Blues, ballads and bossas were in the air as Ken Peplowski and Diego Figuieredo delivered a 90 minute set of sublime duets that evoke musical images of Jobim, Goodman and Ellington Friday night at Vitello’s.
Peplowski’s big and breathy tenor was a perfect fit for Figuieredo’s breezy Brazilian chords and picks, opening with a bouncy and serene medley of “Cheek to Cheek” and “So Danco Samba” that created soft and frothy waves of rhythm and melody.
Switching over to his clarinet for the remainder of the night, Peplowski was warm and woody as he swung over the exotic stirng pickings on the mysterious “Caravan” while opening up Tom Jobim’s gloriously melancholic “Portrait in Black and White” with a tender and luminous solo aria. The two partners created a buoyant samba as Peps delivered staccato’d chirps of joy and Figueuiredo picked and grinned on the skipping “O Pato” while oozing dreams of quiet nights and quiet stars on the luminous “Manha De Carnival.”
Each artist got an opportunity to deliver a solo in the spotlight. Figueiredo delivered an evocative mix of chiming strings that mixed together moments of flamenco, fado and Brubeck, with Peplowski’s clarinet sighing out a gloriously tender read of Duke Ellington’s “Single Pedal of a Rose.”
Closing with a blistering unison read of the bop classic “Cherokee” before Peps went one last time to the Ben Webster well with his tenor for a feathery “One Note Samba,” the two gents showed the appreciative crowd that the sounds of Getz/Gilberto that started the bossa nova half a century ago is still not only alive and well, but timeless.
Upcoming shows at Vitello’s include The Ron King Big Band 05/22, Elijah Rock 05/30, Nutty 06/09 and Groove Sauce 06/16