MAGNETIC DUO WITH MELLOW BOSSA NOVA VIBE
by Donna Sorbello
Katharine Hepburn once said of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, “He gives her class, and she gives him sex.”, meaning, of course, sexual appeal. In the case of Nate Najar and Daniela Soledade, each, individually, has plenty of both. Together, however, they are a magnetic musical duo with a mellow bossa nova vibe. A match made in musical heaven, the two found each other in 2018, and their paths have been intertwined ever since, both on stage and off.
Daniela Soledade was born into a well-known, musical family in Brazil. Her grandfather was a respected composer and impresario. Her father, continuing in his father’s footsteps, added performing and recording to his musical talents. Also, being a producer at Globo, Brazils major TV network, that meant little Daniela, as early as age ten, was being called in to the studio whenever a child’s voice was needed. At thirteen, she was enrolled in the Villa-Lobos Conservatory where she learned music theory and studied flute, necessary in her family. In Rio, at social gatherings, everyone contributed by playing an instrument.
At sixteen, a move to the U.S. with her mother, then divorced, meant a break from the conservatory. Trying to find her way in her new home of Tampa, and not yet fluent in English, at social gatherings Daniela did what was familiar. She pulled out her guitar. One day, she passed by the High School band room. Finally, she was truly home. Soon she was marching in a traditional band uniform, happily playing her flute. A lover of the outdoors, a degree in environmental science seemed the practical choice for college, but music was always pulling at her. A few years in the field, not in nature, but in offices, designing water treatment plants, made her re-examine the life she had chosen. By now, she had two children. She bided her time until nursing her youngest had ended. When her daughter reached thirteen months that moment came. It was time to make music her career. But how? A serendipitous introduction by a close friend came as if the universe had decided to help put her dreams in place. She was introduced to Nate Najar, already an experienced guitarist and producer. He knew the ropes of the business.
Nate Najar claims he has always lived on Fifth Avenue. Not the posh, New York, Easter route for parading one’s fashions, but the Fifth Ave in downtown St. Pete. He was born on one block of it and in later life moved to another. A vivid local memory from childhood were the trips with his grandmother to Maas Brothers department store, strolling through the men’s department to reach the first floor, corner, donut shop. Another, more impactful memory was when his music teacher, Mr. Van Landingham, took an interest in young Nate, and upon departing St Pete high school, left behind a box of vinyl LPs for his student. The box held a treasure trove of jazz musicians from Duke Ellington to Art Blakey. Nate, the rock and roller, was hooked. Something in those jazz rhythms and sounds reached him.
Already knowing that the guitar was for him, he set off early on a musical journey, having the insight to know that experience, not college, was the way to his musical dream. Arbors Records, a significant jazz label in Clearwater, was the equivalent of college for Nate. He was always there hanging out, to listen, to learn from the famous artists who came in to record. With requests from Nate, Bucky Pizzarelli gave him a lesson when in town. At sixteen, in his 1986 Lincoln Town car, he rode around St Pete and environs looking and listening for music venues, asking if he could “sit in.†He still marvels at how many professionals allowed a green teen to take on a few tunes, and with their own instruments! One generous musician was Tommy Patten, who glibly handed sixteen-year-old Nate his Gibson Johnny Smith guitar for a sit-in with Tampa Bay’s legendary Shawn Brown. Early on, Nate was learning from the best. Great jazz pianist, Jerry Libby, hired Nate for a three-year, five night a week gig at St Pete’s Tycoon’s Jazz club, sadly, a lost venue. Nate’s range of ability was stretching from jazz to classical guitar, and to Luther Van Dross, when Shawn Brown grabbed him for a regular gig some years after their first encounter. One teacher in later years, making indelible imprints on Nate in their ten-year relationship, as mentor and then as colleagues, is the renowned bassist and pianist, John Lamb. Apart from his influencing many local musicians in his role as educator, legendary Lamb’s impressive resume includes a few years with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, live and on recordings, which led to other gigs with other jazz greats.
Nate, seemingly born with an entrepreneurial spirt, decided he wanted to record. Confident and ready, he sent his recordings to jazz radio stations, more plentiful at the time. He spread his wings, getting gigs across the states in places like New York and Washington. Nate has been the artistic advisor for the Suncoast Jazz Festival for many years, drawing well known musicians to Sand Key, an indication of his respected talent and musical wisdom.
Nate always returned home to St Pete where, in 2018, the providential meeting between musically experienced Nate Najar, met beautiful, Brazilian, aspiring songstress, Daniela Soledade. Daniela was looking for a guitarist familiar with Brazilian music. A respected friend assured her Nate was the real deal. Nate, in talking of that time, said that A Moment of You, that first record he produced for Daniela, is the recording he is most proud of. There is nothing on that recording he says that he wishes he had done differently. A rare statement for most high achievers, especially when considering the years of producing he has done since. It also says something about the connection these two artists had from the start.
Somewhere along the way, doing gigs, recording, Nate on guitar, Soledade on guitar and vocals, Daniela started feeling a sensation in her chest. She googled it.
Google told her she was in love. Nate, at just about the same time, remarked to Daniela that he was feeling something a little odd. She, now knowledgeable, said, “It’s that you’re in love. I googled it.” They have been together ever since, recording, making videos, traveling across the states, and last year, on a European tour. They will return to a few of those previously sold-out venues in Paris and London, next year, adding the Isle of Wight Jazz Weekend to the mix.
Nate, remaining in the area despite intermittent touring, is very cognizant of how the jazz scene has wavered and developed in his hometown, and how that has had an effect on jazz throughout Tampa Bay. Studio 620 and the Palladium, he feels, have been major factors in that development. The significance of Jazz at the Palladium grew at varying times under the efforts of Rick Gee, Bill Hough, Mark Spano, Dar Webb and of late, Paul Wilborn, a skilled pianist and singer himself, who is a bit of a local impresario wunderkind. Nate, early on, inspired by fellow musician Chuck Redd, a percussionist, starting a weekly jazz cafe at the Smithsonian, brought that idea to the Palladium. What is now The Side Door, was, at that time, a large, open room. With no lights, no stage, no chairs, nor tables, a jazz series was born. Chairs were rented. Eventually lights came. Local greats like saxophonist Jeremy Carter, drummer and pianist, John Jenkins, and aforementioned, John Lamb, all got to be heard and appreciated. Touring jazz musicians like Chuck Redd, saxophonist Harry Allen, and pianist Ray Kennedy, helped establish the Side Door as a venue “on the circuit. “I know, firsthand, the Side Door can feel wild and joyous. Nate gratefully delights in that for eighteen years; folks have kept coming to the Palladium to hear Nate Najars Jazz Holiday. The Palladium has helped develop, and continues to bring, world-class talent both local and from afar, to its two stages. September seventh the ticket at the Palladium will be Daniela Soledade “Brazilian Dream” with the Nate Najar Quintet, featuring Patrick Bettison on keyboard and harmonica, Joe Porter on bass, Carl Amundson on electric guitar, and, respected Brazilian drummer, Claudio Infante. A good time to catch Nate and Daniela since they fly to Paris for a return gig the next a.m. They’ll be back in St. Pete at Seven C Music on November 1st, with their Love and Bossa Nova Duet, and at the Suncoast Jazz Festival in Sand Key on November 22nd.
Studio 620, developed under the astute guidance of local Icon, Bob Devin Jones has proved a different kind of opportunity for many musicians. Nate and John Lamb have performed there for years, developing musical pieces and testing styles in its small, relaxed space. Musician-composer Simon Lansky, and others, have been able to test out new material in front of an audience before recording. Fans at 620 have the opportunity to see respected musicians and discover those they’ve never heard of, in an intimate setting where they can reach out and touch the sound.
Both Daniela’s and Nate’s past journeys have informed their musical collaborations. One difference between them is that she likes to rehearse, “A lot” piped in Nate, and Nate, with his jazz roots, is content being more improvisational. Daniela says she sings with intention. She feels music is healing. She wants her audience to relinquish differences. I frequent jazz clubs and concerts for the sound, the thrill that goes through me. When I’m feeling the music, I’m in love, though not the same “in love” that Daniela googled. Whether it makes me feel joyous or melancholy, I agree with Soledade that music’s power is to bring us together. Done well, everyone is feeling at least a bit of the same thing. Nate, in agreement, picks up his guitar and plays four individual strings of a single chord, oddly heartbreaking, and we three immediately melt.
So, as for class and sexiness; Long-haired Daniela is sexy in her leanness, and clear, mesmerizing vocal tones. The colorful Brazilian-inspired clothes she wears now against her tawny skin are a far cry from the boxy traditional suit, complete with epaulettes, of her band years. Nate, long and lanky, surely influenced by those strolls through Maas Brothers men’s department, is sometimes in jeans, but looking dapper with a hat cocked on his head. Often, he performs in beautifully tailored suits. When he plays, he hugs his guitar, revealing the tenderness of a lover. The variations in his style, and the nuanced skill of his diverse and intricate fingering and chords, can hold you, suspend you. Daniela says that their touring to Portugal, Italy, and other places, is like being on a continuous honeymoon. They are in love, doing something they love. They love the music they are making together. As for the class half of the equation, with their blended Virgo sensibilities, their thoughtful approach to the music they share, and the respect they have for each other, there is no doubt but that they are a class act.
