Brooklyn High

Nelson Faria is one of those guys whose name starts showing up over and over again as you start digging into contemporary Brazilian music. He’s played with almost everybody in Brazil’s MPB scene (that’s the Portuguese initialism for Brazilian popular music), including Nico Assumpção, João Bosco, Nana Caymmi, Zélia Duncan, Cássia Eller, Toninho Horta, Edu Lobo, Paulo Moura, Milton Nascimento, Leila Pinheiro, Carol Saboya, Marcos Suzano, Dan Costa (composer) and Wagner Tiso. He’s written essential books on Brazilian guitar styles and techniques including the aptly titled Brazilian Guitar Book. He hosts an incredibly good Youtube channel: Um Café Lá em Casa, featuring the who’s who of Brazilian artists. This is a player worth checking out. 

Nosso Trio (“Our Trio”) features Faria with two of his bandmates from the legendary João Bosco’s touring lineup: bassist Ney Conceição, and drummer Kiko Freitas. The trio released their one and only album Vento Bravo in 2006, and can also be heard on Bosco’s live album Na Esquina Ao Vivo.

Brooklyn High is a tune I’ve always liked, and it strikes me as one of the stronger tunes on Vento Bravo, with a guitar solo that I feel is representative of Faria’s improvisation style. 

While the song is not a not a direct contrafact, it seems to draw inspiration from the João Bosco song “Incompatibilidade de Gênios.” Since Faria was the lead guitarist and arranger for Bosco’s band, it seems likely Brooklyn High could have been written as an hommage.

The Tune

The tune has a 32 bar A section with a fairly straight forward Cm chord progression. An interesting chord to point out is the Db6/9, which can be seen as a substitute for the Fm7 chord (more on that later). Other than that, II-V’s and altered chords lead us around the progression in typical jazz harmony fashion. 

The B section of the song showcases a typical voice leading technique in Latin music involving chromatic inner movement between chords. In this case the third of the F minor chord (Ab) moves to up a half step to an A natural in the F9 chord, and then to a Bb to create the F9sus4. The progression then heads back the other direction, arriving back at the Fm9.

Solo Analysis

THE FIRST CHORUS

The solo starts with a straightforward C minor phrase played almost exclusively on the upbeats. This type of syncopation is typical of samba melodies. Even if the rhythm doesn’t explicitly follow partido alto, it’s still heavily implied or approximated through the use of upbeats. 

As bar five rolls around the chord changes to a Db6/9, and Faria grabs what looks like an F minor phrase. This is a perfectly reasonable thing to do, as it gets you all of the important chord tones (minus the root, which can be redundant) along with a few extensions for color. In this case the G natural against the Db6/9 chord gives the chord a Lydian flavor.

Treating the Db6/9 chord with F minor vocabulary also keeps us within familiar harmonic territory by treating the progression as a Im7-IVm7 progression, as in a minor blues, as opposed to an oddball Im7-bII6/9. 

Bars 9 through 16 begin the turnaround with a II-V-I-V progression. The common substitution of a II7(#9) chord is used in place of the diatonic IIm7 chord. 

Faria negotiates these changes in the first chorus by ignoring the D7(#9) altogether, and jumping ahead to the G7 altered chord with a G half whole diminished scale. This lick showcases the diminished scale’s most common usage in jazz: implying a 7(b9) sound to a functioning dominant chord. This works particularly well in a minor context. 

Further, bars 10 and 11 illustrate how we might visualize and phrase the  diminished scale. Rather than a string of consecutive notes (G-Ab-Bb-B-C#-D-E-F), it can be seen as consisting of a G7(b9) arpeggio (G-B-D-F-Ab) with a half step approach tone below each note. The only quirk is that the root functions as an approach note to the b9th rather than being a note to be approached. So, with this method you’re essentially outlining a “rootless” G7(b9) arpeggio, or a B diminished 7th: (G)-B-D-F-Ab. 

The G approaches the Ab by a half step. The Bb approaches the B by a half step. The C# approaches the D by a half step. And the E approaches the F by a half step.

After resolving to the Cm7 in bars 13 and 14, Faria plays through the last G7 of the chorus with a similar idea to the concept above, although it doesn’t quite fit the half-whole diminished scale. This time he

outlines a Db major triad, which can be analyzed as the tritone substitute to G7.

THE SECOND CHORUS

Things pick up in the second chorus with a bop oriented 16th note line over the Cm7 chord. The first part of the phrase in measures 18 and 19 remind me of a common 8 note digital scale pattern: 1-2-3-4-5-7-6-5. Like many digital patterns, this would work swimmingly well starting on the down beat, maintaining mostly chord tones on down beats.

However, the phrase in measure 18 starts on the upbeat and thereby offsets the chord tones to land on upbeats, so a passing tone is added to get those tones back on track. The last note of the measure is the flatted 5th (Gb) that shifts the more consonant G note to the strong downbeat (beat one) of the next measure.

The last half of bar 19 and the first part of bar 20 is a phrase I hear a lot of in Nelson Faria’s playing. So much so, that I’ll refer to it from here on out as “The Faria Lick.” It’s an effective way of building some tension and forward motion on a static chord, which is exactly how the lick is being used here. 

The lick is a cell derived from the altered scale, (a.k.a, if you don’t feel like a goof using the term: “Super Locrian”) which is the seventh mode of melodic minor. It appears as though he’s thinking G altered,

which makes sense as that’s the altered V7 chord that resolves to Cm. This part of the line starts on the Ab and ascends four notes to the Db.

Chromaticism from the Bb down to the Ab ends the phrase. Even though I can barely hear it on the recording, I’ve included a Gb as a half step approach to the G serves as the resolution to the Cm7.

From there, the Cm pentatonic phrasing that served as the resolution earlier bleeds over into the Db6/9 chord. This implies a Db Lydian sound again. To firm up the Db major sound he shifts into a two octave Maj7 arpeggio. It’s not strictly in root position, he leaves out the 5th in the first octave which creates some intervallic interest with a leap between the F and C notes.

Sweep picking combined with slides that occur between the 7th and root of the arpeggio contribute to the “slippery” sound of this phrase.

In measure 26 “The Faria Lick” returns over the D7(#9) chord, to which it’s not necessarily related. We could analyze the lick’s placement as a “bar line shift,” that is: he’s playing a phrase intended for the G7alt chord earlier than that chord occurs.

In fact, it doesn’t appear Faria is making any effort at outlining the D7(#9) chord with it’s own scale or arpeggio so far. In this second chorus we see some nondescript chromaticism that does nothing to

accommodate the chord, but it sounds cool nonetheless.
The B section opens with a flurry of sweep picking and sliding over the Fm9 chord. It makes the most

sense to analyze this as two separate arpeggios: an Fm7 (F-Ab-C-Eb) followed by a Cm(add9) (C-Eb-G- D). The sum total of these notes gets you to an F Dorian sound (F-G-Ab-Bb-C-D-Eb).

The Cm(add9) arpeggio is also a clever way of transitioning to the F9, a dominant chord with an A natural. By avoiding the changing third altogether, Faria found a way to pivot between the minor and dominant versions of the chord by capitalizing on the common tones.

The F9sus4 chord brings back explicit minor tonality with an example of common minor latin jazz vocabulary, much of which is based on the second inversion minor triad.

In measure 39 he continues into melodic minor territory even as the chord changes to the F9. While you can generally get away with murder over a dominant chord, if you had to pick the one note that the Jazz

Theory Orthodoxy deemed sacred and immovable it would be the b7. Yet here is an E natural hanging out

there in all its glory – over a strong beat nonetheless. It also doesn’t resolve immediately to the root as a leading tone would in a bebop scale or traditional harmony application. Instead, Faria delays the resolution by hitting the 9th (G) before getting back to the root.

“The Faria Lick” makes a third appearance over the D7(#9) chord in bars 43 and 44, this time with a bop-

approved chromatic enclosure that surrounds the first note. This one implies Bb melodic minor, or an A altered sound. If I had to explain this away theoretically, I’d guess that after years of playing over VI-II-V- I progressions – as any respectable student of jazz improvisation does – Faria was implying the altered A7

(VI) chord before the D7(#9)(II).
A likelier explanation would be that a II-V was coming up, some tension was desired, and his hand

happened to be is this position for execution of a rote lick. So whether he played the phrase starting on Bb, or on any other pitch, it would probably sound like an altered lick in this context.

Bars 49-52 feature more harmonic generalities with a repeating Cm7 before descending into a chromatic line. As we saw earlier, the Cm7 accommodates the Fm9 and the F9, by touching on their shared common tones, while cleverly avoiding the descriptive 3rd tone.

“The Faria Lick” shows up for the fourth and final time in measures 54 and 55. This time it’s played on the 2nd and 3rd strings (B and G), which changes the intervals slightly from what we’ve seen before. Here the lick seems to be functioning as chromatic vocabulary in the midst of other excited chromatic information contained in the bars before and after.

Bar 60 starts to wrap things up with a C harmonic minor/G Phrygian Dominant run over the G7(alt) in typical minor V-I fashion. Notice that once again Faria takes a pass on playing over the II chord in bar 59.

The final G7(alt) receives more diminished treatment, this time as a straight B diminished 7th arpeggio, as opposed to the scalar idea we saw way back in bars 10 and 11.

The last measure contains Faria’s final thought: an Ebmaj7 arpeggio that, even though it occurs over the G7, is another bar line shift to the Cm7 chord coming in the next chorus.

Why Ebmaj7? This is another “rootless” arpeggio that implies a Cm9 sound (C-Eb-G-Bb-D). If you remove the C note from the Cm9 voicing, you’re left with an Ebmaj7 chord.

So there we have it. If there are a few ideas to take away from this solo, they might be the following:

Takeaways

LESSONS TO GLEEN 

The “Faria Lick”

This lick started life in this solo as an altered idea, but became more flexible. By the third or fourth iteration it was more or less a chromatic device. So don’t get too bogged down in lining up the “right” notes, especially when the idea is to create tension. 

Rhythm

Most of the time Brazilian melodies in this style will adhere to partido alto rhythm, or simply float over the downbeat with heavy use of upbeats. We can see some of Faria’s more melodic lines capitalize on that tendency in this solo. 

Strong Phrases are More Important than “Correct Notes” 

The takeaway here is phrasing. If the phrase is strong enough – i.e. a logical and singable melody, and played with enough conviction – the notes can directly contradict the chord quality and the ear will not only accept it, but beg for more! So there you go, throw out all the chord/scale theory you know and play strong melodies! 

Bar Line Shifts 

It’s always important to keep an eye on context when you’re analyzing a solo. That last phrase might incorrectly be analyzed against the G7, and one could make the argument that he’s playing some convoluted substitution to imply a G7(#9b13), which is what the Ebmaj7 arpeggio gets you over G7. But we’ve gotten to know some of Faria’s devices and his treatment of this tune. We’ve seen he’s not prone to overly complex substitutions. We also have precedence for this kind of anticipation of the proceeding chord. Taking that into consideration it makes more sense to analyze this as a bar line shift to the Cm7. This can be a very cool technique that builds tension against the chord of the moment, and resolves as the band “catches up.” 

Substitutions 

Faria relies on arpeggio substitutions quite a bit in this solo, many of which are well documented in jazz guitar pedagogy. But it’s worth noting here, especially with regard to the B section. The substitution of a C minor seven sound over the F minor and F dominant chord can simplify the thought process over the rapidly changing harmony.

Ignore the II Chord. 

This could stem from a sort of unwritten tradition among jazz improvisers of glossing over the II chord when playing over a II-V-I progression. This simplifies the thought process, and makes life easier, especially at quicker tempos. It also cuts right to the musical punchline: the rise and fall, tension and release of a V-I cadence. The listener’s ear usually responds the bigger harmonic movements anyway. So why not play that way?