Inner Spirits

Swedish pianist Jan Lundgren and Brazilian guitarist Yamandu Costa’s collaborative debut is a thing of beauty. Cast as an Ecuadorian pasillo, the Costa-penned opener ‘Para Aprender a Amar’ is a gorgeous, swirling, interlocking dance which sets the album’s enviably high benchmark. The first of two homages to his renowned Mare Nostrum trio bandmates, Richard Galliano and Paolo Fresu, the delicious harmonies and plaintive melodies of Lundgren’s ‘Galliano’ irrevocably call to mind the great Jobim. And it’s a delight to hear one of the lesser-known jewels from Jobim’s oeuvre, ‘Garoto’, in which the music-making pours forth in an effortless stream. There’s some fabulous soloing from the duo, too, not least in Lundgren’s virtuosic ‘Hannah’, composed in honour of his wife, the vocalist Hannah Svensson. Written in tribute to the legendary French pianist, arranger and composer Michel Legrand, once heard it’s impossible to forget the heart-warming Costa ballad, ‘A Legrand’.