Jazz Times and AAJ Reviews!
The Matuto Album got a stellar review in the latest Jazz Times Magazine. We feel honored to be featured in one of the top music journals in the country!
CLAY ROSS
Matuto (Ropeadope)
A hotshot Telecaster picker from South Carolina, Clay Ross immersed himself in Brazilian street beats as a member of Cyro Baptista’s Beat The Donkey. The two elements – countrified licks and insinuating samba grooves – merge in weird and wonderful ways on this unorthodox and delightful debut. The bluegrass-meets-Brazil formula works best on “Recife”, “Zydeco Mondo” and “Church Street Blues”. He also delivers a raw-voiced rendition of Blind Willie Johnson’s “John The Revelator,” accompanied only by Baptista’s berimbau – until the batucada percussion ensemble kicks in.
Matuto (Ropeadope)
A hotshot Telecaster picker from South Carolina, Clay Ross immersed himself in Brazilian street beats as a member of Cyro Baptista’s Beat The Donkey. The two elements – countrified licks and insinuating samba grooves – merge in weird and wonderful ways on this unorthodox and delightful debut. The bluegrass-meets-Brazil formula works best on “Recife”, “Zydeco Mondo” and “Church Street Blues”. He also delivers a raw-voiced rendition of Blind Willie Johnson’s “John The Revelator,” accompanied only by Baptista’s berimbau – until the batucada percussion ensemble kicks in.We are also featured in All About Jazz. One of NYC’s leading jazz publications.
“Oftentimes, cross-cultural fusions of this kind sound better on paper than in performance, but Ross displays an honest combination of his own background in American roots and pop music with the incorporation of genuine Brazilian styles like maracatu. In doing so, he proves himself to be a modern matuto, spanning continents with a down-home sensibility and an explorer’s curiosity.“ Check out the rest of this very thoughtful review by Greg Camphire at All About Jazz
