Dave Grusin Calls Brazilian Music A Life Saver

Dave Grusin (right) with Lee Ritenour (Instagram @leeritenourofficial)

JAKARTA - jazz music legend Dave Grusin is known for many Latin musical works, especially Brazil. The 89-year-old has collaborated with many Latin jazz musicians, even since the 1970s, such as Sergio Mendes and Dave Valentin.

Most recently, Grusin again collaborated with his longtime colleague, Lee Ritenour on an album titled Brazil.

Grusin spoke specifically about the Land of Samba. For him, Brazilian music is the savior of his life. Moreover, this time the project with Ritenour brought him together with musicians he knew well,

"It's almost like being part of a family. It's really a life save when I first got involved in Brazilian music and it's great fun to come back, especially with these players," said Dave Grusin.

He was delighted to see how Brazilian music and musicians have remained a long time ago. Dave Grusin feels lucky to be involved in the Brazilian music scene with Lee Ritenour

"Brazil's distinctive attitude in their game reminds me that things haven't changed for years. We (with Lee Ritenour) are two foreigners thrown into their world and that's the dynamics we want to happen."

Meanwhile, the album Brasil will be released on May 31. Lee Ritenour and Dave Grusin have already released the single Cravo e Canela as the opening of a new album.

The collaboration between Lee Ritenour and Dave Grusin has been going on for 50 years. The pianist was involved in the work on Ritenour's debut album, 'First Course' in 1976.

At least 16 studio albums involve the collaboration between the two. Some of them present Brazilian musical nuances, such as 'Harlequin (1985) and 'World of Brazil' (2003), which are the albums of the GRP.