.

As Moon pointed out, they have amassed a sizable repertoire over the years spanning eras and composers. Works by the grand masters

Antonio Carlos Jobim

piano
1927 - 1994

" data-original-title="" title="">Antonio Carlos Jobim,

Joao Gilberto

vocals
1931 - 2019

" data-original-title="" title="">Joao Gilberto,

Egberto Gismonti

guitar
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Egberto Gismonti and

Milton Nascimento

guitar and vocals
b.1942

" data-original-title="" title="">Milton Nascimento are heavily present, but so are perhaps lesser-known composers, at least outside of Brazil, including the influential

Edu Lobo

guitar and vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Edu Lobo,

Ary Barroso

" data-original-title="" title="">Ary Barroso,

Baden Powell

guitar, acoustic
1937 - 2000

" data-original-title="" title="">Baden Powell and others. Stan Getz, of course, is a guiding spirit. Moon is humble about his compositions in the shadow of the giants, but his contribution to the day's set, "The Sand This Time," was a jazz-inflected, enjoyable tune.

Sunday's performance, not surprisingly, included songs by Jobim and Nascimento. A decade after Stan Getz and Jo?o Gilberto merged jazz and Bossa, another saxophonist,

Wayne Shorter

saxophone
1933 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Wayne Shorter, collaborated with Nascimento on the masterful Native Dancer (Columbia, 1974) album, with strikingly different yet lovely results. Ensemble Novo nicely reorchestrated and reimagined "The Lonely Afternoons" from that album. The set included a second Nascimento song, "Nuvem Cigana," and the breezy, dancing "E Luxo So" by Ary Barroso and Lu��z Peixoto, both with Moon on sax. "Ponteio" and "Reza," memorable songs written by Ed�� L?bo, featured Moon on flute and showcased the beauty of the flute, guitar and vibraphone combo. "Captain Bicardi" by Jobim closed the show on an upbeat note.

Percussion, like the guitar, is fundamental to Brazilian music, so a final shoutout goes to De Pujadas. He played all around the beat, craftily varying rhythms and adding artful accents while never losing the feel of any piece, much of the time with an infectious smile. What a delight.

PREVIOUS / NEXT

precondition
< Previous

Take Five with pianist, composer Ita...
Next >

Ensemble Novo Concerts

Sep 12 Fri

Ensemble Novo

Longwood Gardens
Kennett Square, PA

Nov 15 Sat

Ensemble Novo

Lyceum Hall Center For The Arts
Burlington, NJ

Jan 16 Fri

Jazz Hauz: Ensemble Novo

Perkins Center For The Arts Moorestown
Moorestown, NJ

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.