Rubim de Toledo - The Dig

Rubim de Toledo

The Dig
self-released; 2020

4.0 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

Rubim de Toledo is an award-winning bassist and composer. Rubim de Toledo combines the influences of his Brazilian heritage and his dedication to the jazz tradition to create his music. His resume is very impressive and often seems to lean towards jazz. Jazz is typically, if not the most technically demanding genre, certainly up there and I was excited to spend some time with his release The Dig.

The release is around twenty-eight minutes long and is instrumental. My first thought was that the music could work as a soundtrack to a movie. In particular I was thinking of a Quentin Tarantino movie.

The music gets going with “Saddleback” and you are greeted with piano and bass. There is a dance between the instrumentation that made me think right away that this was going to be technically impressive. My assumptions were correct. Once the drums and what sounds like a clarinet enter in the mix my ears were really getting into the groove which gets more intense as the song progresses.

On the next song “The Dig'' we get some prominent horns on top of guitar, bass and drums. This groove is more energy infused than what I heard on “Saddleback.” I would say the Brazilian vibe is more obvious on this track and in general it had an almost ’70s vintage type of aesthetic.

“Sentimentos” is fantastic from the percussion to the horns. This was a highlight. The song  is serene and relaxing but won’t put you to sleep. “Bottom Dweller” is dark and cerebral in mood. In fact there was a sense of mystery to the song. That is followed by the most vibrant and festive song yet entitled “The Sands” while “Back Breaker” is a little prog rock infused and really displays the immense amount of technical ability. The closer “Reactor” feels like another highlight. This song perfectly combines jazz and Brazilian music. I have to give kudos to the drummer on this track but the whole band crushes. 

​This is just great music played by extremely talented musicians. The band is in top form here and for those music fans who love details I would say there is a lot to explore in terms of nuance and subtlety. Recommended.

Become A Fan

Tweet