CLIPPING
THE LAID BACK FUSION OF DANIEL SANTIAGO
JULY 19, 2018 ANGEL ROMERO LEAVE A COMMENT
Daniel Santiago – Union (Adventure Music, 2018)
Union is an instrumental album highlighting the guitar work of Brazilian musician and composer Daniel Santiago. The album has edgy electric guitar and electronic keyboards. At the same, it is very accessible and laid back. It’s an album that is eclectic and energetic enough to please fusion fans and the smooth jazz market as well.
The lineup on Union includes Daniel Santiago on acoustic and electric guitar, synth bass, keyboards and vocals; Pedro
Martins on keyboards; Shai Maestro on piano; Frederico Heliodoro on bass; Rafael Vernet on keyboards; Thiago Rabello on drums; Gregoire Maret on harmonica; Antonio Loureiro on drums; Renato Galvao on drums; and Ricardo Braga on percussion.
Union is a delightful, masterfully-crafted album where jazz, fusion and Brazilian music find a common ground.
ALLMUSIC
AllMusic Review by Jeff Tamarkin [-]
Although it weighs in at just over a half-hour, On the Way is an impressive solo debut from the Brazilian jazz guitarist Daniel Santiago. A member of mandolinist Hamilton de Holanda's quintet, the Rio-based Santiago, who plays acoustically, works here with bassist Andre Vasconcellos and drummer Marcio Bahia on a set of songs composed and arranged by Santiago; the guitarist also co-produced, along with de Holanda and Marcos Portinari. The album, reportedly cut over a mere few days without rehearsal, aims to showcase Santiago in a multitude of settings and spans a gamut of environments, skipping directly from the rhythmic and ebullient opener, "Viewpoint," to a pair of moodier, more relaxed pieces, the title track, and "Memory." Santiago's intuitive interactions with his musicians are never less than striking, while drummer Marcio Bahia, in particular, displays an acute sense of split-second timing, not only following Santiago's frequent rhythmic and melodic shifts with ease, but leading the guitarist into tributaries he might not otherwise have drifted. On "Tribute to Baden" (that would be Baden Powell, the revered Brazilian composer/musician), Santiago hints at flamenco with his bold flourishes, while "Homesick," which follows it, finds the guitarist repeating a looping, circular pattern that shapes into a trance-like ambience. Santiago is undeniably a technical wiz kid, but more importantly, his music leaves an emotional mark.
ALL ABOUT JAZZ
By MARTIN GLADU
August 27, 2009
Daniel Santiago is also not one to take the fun out of playing the guitar, quite the contrary. Hailing from Brazil, Santiago favours a collegial approach to composition, putting his sizzling melodies through a dangerously nervous rhythmic machine and then toning it down to acoustic-set, pastoral vistas. But, as its title suggests, the idea behind Metropole is of conjuring up a bustling urban landscape, of vertically stacked harmonic-rhythmic structures with reserved pathways for zigzagging soloists. The listener comes out of the excursion alive, and longing for more.
A skilled technician and composer, Santiago shares conceptions of phrasing and tone with Pat Metheny. His winning tandem with saxophonist Josue Lopez is reminiscent of the Brazil-bound master's collaborations with saxophonist Michael Brecker. "Traveling" and "Miracle are two telling examples. His pensive "Children Of The War" calls to meditation in much the same way that Metheny's "Message To A Friend" did on the Beyond The Missouri Sky (Verve, 1997) project with bassist Charlie Haden. That said, this second outing reveals Santiago as a talented, maturing voice whose influences, though watermarked, are rapidly overlooked for the superior quality of its presentation. A name to reckon with.
DANIEL SANTIAGO AND PEDRO MARTINS, TWO EXCEPTIONAL GUITARISTS FROM BRAZIL
APRIL 17, 2018 ANGEL ROMERO LEAVE A COMMENT
Daniel Santiago & Pedro Martins – Simbiose (Adventure Music, 2018)
Simbiose is an exquisite guitar album by two of Brazil’s finest guitarists: Daniel Santiago and Pedro Martins. It’s a delightful set of interactions between acoustic and electric guitars with the addition of mesmerizing wordless vocals.
Most of the compositions are by Daniel Santiago except for one, where Pedro Martins takes the lead. The captivating music contains contemporary acoustic, jazz, classical and Brazilian traditional music elements.
Daniel and Pedro are friends, who grew up Brasilia. Daniel Santiago plays the acoustic guitar and Pedro Martins is on electric guitar. Both musicians provide vocals as well.
Simbiose is a masterfully constructed album filled with emotion and virtuosity.
BRAZILIAN SUNSETS….Daniel Santiago & Pedro Martins: Simbiose
by George W. Harris • July 5, 2018
Blending voices and guitars, Daniel Santiago/acoustic joins with Pedro Martins/electric for 9 gorgeous pieces that create a Raphaelesque tapestry of sounds. Gentle folksy pieces like the dreamy and soft “Retrato” and pastoral “Refletindo” combine subliminal and cirrus cloud voices to graceful strums. Harplike strings glisten on “Paz” while dancing in baroque style on “Caravela” as the rhythmic fingers create a saudade on “Distancia” and get festive on the title track. Night club serenades take place on “Chorando E Sorrindo” while the fingers slide on the elliptical “Terra de Ninguem.” This is a glowing charmer; look for it!