Whatever esperanza wants, it would seem, esperanza gets. From over-riding normal conventions of using capital letters in her name, to an imposing A-List of guests on Milton + esperanza (Concord): Paul Simon, Lianne La Havas, Guinga, Dianne Reeves, Shabaka Hutchings…
But what esperanza really wanted, as she explains in the album notes, was to make an album with – and to honour – Brazilian music legend Milton Nascimento. As she says: “Your heart, your music, your seeing, your spirit means to me what the sun and moon mean to the earth. You are the inspiration for so much of what I do, so much of what I’ve ever done and dream to do.” He was a guest on Chamber Music Society as long ago as 2010, and here he is again in the role of resident deity.
That recollection of Chamber Music Society takes us back to the time when Esperanza was in her twenties and the jazz musician being frequently feted in the Obama White House. Bring that thought up to date 14 years later and here she is, lionizing a hugely important figure in music. But there is no escaping the fact that Milton Nascimento just happens to be 81, and four weeks older than Joe Biden, the man who in the past few months has brought issues of ageing and incapacity to the front and the centre of world news.
Nascimento retired from the stage in 2022, and told an interviewer at the time: "I’m saying goodbye to the stage but I’m not saying goodbye to music. I refuse to say goodbye to music.” And the successful seven-rack EP Outros Cantos made in 2023 shows what can be done when one has all the time - and all the takes - in the world to ensure that Nascimento's singing can be heard as if undimmed by age.
Milton + esperanza takes a different approach. Right from the start, in the opening spoken words of “The Music Was There” the album seems to have no qualms about the album seeking to document, and maybe even celebrate, the extreme human frailty of old age. We live in an age when being honest about ageing is a preoccupation, but there are moments when Nascimento’s voice doesn’t just fade, it seriously lapses into weariness, notably in both "Saci" where he sings with esperanza and Guinga, and also in his duo with Paul Simon "Um Vento Passou". The recordings of these one-off encounters are, arguably, important documents in their own right. The recording "Saci" segues into spontaneous shared laughter, as if to make the point that 'this happened',
That said, Milton + esperanza is many things and has cast its net wide. The group of vocalists in "Saudade Dos Aviões Da Panair" make it not just gloriously atmospheric but also joyous and purposeful. Esperanza's regular collaborators such as Leo Genovese and Matthew Stevens are every bit as impeccable and as creative as they always are. And Elena Pinderhughes's flute playing is heard to great effect on the airy wild, Hermeto-ish "Wings for the Thought Bird".
This album is clearly a dream fulfilled. But I cannot unhear those uncomfortable moments when it has set out to be a documentary rather than an album.
- Milton + esperanza is released on Concord Records on 9 August
- More new music reviews on theartsdesk
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