Like many who first heard the voice of Milton Nascimento on Wayne Shorter’s 1975 album Native Dancer, it was a moment hard to forget: that infinitely flexible, highly-pitched instrument whose sensitivity and sensuality seemed burned into the consonants of each word, even in a language you could not understand. Had one been able to, the mixture of socially conscious protest songs with Afro-Brazilian and Catholic spirituality would have seemed even more exotic. But what most of us who heard him then weren’t always aware of was quite how much of the album belonged to Milton as well as to Wayne: he wrote or co-wrote five of the nine songs, which had lives in his own oeuvre prior to their use in Wayne’s, played guitar and lent his languid, tropical vibe to the overall enterprise.
Properly credited on the cover as a featured artist, it was also a two-way street: obscure outside Brazil before the appearance of the album, he became a worldwide star for the next half century. The crucial album to seek out from his pre-Native Dancer career is ‘Club Da Esquina’, which includes earlier versions of some of its songs. London’s enterprising Brazilian label Far Out has also released the excellent ‘Maria Maria’ and ‘Ultimo Trem’ albums of his ballet music. Made just after the Shorter, they were unavailable for 30 years due to contractual issues.
Esperanza Spalding first heard Milton on ’Native Dancer, too, although this was decades after its release, at a dinner party with Brazilian friends. She later worked with him – introduced by Herbie Hancock – and has been a friend for a long time now, her dedication to his remarkable gifts and musical personality evident in the devotion she displays in this very variable but ultimately moving and in part very rewarding album, recorded in Brazil last year. Acting as Milton’s effective curator, she produces, arranges, sings and plays bass, assisted by the members of her band, plus Orquestra Ouro Preto and a raft of guest stars including Paul Simon, Dianne Reeves, Lianne La Havas, Shabaka, Maria Gadu, Guinga, Tim Bernades and Carolina Shorter, Wayne’s widow.
Milton is 81 now, and his voice has deepened and become more fragile, but when he gets a good chance to sing, especially on his own songs, the results are the album’s most effective tracks. These are: ‘Cais’, ‘Outobro’, Guinga’s tune ‘Saci’, the beautiful and almost unbearably sad ‘Morro Velho’, and the very moving ‘Um Vento Passou’, sung by Milton with the song’s dedicatee, Paul Simon. The double LP could have safely become a single by dropping a few items, including a regrettable version of Michael Jackson’s ‘Earth Song’, sung by Dianne Reeves, and a so-so take on the Beatles’ ‘A Day in the Life’ that starts fine then goes too tricksy. Esperanza sings, in Portuguese, on most of the tracks, and she sounds great.
Milton + esperanza is released on 9 August
