I was just typing up my review of this album last month when the sad news came through of de Souza's passing; what was intended to be yet another step in a long and distinguished career has turned out to be a valediction.

But dry your eyes, because this is a joyous, not sad, farewell, a celebration of a life exquisitely and fully lived. Since 2017, de Souza had been working with a much younger crop of musicians in his Generations Band, a well-honed unit led by fellow trombonist-arranger Christophe Schweizer, that has developed its own infectious blend of funk with traditional and contemporary Brazilian jazz, driven by the two-trombone front line and drawing on the rich legacy of rhythms, melodies and harmonies of Latin music generally and Brazil in particular.

Plenitude is/was the first album they made together and consists of contemporary arrangements of de Souza's early funk successes such as his smash hit ‘Sweet Lucy’ and ‘Daisy Mae’; collaborations with old friends (including a rework of Apesar de Voc§' by compatriot Chico Buarque), plus brand new compositions which easily bear comparison to past glories – the trombonist and his band were clearly in the middle of a purple patch.

The result is simply irresistible, brimming with life and youthful muscularity, with de Souza's spoken-word interludes (in Portuguese) adding unexpected poignancy to the proceedings. So, what has sadly turned out to be the great 'boneman's final album is also a fitting full-stop to his legacy. That – at the age of 86 – he managed to compose and arrange so much of the music here; and attract such a fabulous collective of younger players, is a testament to both de Souza's undiminished energy, and the enormous affection and respect in which he is held by his fellow musicians, especially in his native Brazil. This is now a bittersweet album, but what a way to go out – on a high.