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GUITARIST ROMERO LUBAMBO SITS IN A DIMLY LIT CORNER of the cramped stage at Mistura Fina, Rio de Janeiro's hottest jazz club. For now, he allows the spotlight to fall squarely on the beaming face of singer Dianne Reeves, who's obviously happy to be in Brazil performing for full houses. But she's probably even more satisfied to be sharing the bill with a musician who has become the most in-demand Brazilian guitarist of the past two decades, if not ever. As she scats her way through a spirited version of George and Ira Gershwin's "Our Love is Here to Stay," Lubambo displays the full range of his chops, laying down thick samba rhythms behind Reeves' vocals. The two trade salty fours when Reeves switches into scat overdrive, and then the guitarist extends a sinewy solo far into the night.
Lubambo seems to be everywhere these days. He was featured recently with Wynton Marsalis' Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra in a program of jazz samba and with an all-star assemblage of Brazilian stars for a Lincoln Center tribute to the early-20th-century composer Pixinguinha, a master of such venerable forms as samba and choro. In recent years, he's been closely associated with Reeves and has performed with an endless list of international headliners, including Kathleen Battle, Diana Krall, Paquito D'Rivera, and Astrud Gilberto. When a Brazilian guitarist is needed for a top-flight engagement, the New York City-based, Rio de Janeiro-born Lubambo is at the top of virtually every producer's list. And, as more have discovered over the years, Lubambo's ability to move effortlessly from straightahead jazz to funk and many other styles makes him one of the most versatile string masters extant.
Currently, Lubambo is featured on a trio of releases. He receives star billing on Brazilian Nights' Rio Wave (Q Records), a star-packed concept program that sails off into the smooth-jazz sunset with Jane Monheit, Curtis Stigers, Jay Beckenstein, Gato Barbieri, and others aboard. On DUDUKA DA FONSECA's Samba Jazz Fantasia (Malandro), he crafts burning Brazilian jazz with a host of luminaries including drummer Da Fonseca, saxophonist David Sanchez, guitarist John Scofield, and trumpeters Tom Harrell and Claudio Roditi. And on Cafe (Malandro), Lubambo is reunited with his TRIO DA PAZ bandmates Da Fonseca and bassist Nilson...