Live In Rio
SSC1823 2026-12-04
Track List
Aqui Oh!
Farjuto
Solito
Peresina
Duduka's Mood
The Peacocks
Sonho De Maria
Dona Maria
Musicians
David Feldman - piano
Guto Wirtti - bass
Duduka Da Fonseca - drums
Gilded Age writer Edith Wharton once wrote, “True originality consists not in a new manner, but in a new vision.” Musicians continually use proven methods to form the basis of their personal expression. Drummer Duduka Da Fonseca found a special vehicle for his growth in music via his Brazil-based trio, featuring pianist David Feldman and bassist Guto Wirtti. The trio showcases their unique approach and evolution by the best possible method, a live album, entitled Live In Rio.
Da Fonseca grew up in a household full of music, especially jazz. He was especially attracted to the great live albums of the legendary Bill Evans Trio, especially Sunday at The Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby, which featured bassist Scott La Faro and drummer Paul Motian. The Evans Trio cemented a concept of group communication, forming a singular ensemble voice, that stuck with Da Fonseca and became a goal for him when he assembled his own trio.
The opportunity came in 2009 when Da Fonseca enlisted fellow Brazilians Feldman and Wirtti to become his regular ensemble while in Brazil and South America. For nearly twenty years, the group has worked together, playing innumerable gigs and recording albums playing original compositions, jazz standards, and music from the brilliant composers of Brazil. The trio has continued to evolve over the years, the members becoming more in tune with one another. They have come to a place of freedom and spontaneity within musical creation and elasticity in time during performance.
In December 2025, Da Fonseca traveled to Brazil for a number of gigs with the trio. As they prepared for a January performance at Festival Internacional de Jazz de Punta del Este in Uruguay, the three decided to finally capture the group in an environment where it presented itself most dynamically, in live concert.
The trio worked through a program of music over their concert schedule and at the festival, receiving enthusiastic responses from the audiences. They narrowed their presentation to a dozen tunes before they performed at the Rio de Janeiro jazz club, Manouche, on January 17, 2026. The venue has been a longtime favorite of Da Fonseca and the group, as the club’s devoted supporters and the local jazz enthusiast society, CJUB, make Manouche an ideal place to perform.
Live In Rio begins with the trio’s take on Toninho Horta’s “Aqui Oh!,” a light vibrant piece that provides a buoyant and fun environment for the soloists to explore. The program continues with “Farjuto,” a piece by Da Fonseca’s regular collaborator and friend, pianist Dom Salvador, the trio making the difficult piece sound effortless. The measured “Solito” is a Wirtti composition and a rare bossa nova in ¾ time, while “Peresina” is a new, modally tinged arrangement of a piece by McCoy Tyner with Brazilian influences.
Feldman’s lithe “Duduka’s Mood” shows just how in tune the trio is, as the musicians let loose with a seemingly elastic time feel. Jimmy Rowles’ “The Peacocks” has been a touchstone piece for Da Fonseca ever since he met the legendary pianist at the famed Bradley’s jazz club in New York City. The trio performs the classic piece as a whispering slow bossa ballad. Da Fonseca first played the celebrated Brazilian songwriter Marcos Valle’s “Sonho de Maria” decades ago on a jam session with French bassist Jean-François Jenny-Clarke in Paris. The ecstatic energy and pulse of the piece inspire a moving performance from the trio. The program concludes with Da Fonseca’s tribute to his grandmother. “Dona Maria” is a swinging samba composition taking its cues from the famed sound of the John Coltrane Quartet.
The seamless marriage of jazz and Brazilian music has been treasured by listeners for decades. The tradition persists as the music continues to grow. It is under the command of brilliant musicians like Duduka Da Fonseca, David Feldman, and Guti Wirtti on stage that the music truly evolves, as can be heard on their trio’s Live In Rio.
