I did not know what a pandeiro was when I booked this show, but the idea of hearing a Brazilian percussion instrument alongside guitar and piano playing music that combines Brazilian music and jazz fascinated me.

Scott Feiner on the pandeiro

Scott Feiner & Pandeiro Jazz performed at Regattabar last weekend to an enthusiastic audience.

This is one of the more interesting trios I have seen, consisting of Scott on pandeiro (looks like a tambourine but is a hand drum), Vitor Gonçalves on piano, and Mike Moreno on guitar.

Vitor Gonçalves

Mike Moreno

Scott

I was pleasantly surprised to hear how much music Scott coaxed from the pandeiro. Yes, it looks like a tambourine but I have never heard anyone get that much music from one. There were times I thought there had to be a recorded drum track because there was so much percussive sound. There was nothing but the pandeiro, however.

Scott

Scott wrote all but one of the numbers they played; that one cover was written by Stevie Wonder, but was arranged quite differently than Stevie’s version of it.

Vitor and Scott

He explained where he got the inspiration to write some of the songs; one was called ‘Mother Nature’ and was written in response to the horrible mudslides that occur with regularity in and around Rio de Janeiro.  Another was ‘The Oven’, written in response to being in his sweltering apartment in Rio. I enjoyed the explanation.

Vitor and Scott

Something I especially enjoyed at this show was the ‘conversation’ between Vitor’s piano and Mike’s guitar. There were times that the guitar almost sounded like another piano, which surprised me. Even though Mike had an array of effects pedals, I don’t think he used most of them; what we heard was mostly straight-forward guitar mastery.

Mike

Mike is a well-respected band leader based in New York who usually tours with a quartet. Vitor is also based in New York and was in Boston for the first time; I hope he returns soon.

Vitor and Scott

Mike

After the show, they all stayed in the concert space talking with musicians who were in the audience, music students, and fans (and even at least one relative). I did not wait around, but I sensed that it was important to Scott, Vitor and Mike to connect with their audience.

Scott

This was quite an enjoyable evening, spent listening to a style of music that was new to me.

Scott