Milton Nascimento - Minas (1975) & Geraes (1976)

One more Milton Nascimento post for now, with a pair of albums from '75 and '76 that were briefly reissued as a double-album in '77, so makes sense to post them together.  The titles taken together are of course an alternate spelling of Minas Gerais, the Brazilian state of Nascimento's upbringing, and the albums are further linked by an organ, woodwind & guitar swell that closes Minas and opens Geraes, so it would seem that the two records were very much intended to be regarded as a pair.

Minas opens with a 'na-na-na' children's chorus that will reappear as a thread throughout the album, before we get straight into some of Nasicmento's classic mid-70s songwriting with Fé Cega, Faca Amolada.  The post-Native Dancer sound of Minas dispenses with much of the rawness of Milagre Dos Peixes in favour of a more sophisticated, 70s jazz production, and there's spare orchestration in places - all supporting the strength of the songs well.  The absolute highlight for me is the re-recording of Native Dancer's opener Ponta De Areia, given a slow-swinging, assured dignity bookended with more children's choir.

Geraes, as mentioned in the intro above, starts where its predecessor left off, but as soon as that initial flourish fades the sound changes.  The jazz fusion of Minas has been replaced by a mostly stripped-back, folkier mode, but retaining the orchestration where called for.  Nascimento has only three songwriting credits out of the 12 tracks, and vocally shares more duets, making Geraes a more collaborative record that highlights his ability to mastermind a conceptual work drawing on the musical traditions of Minas Gerais.  In this way Geraes could be viewed as a precursor to Nasicmento's international breakthrough period on Warner Bros in the 90s.  The album ends with the gorgeous 5 minute ballad Minas Geraes, acting as the perfect thematic closer to these two great records.

Minas: link
Geraes: link