“Duduka is a fantastic drummer, he has worked
with me and I love the way he plays.”
Antonio Carlos Jobim, Rio de Janeiro, Spring 94
"Another band that played five
times (Umbria Jazz Winter # 16) was a sextet
led by drummer Duduka Da Fonseca. All the members are from Brazil (trumpeter Claudio
Roditi, guitarist Guilherme Monteiro, pianist Helio Alves, bassist Leonardo Cioglia) except for the reed player whom Da Fonseca introduced as “Anat Cohen, from Tel Aviv, Brazil.” What is special about this band’s version of “samba jazz” is that Da Fonseca’s drumming makes the samba so powerful and authentic, and world-class soloists like Alves and Roditi and Cohen light the
jazz on fire."
Thomas Conrad, All About Jazz
"Superb when it comes to shifting gears and coloring outside the lines, the drummer has
long been the go-to percussionist for those NYC improvisers romping through Brazilian modes. His new Samba Jazz in Black
and White gets jiggy on purpose, essaying Horta, Pascoal, and Jobim with glee and aplomb."
Jim Macnie, The Village Voice
“On his new album, Samba Jazz in Black and
White, percussionist Duduka Da Fonseca devises an ebullient small-group concept inspired by the sounds of his native Brazil"
Nate Chinen, New York Times
“Infectious, churning rhythms prevail throughout
this appealing collection ... on 'Sambetinho,' Da Fonseca traverses the kit with the nuanced touch and loose, polyrhythmic
aplomb of a Brazilian Billy Higgins."
Bill Milkowsky, JazzTimes
"(On
Samba Jazz in Black & White) Da Fonseca divulges a keen awarness of where Brazilian jazz has been and where it's headed.
Todd Jenkins, Down Beat
“Da Fonseca is masterfully
fluid and fluent drummer who meshes all the components of the trap set into organic whole that glides and sails along in perfect
harmony with the music
."
George Kanzler, Hot
House
“Da Fonseca embodies the pulse of a Brazilian Samba School with a full-set
reverie, a percussive wall of sound that seems to come at you from all angles"
Ken
Micallef, Modern Drummer Magazine
“Drummer Da Fonseca perhaps the best Brazilian trap drummer of his generation, plays with uncommon mix
of finesse and drive.”
Mark Holston, Jazziz
“Duduka Da Fonseca had the flowing beat doing his bidding, making one dance while sitting down. A master of
“Brasilient” rhythms, he is equally capable of grooving a jazz 4/4 with his great, loosey-goosey swing.”
Ira Gitler, Down Beat
“Duduka is a great
master of the drums and a great inovator in the music that we call Samba Jazz.”
Claudio Roditi
“…grooving through samba, jazz, bossa, and baião feels, drummer
Duduka Da Fonseca turns out a tremendous performance. Listen to the power
he
comands from deft cymbal work and the beautiful samba locomotion he achieves with brushes. Duduka truly knows Brazil from
the inside.”
Jeff Potter, Modern Drummer
“ Duduka Da Fonseca has done for the brazilian jazz drumming, what Kenny Clarke
had done for the jazz drumming in America.”
Dom Salvador
“…and
drummer Duduka Da Fonseca who suplied the set’s highlight with his solo on the berimbau, consisting of hypnotic rhythmic
variations on two tones.”
Leonard Feather, L.A.Times
"The Brazilian percussionist Duduka Da Fonseca,a key member of Trio Da Paz, may
be the most impressive jazz-besotted Brazilian percussionist since Airto Moreira. He balances tropical rhythms and swing
with uncommon ease."
THE NEW YORKER
