When legendary Brazilian singer-songwriter Milton Nascimento celebrated a lifetime in music with his 2022 farewell tour, it would have been safe to assume that he would also retire from the recording studio.
Throughout his career, Nascimento single-handedly changed the course of Latin music with a perpetually nostalgic, mystically tinged sound that drew freely from Afro-Brazilian tradition, Beatlesque psychedelia, and the purity of South American folk. His 1972 classic Clube da Esquina is one of many masterpieces that he released between the late Sixties and the Nineties (for Milton neophytes, his 1979 English-language session Journey to Dawn also provides a magnificent entry point.)
But just before the final tour came to an end, Nascimento’s son asked jazz prodigy Esperanza Spalding to produce the icon’s next album. Spalding had discovered his music while studying at the Berklee College of Music, and it had a profound impact on her compositions. She jumped at the chance, moved to Rio and set up recording equipment in Nascimento’s favorite room, where the artist, now 81, spends hours watching Brazilian soap operas.
The result of their collaboration is Milton + Esperanza, an episodic, strikingly impressionistic album that combines reworked Nascimento classics with new Spalding originals, warm audio vignettes, and a couple of intriguing covers: The Beatles’ “A Day in the Life” and Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song.” They are joined by Spalding’s core band, and guest stars such as Paul Simon and Dianne Reeves.
“Nobody can have a perfect understanding of what somebody else’s world is about,” says Spalding over Zoom when asked about her instinctive connection with Nascimento’s universe. “Maybe the point is that your soul recognizes a truth in that world that resonates with you.”
“My music stems from childhood and my travels and friendships,” adds Nascimento, as Spalding looks on adoringly. “My heart beats strong, and the songs just pour out.”
There are no plans for Nascimento and Spalding to tour behind the album, but the verve with which she adds new shades to his classics compositions like “Cais” and “Outubro” should revive an interest in his work outside of Brazil, where Nascimento is already celebrated as a national hero.
“I was just trying to make a good record with my friend and muse,” Spalding says. “I had so many songs from the last 15 years that were inspired by Milton, that it was easy to find a few that I hadn’t recorded yet.”
