JOYCE Vinyl & CDs

Review: Passarinho Urbano (Urban Bird) is the album-length result of a chance encounter between singer and musician Joyce Moreno and producer Sergio Bardotti in Rome, Italy. Thoroughly relaxed and recharged after a long break in the city, Moreno's rejuvenated state of mind lent immediately to a spur-of-the-moment reimagining of some of her favourite classical Brazilian MPB and bossa nova standards, some of whose original composers were leading lights of the underground cultural resistance during the country's military dictatorship by the Brazilian Army during the 1960s. With a soft-spoken, intimate vocal intonation by Moreno, and a composition centring on slow-building, rhythmically deft call-and-response cantos, this album deserves its longstanding status as a secret masterpiece, a status which'll surely be renewed once more by this first-time-worldwide reissue by Week-End Records.

Review: Veteran Brazilian singer-songwriter Joyce first teamed up with Mauricio Maestro for Visions Of Dawn, a 2009 album of samba, bossanova and folk which celebrated everything vital about Latin American music culture. Now they're back on Far Out with a new album of sunkissed magic that will take you right back to that feel-good place they explored on their first collaboration, taking in delicate balladry and playful whimsy steeped in soul and sentiment. It's a joyous listen from two totems of Brazilian music, produced, arranged and conducted by Claus Ogerman.

Review: Joyce Moreno, a legendary Rio-born artist, is celebrated for her exceptional voice, musicianship, and songwriting. With over 30 albums in a career spanning more than 50 years, she continues to enchant audiences worldwide. Her iconic track 'Aldeia de Ogum,' known for its vibrant jazzy arrangement and rich samba rhythms, became a staple in London's Acid Jazz scene, championed by DJs Patrick Forge and Gilles Peterson. Originally featured on her 1980 LP Feminina and our 1997 Essential Joyce compilation, this beloved song first appeared on 7" through the Brazil 45 series. Rosinha de Valenca, another Rio native, was a revered composer, arranger, and guitarist who collaborated with giants like Baden Powell and Sergio Mendes. Her instrumental rendition of Gershwin's 'Summertime,' from her 1975 LP Um Violao Em Primeiro Plano, shows off her exquisite guitar skills accompanied by lush strings, delivering an emotionally stirring performance. A lot of great history on one 7".