Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » MOMO.: Gira

MOMO.: Gira

By Chris May
September 27, 2024
View read count

Gira is one of those exhilarating beyond-category albums which London produces uniquely well, if the gentle reader will excuse a little partisanship. It is part m��sica popular brasileira (MPB) and part jazz, but never entirely one or the other, swinging between the two as the fancy takes it. Add to that splashes of West African highlife, South African township jive, Maghrebi grooves, psychedelia, reggae and the sort of instantly addictive North Mediterranean quasi-novelty summer-holiday pop song that can take July through to the end of a chilly British autumn.

Such an album can only be created within a multi-cultural society in which there are generally good race relations (the nutjob Elon Musk and his prediction of an "inevitable" British civil war notwithstanding) and, preferably, by a band which includes musicians of both sexes.

Gira has all the above going for it. It is released under the moniker MOMO. aka

Marcelo Frota

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">Marcelo Frota, a Brazilian singer, guitarist and synth player who has been resident in London since 2021, and who is an all-singing, all-dancing flashback to 1970s tropic��lia. It is Frota's eighth album, but his first to be recorded in Britain. The 17-piece collective lineup includes off-the-wall London luminaries baritone saxophonist and flautist

Tamar Osborn

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Tamar Osborn, trombonist

Rosie Turton

trombone

" data-original-title="" title="">Rosie Turton, alto saxophonist

Alabaster DePlume

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Alabaster DePlume, keyboardist

Jessica Lauren

keyboards

" data-original-title="" title="">Jessica Lauren, cellist

Francesca Ter-Berg

cello

" data-original-title="" title="">Francesca Ter-Berg, synth player Mikey Chestnutt, vocalist Liz Elensky, drummer

Nick Woodmansey

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Nick Woodmansey and percussionist

Magnus Mehta

percussion

" data-original-title="" title="">Magnus Mehta. Osborn, Lauren and Elensky are members of, or closely associated with, Woodmansey's beyond-jazz ensemble

Emanative

band / ensemble / orchestra

" data-original-title="" title="">Emanative (a review of Emanative's Earth, released on Jazzman in 2018, can be read here). See Additional Instrumentation below for the full monty.

About half the ten tracks fall loosely into a combination bag of MPB and the aforementioned quasi-novelty pop song. They are charming, trippy, totally summery and make the ears smile and the heart beat more regularly. There is a more or less equal balance between vocal and instrumental passages, with Frota concentrating on guitar and synth. On "A Walk In The Park," Liz Elensky's overdubs summon up the vibe of close-harmony vocal duo The Congos' Lee Perry- produced treasure Heart Of The Congos (Black Ark, 1977).

Elsewhere the delights include the out-there Tamar Osborn feature "My Mind" (an AAJ interview with Osborn can be read here) and Rosie Turton's raucous mutant-ska feature "Summer Interlude." Jessica Lauren's wildly imaginative keyboards are heard to great effect on four tracks, including opener "Para," which also spotlights Osborn and Francesca Ter-Berg. Alabaster DePlume does his bit for global warming with the kif cured "Oqueeei."

P.S. Gira was recorded at London's Total Refreshment Centre, a creative hub that is also an artist workshop and recording studio, and is where earlier in 2024 AAJ interviewed another off-the-wall London luminary, bassist and singer

Ruth Goller

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Ruth Goller, whose Skyllumina (International Anthem) is a dead cert for 2024's Best Of Year albums lists (that interview can be read here ).

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Para; Rio; Passo De Avarandar; Oqueeei; Jao; My Mind; Beija Flor; Summer Interlude; A Walk In The Park; Gira.

Personnel

Marcelo Frota

guitar

Tamar Osborn

saxophone, tenor

Rosie Turton

trombone

Nick Woodmansey

drums

Alabaster DePlume

saxophone

Jessica Lauren

keyboards

Magnus Mehta

percussion

Additional Instrumentation

Marcelo Frota: voice, guitar, synth; Tamar Osborn: baritone saxophone (1,6), flute (2); Alabaster DePlume: saxophone (4); Rosie Turton: trombone (5,7,10); Jessica Lauren: keyboards (1,3,5,10); Carwyn Ellis: electric piano (2); Phil Madeira: piano (9); Mikey Chestnutt: synth (4); Caetano Malta: guitar (3,6,8-10), bass (5,7,10), synth (9); Francesca Ter-Berg: cello (1,9); Regis Damasceno: bass (1-4,6,8), guitar (10); Nick Woodmansey: drums; Magnus Mehta: percussion; Kika: voice (1), backing vocal (3); Liz Elensky: backing vocal (1,2,8), vocal solo (9); Giulia Cavallini: bird song (7); Julia Nutter: bird song (7).

Album information

Title: Gira | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Batov Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Grover Washington Jr., Nubya Garcia,...
< Previous

Mike Stern, Tony Grey, Janek Gwizdal...
Next >

Marcelo Frota Concerts

Sep 25 Thu

Deeper Cuts: Momo. + Donna Thompson (1st Birthday Party)

Paper Dress Vintage
London, UK

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.