Transcription - Wilson das Neves, "Deixa Isso Para Lá"

One of the great Brazilian drummers whose work we have yet to explore on this blog is Wilson das Neves.  Besides being a great drumset player, das Neves was also a percussionist, singer, and composer, and worked in the realms of samba, bossa nova, and samba-jazz

Though he died in 2017, das Neves remained active for the duration of his life, appearing on the Roberta Sá album Braseiro which we've looked at before, and in the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics in 2016.

In 1968, das Neves released an album together with Elza Soares entitled simply Baterista: Wilson das Neves.  On it is the piece "Deixa Isso Para Lá" which is transcribed below.  While it does include the rest of the band, the bulk of the tune is a drumset and vocal duet between the two leaders.

As we've recently been talking about rhythmic direction in telecoteco and how some of the samba-jazz drummers of the 60s and 70s were liberal in their treatment of it it's interesting to note that das Neves actually adheres quite strictly to the rhythmic direction in this recording, (and nearly every other one I've heard).  His rim clicks play very much like a tamborim part from a samba.  I'm presuming this is because das Neves had a background in traditional batucada-style drumming and spent time in one or more escolas.  With that in mind, check out the extra beat in the middle of page 3.

In old jazz recordings it's not completely uncommon to hear what may sound like a bar of odd time, or an extra beat.  Usually, this is from an old-school tape edit where two takes are being spliced together.  However, that doesn't appear to be the case here.  Rather, I think it's more likely the Wilson is playing those quarter notes in the subsequent bars to see where Elza is going to phrase her melodic line in an attempt to stay on the correct side of the rhythm.

Also, note that at the beginning of many of the phrases you can clearly here das Neves playing an entrada before carrying on.

Finally, if you speak Portuguese, or know someone who does, it's worth checking out this short documentary on the making of Baterista: Wilson das Neves.