JB De Carvalho E Seu Terreiro - "Fui A Umbanda" (2:33)
Trio Ternura - "A Gira" (3:04)
Alcione - "Figa De Guine" (2:19)
Impacto 5 - "Longe Daqui Aqui Mesmo" (3:23)
Abaete - "Pisa No Taboado" (2:34)
Tobias - "Coisa Sentimental" (4:00)
Os Flippers - "Estrelar" (2:02)
SpaceArk - "Don't Stop" (unreleased long version) (4:09)
Pure Release - "I'll Know It's Love For Sure" (3:37)
Luther Davis Group - "You Can Be A Star" (4:39)
Kaleidoscope - "Let Me Try" (3:26)
Marumo - "Khomo Tsaka Deile Kae?" (3:43)
Splash - "Peacock" (4:51)
Gyedu Blay Ambolley - "Highlife" (5:00)
Harari - "Senyamo" (4:44)
Tokyo Academy Philharmonic Chorus Group - "Taharazaka" (2:57)
Cesar Roldão Vieira - "Ze Do Trem" (2:14)
Elias Rahbani - "I Want To Be" (3:21)
Elias Rahbani - "Dance Of Maria" (2:45)
Galt MacDermot - "Coffee Cold" (3:22)
Review: The crate-diggers behind the Mr Bongo label can usually be relied upon to showcase some seriously good tunes old and new. That's certainly the case on this third volume in their occasional "Record Club" series of compilations. Spanning sunshine soul, obscure samba, spacey jazz-funk experimentation, wide-eyed underground disco, fiery funk, weirdo rock, cheery South African bubblegum, synth-laden early '80s highlife, Ramsay Lewis style workouts and the psychedelic Middle Eastern disco-funk of Elias Rahbani, the compilation's 20 tracks are not only near faultless, but genuinely surprising and eye-opening. To quote a cliche, this collection genuinely is all killer and no filler.
Review: Supreme musica popular Brasileira and bossa-nova vibes here on two tracks from Mr Bongo's leading Brazilian 45's lady, Claudia. "Deixa o Morro Cantar" features on Claudia's very first 7", released in 1965 by RGE Brazil. Her version of "Mas Que Nada" is said to be more of a jazzy/folk-funk take on the Ben classic. A relatively recent discovery made during the label's last trip to Brazil, Maria das Gracas Rallo was born in 1946 in Rio de Janeiro. She has become the most awarded singer outside of her home country and was most popular internationally in 1982 with the song "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from the musical Evita. Moreover, she has recorded over twenty albums and has amassed huge record sales throughout her successful career.
Review: Banda Black Rio were and still are an incredibly influential jazz-dance band from Brazil. Their three albums have been in any serious digger's back since then and, more recently, they've seen a renewed interest thanks to iconic British collectors and DJs such as Gilles Peterson and the rest of the London fusion crew. Maria Fumaca's tracks are the perfect balance between funk, jazz and disco, blending all three in one perfect shape for both the dancers and the armchair listeners. Tunes like "Na Baixa Do Sepateiro" focus on drums and hypnotic guitar solos, while others like "Caminho Da Roca" go deeper into the jazz end of the spectrum but still retain enough Brazilian tropical flare to make them an absolute pleasure on the dancefloors. A much recommended reissue, and one that would have cost you a fortune up until now. Mr Bongo in the place.
Review: Following persistent requests, Mr Bongo has finally relented and dedicated an edition of their popular Brazil 45s series to Orlandivo Honorio de Souza, a composer, singer and percussionist whose 1977 album Oelandivo remains high on my collectors' wants-lists. Wisely, their A-side pick is 'Onde Anda O Meu Amore', a cosmic and spacey fusion of samba-soul and jazz-funk rich in ethereal flute lines and intergalactic keys. This time round it comes backed by the equally as impressive 'Gueri Gueri', an insatiable samba-rock number wrapped in heady accordion, jangly acoustic guitar and punchy horn sounds.
Review: By the time he recorded "Brazilian Dorian Dream" in 1976, Brazilian composer, musician, producer and bandleader Manfedo Fest had already worked on countless bossa-nova, samba and jazz albums, both in the United States and his native Brazil. Yet the album, which Far Out has now reissued, is like nothing else he recorded before or after - and not just because it was based on "the principle of the modal diatonic scales of the Dorian mode". Musically, it's deliciously vibrant and colourful, combining elements of his native Brazilian samba and bossa-nova with Azymuth style jazz-funk, American jazz-fusion, and futuristic, then cutting edge synthesizer sounds. Above all, though, the album strikes a near perfect balance between funkiness and the sweet sunniness that defines some of the greatest Brazilian music.
Curimao (Sons Onomatopaicos E Folk Da Guine) (6:48)
Solito (Solo De Balaue) (4:29)
Danado Cantador (Balaue, Orquestra E Declamacao) (A Fagner) (4:46)
Review: For the first in a series of must-have reissues of obscure Brazilian treats, Optimo Music and Selva Discos have joined forces to offer up a new pressing of Fernando Falcao's superb 1981 debut, "Memoria Das Aguas". The eight-track set has long been considered something of a slept-on and hard-to-find classic, with Falcao conjuring up an octet of tracks that brilliantly join the dots between neo-classical movements, dreamy, percussion-led soundscapes (see the sublime "Amanhecer Tabajara (A Alceu Valenca)"), spiraling big band Afro-Brazilian jazz ("Ladeira Dos Inocentes"), intoxicating classical-jazz fusion ("Revoada") and experimental, beat-free sound collages ("Mercado"). In a word: exceptional.
Review: Far Out takes a second deep dive into the previously unheard early demos of Brazilian jazz-funk greats Azymuth, offering up more unpolished gems recorded during the years as one of Brazil's most sought-after session bands. Interestingly, much of the material is closer in tone and style to their subsequent releases, though some of the rhythms, solos and basslines are arguably a little wilder and more experimental. Highlights include the fizzing opener "Duro De Roer", the sweaty and percussive brilliance of "Bateria Do Mamao", the Blaxploitation influenced spy-chase madness of "Quem Tem Medo" and the surprisingly smooth "Manha", the demo that eventually earned Azymuth a recording contract.
Review: This one is such an evergreen summer classic that it sells out whenever it reappears and gets reissued on a regular basis. Last time was last summer but now the rays are back in our lives we're glad it is available one more. Brazilian jazz vocalist Tania Maria is a true icon with a huge back catalogue of music behind her. Here, Soul Brother look back to her 1983 album Come With Me and lift a pair of pearlers for this vital 7". 'Come With Me' is a sundown slinker, with Maria's airy tone gliding over the sprightly piano chords while on the flip 'Lost In Amazonia' is a joyous, scat-powered slice of jazz funk with incredible slap bass flex. Essential summer grooves.
As Aventuras Sentimentais De Espiroqueta Camargo (4:51)
Talisma (2:50)
Arrail Da Lua Cheia (2:15)
Ancoradouro (3:08)
Cancao Da Casa Iluminada (2:46)
Apocalipse (3:10)
Exaltacao E Lamento Do Ultimo Rei (3:44)
Review: Far Out Recordings have long been masters at unearthing and reissuing long-lost Brazilian masterpieces. Jose Mauro's 1970 debut album, Obnoxious, undoubtedly falls into that category. It's long been a favourite with committed diggers such as Gilles Peterson, Madlib and Floating Points, all of whom appreciate Mauro's distinctively melancholic take on the samba sound. Drenched in atmospheric strings and with the singer's bittersweet vocals to the fore, the album sounds like it was informed as much by the Walker Brothers ad Rotary Connection as the sun-kissed sounds Mauro would have grown up listening to. It's not exactly psychedelic per se, but it's certainly impressively atmospheric and occasionally refreshingly dark. File under: "essential listening".
Review: Jane, Roberto, and Sidey Morais - Brazil's Os Tres Morais - are placed alongside the wonderful Claudia for the latest all Brazilian showdown courtesy of the always point-side Brazil45 series from the Mr. Bongo label. The latter gives us the mythical "Garra", a tune that sits very nicely next to the likes of Marcos Valle and co, and the singing trio get a reissue of 2006's "Freio Aerodinamico", a gorgeous blend of samba, disco, and something perfectly exotic and vintage. Heart-warmers.
Review: While best known for their funk and soul reissues, Dynamite Cuts do frequently dig deeper and look further afield for musical inspiration. They're at it again here, offering up a lavishly packaged "45" featuring two killer cuts from Brazilian saxophonist and flautist Hector Costita's jazz-funk/jazz-fusion album 1981 (which, you guessed it, was first released in 1981). A-side 'Avessos' is warming, gentle and groovy, with Costita's jaunty sax motifs rising above a samba-jazz beat, restless triangle percussion and some seriously toasty electric piano lines. 'Divagacao' is a more up-tempo nd rhythmically interesting affair that reminded us of Azymuth while also boasting some genuinely dazzling sax solos.
Zeca Do Trombone & Roberto Sax - "Coluna Do Meio" (2:58)
Review: Mr Bongo offers up an incredible 86th volume in the Brazil45 series, and this time it's Black Rio funk from two mainstays of the sound, Toni Tornado & Zeca Do Trombone. A-side 'Sou Negro' is from Tornado's 1970 EP on Odeon Records. It's a sought after number that despite lasting only just over two minutes still makes an indelible impression. Zeca Do Trombone & Roberto Sax join forces on the flip for 'Coluna Do Meio,' which is a more smooth, easy going jazz laced tune compared with the raw and direct a-side. This one has an acrobatic vocal and sunny riffs bringing pool-side vibes under clear blue skies.
Antonio Neves & Thiaguinho Silva - "Das Neves" (3:15)
Letrux - "Dorme Com Essa" (4:34)
Os Ritmistas - "Sambolero" (4:09)
Review: Mr Bongo's latest must-check compilation doesn't mine Brazil's musical heritage, but rather shines a light on what's happening in Rio de Janeiro right now. Hidden Waters was compiled and curated by two Brazilian music specialists - Joe Osborne (founder of the Brazilian Wax website) and Russ Slater (Editor at Large of Sounds and Colors) - and offers up a blend of scene stalwarts and exciting starlets. Musically it's varied, but largely rooted in samba, MPB and other classic Brazilian styles. So, while sun-soaked sounds (sorry) are the order of the day, Osborne and Slater also find room for the fuzzy psychedelia of Ava Rocha, the Stereolab-goes-samba flex of Exercito de Bebes, the low-slung, synth-sporting mutant funk of Thiago Nassif, the spiritual, pastoral-sounding afternoon warmth of Mari Romano and the lilting vocal jazz of Troa. An impeccable, eye-opening collection of quality cuts.'
Review: The Brazil 45 series from Mr Bongo bursts through the picture with yet another rocking 7" fire starter by two vintage pop greats - we have to say, their format simply works. First up is Elis Regina, a Brazilian singer who released a countless pop records back in the '60s, and "Ye Me Le" is a soft, seductive Brazilian soul warmer complete with blasting trumpets and that inimitable South American percussion swagger. Turkey's Senay features on the flip with "En Buyuk Sansin Yasiyor Olman", an incandescent lover's ballad that makes a welcome change to the more widely heard Turkish psych sound of the '70s.
Review: Mr Bongo's Brazil 45s series continues its consistently rich vein of form with two more beautifully contrasting - and previously difficult to track down - Brazilian soul jazz fusions from the 70s. Side A is inhabited by one of the era's most interesting individuals. Infamously censored and eventually exiled, Taiguara's chaotic flute, guitar and piano arrangement is a tight weave of melodies, counter melodies and start dynamics. Flip for the classically soul-oriented "Deixa Eu Te Amar" will bright horns, brash drums and a bold vocal from Marisa Rossi. Pow.
Review: The Brazil 45s / Mr Bongo outlet is back with its classic moves, coming through with some truly special soul blends out of the Brazilian golden era. Dalila and Neyde Alexandre feature in this latest 7", the former with 1968's "Canto Chorado", a slow-burning bubble of funky exotica - surely impossible to find in its original shade - and the latter with a funky little bomb from 1971 by the name of "Perplexidade" - surely the smoothest, sexiest soul number out this week! Lovely stuff.
Review: Favorite Recordings returns with the second edition of its compilation series: Fusion Global Sounds. Comprising eight rare and hidden tracks produced between 1976 and 1984 in various parts of the world, this hot-off-the-plate comp delivers a mighty-fine array of dynamic, soul-feeding jazz, soul, disco, jazz and funk delicacies. As a fine collector of jazz-funk and fusion for many years, curator Charles Maurice can be credited for sourcing the ingredients for and cooking up this fine spread of forgotten entrees, this time brought together by a common Brazilian influence.
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.
Festa Para Um Rei Negro (Samba Enredo Do Salgueiro/71) (3:42)
Selecao De Mangueira (4:57)
Perdoei (2:46)
Refem Da Solidao (2:19)
Review: Little is known about DIla, a Brazilian singer who tragically died in a car crash weeks after the release of her self-titled debut album in 1971. All that remains is the album - here reissued for the first time by Far Out Recordings - and a handful of references in the Brazilian media to her tremendous talents. "DIla" is a sensationally good album; a wonderfully summery, sun-kissed and soulful collection of samba songs that veers from bluesy jazziness (see the laidback and smoky "O Morro Nao Tem Vez"), to sweaty, carnival-ready dancefloor workouts (the brilliant "Saberas"), via the attractive, horn-heavy jauntiness of "As Paredes Tem Ouvidos").
Review: What drives Amaro Freitas in life is experience. In 2020 the pianist, who hails from the Northeastern Brazilian coastal city of Recife, was drawn to Manaus, located in the Amazon basin, some 4600 kilometers to the west. His experience in that lush wilderness led him into a new realm of musical creation, one rooted in magic and possibility and tempered by a sense of stewardship for the earth's bounties and a connection to the Satere Mawe indigenous community. Crucial to the experience for Freitas was the maintenance of a true exchange of knowledge. According to Freitas, in the resulting album, Y'Y (pronounced: eey-eh, eey-eh), he pays "homage to the forest, especially the Amazon Forest, and the rivers of Northern Brazil: a call to live, feel, respect, and care for nature, recognizing it as our ancestor." This album is an artful conversation between its traditions, rooted in the unique sounds and rituals found in Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous cultures. With Y'Y, Freitas further codifies his fresh, 'decolonized' interpretation of Brazilian jazz, one that may well shatter preconceived notions of what jazz can be.
Review: Fresh, fabulous and funky reissued trax sourced from the collective mind of the historic group Goma Laca, first released a hell of a long time ago sometime in the indeterminate period between 1920 (!) and 1950 on the Goma-Laca label. Now reissued by Jazz Room, 'Cala Baca Menino' and its counterparts 'Ogum' are two stonking Afrobrasilidades, flaunting the effortless vocals of Russo Passapusso and Jucara Marcal, not to mention the quick double-bass and piano caresses of Marco Paiva and Hercules Gomes respectively, plus Sergio Machado on drums and Gabi Guedes on percussion. Under the direction of Letieres, the group produced many records such as this: jazzy arrangements over Afro-Bahian rhythms, with everything recorded live at Estudio Traquitana, Sao Paulo.
Review: Minas' 'Num Dia Azul' is a sublime slice of private-press bossa nova meets jazzy MPB perfection. Warm and bubbling with youthful spirit, the music is simultaneously loose in swagger, yet slick and tight. The album was originally released in 1983 and reflects the great music coming out of Rio at the time, yet 'Num Dia Azul' wasn't recorded in Rio, but actually in the USA. Adding to its later obscurity, hundreds of copies were also destroyed in a house fire. They say cream always rises to the top; later in the 2010s, the word amongst collectors and DJs was spreading about this mythical under-the-radar recording.
Review: Prolific multi-media artists Damon Locks and Rob Mazurek are long time creative partners but this is their first ever collaborative project. New Future City Radio is a busy 40-minute suite cut into 18 tracks that are all short but hugely potent and play out like a well-sequenced mixtape. Across the playtime they contemplate "community, transformation, and the future through the programmatic format of a pirate radio station for the people." They have worked together since the late 90s so have rare chemistry and prove that and then some here.
Review: 'Imprevisto' by Bossa Tres and Ana Rosely's 'Skim Dum Dum Dum' receive well-deserved attention in their remastered reissue by Mr Bongo. Bossa Tres's track, featured as the final piece on their 1965 'Em Forma!' LP, stands out as an unmistakable Brazilian jazz classic. Opening with a dramatic intro and a hypnotic piano line, the song evolves with panned percussion and upright bass, showing the band's refined musicality honed from their early days touring jazz clubs in the USA. This 7" release marks a significant reissue of Bossa Tres's sophisticated sound in a concise format. On Side-2, Ana Rosely's 'Skim Dum Dum Dum' from 1984, originally released by RGE Discos, adds a different flavor with its infectious groove and enigmatic charm. Despite limited information about Rosely, her releases have become sought after for their rarity and musical quality. With 'Skim Dum Dum Dum,' her talent shines brightly within the unique style of Brazilian music. This remastered edition with refreshed artwork offers collectors and enthusiasts a chance to rediscover these gems of Brazilian jazz and music history.
Review: Mariana Zwarg is an accomplished Brazilian flutist and saxophonist who presented her Universal Sexteto group in 2020 with the Nascentes album. Released on CD by Scubidu Music, it's now getting a vinyl pressing thanks to Equinox in Australia, getting the music further afield, which it thoroughly deserves. Zwarg's group deals in a modern, sprightly kind of jazz led by her own joyous vocals and flute flurries, but there's also a sense of the deep heritage of Brazilian jazz hanging behind everything she does. It's a vibrant album bursting with kinetic energy - just the kind of revitalising tonic to lift the spirits through long winter months in the Northern hemisphere.
Review: Beautiful Brazilian soul from 1978, timely reissued by Mr Bongo: Eloah comprises something of an all-star cast of musicians and poets who have worked with the likes of Perfume Azul Do Sol, Vinicius de Moraes, Alcyone and Nelson Goncalves. Their work is soft-focused, folky and charming with a timeless spirit that, if anything, has matured to sound even better almost 40 years later. From the soul-stirring percussion and flute ballad of "Nanan" to the much more upbeat dusky post carnival sound of "Xango" or the ballroom swoons of "Logun Ede", the album offers something fresh on every listen as layers of percussion and instrumentation are weaved delicately with soul and dreamy detail.
Review: The 62nd single in Mr Bongo's long-running Brazil 45s series is notable for containing Jose Prates' "Nana Imboro", a deep, hypnotic and intoxicating samba cut that was initially recorded and released way back in 1958. Relatively slow and steady by samba standards, its chanted refrain is thought to be the inspiration for Jorge Ben's much better known "Mas Que Nada". Wisely, Mr Bongo has backed Prates' sublime original with a 1960 cover by obscure Polish outfit Wroblewski Jazz Quintet. This dispenses with the chanting, instead increasing the number of intertwined horn parts. Given that original copies of the rare Polish EP it first appeared on will set you back serious money, it's great to see this fine cover included here.
Review: A bona fide Brazilian rarity: Alucinolandia was the only full length from talented multi instrumentalist and bandleader Zito who really should have enjoyed more attention. Ranging from the R&B style stomp of "Primeira Conjugacao" to the Gershwin standard "Love Is Here To Stay" via the instant feel good sensations of "Bye Bye" where you feel like you're in the room, clicking, clapping and crying along with the band, this is a timeless document that really should have had more exposure than it did at the time of the original release back in 1969
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