Hermeto Pascoal - Slaves Mass (1977)

Wanted to give Hermeto Pascoal's music a try after that post of Live-Evil, so here's a jazz fusion classic with plenty of authentic Brazilian flavour thanks to the array of great guest musicians.  Recording in Los Angeles, Pascoal jammed with Weather Reporters Alphonso Johnson and Chester Thompson for one aspect of the album - lengthy fusion improvs led by Pascoal's electric piano.  Only one of these sessions made the album - the stunning opener Mixing Pot (Tacho) - but this CD reissue captures two more as bonus tracks, and at around fifteen minutes apiece both are welcome additions here.

The other lineup on the album centred around Flora Purim and Airto Moreira, married at that time and having shared history with Pascoal in the group Quarteto Novo.  They are joined by Ron Carter on bass and first introduced on the ritualistic, experimental title track - Airto is credited with "live pigs" here, which must've been an interesting recording session.  Side one of the album is filled out by the sunny, melodic Little Cry For Him (Chorinho Pra Ele), which reminded me of Egberto Gismonti circa Circense, and a composition in tribute to Cannonball Adderley that features flute, percussion and varispeed voices.

In another Gismonti similarity, this time to Dança Das Cabeças, Side two of Slaves' Mass starts out with solo piano, in the dazzling runs of Just Listen (Escuta Meu Piano).  The lovely and languid That Waltz (Aquela Valsa), with interplay between Pascoal's soprano sax and Raul De Souza's trombone, gives a bit of a breather before the final track.  The twelve minutes of Cherry Jam (Geleia De Cereja) are a straight trio performance between Pascoal, Carter and Moeira, and run through plenty of electric piano, sax and percussion solos to give a fantastic close to a highly recommended album.  As mentioned earlier, the three bonus outtakes are all worth hearing - a short track that features Pascoal on accordion and vocals, then two lengthy Johnson/Thompson workouts.

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Egberto Gismonti with Naná Vasconcelos - Dança Das Cabeças (1977)

Egberto Gismonti's debut appearance on ECM was originally planned as a completely solo album, the travel costs imposed by the Brazilian government precluding a full band.  Shortly after arriving in Norway though, Gismonti had a chance encounter with Naná Vasconcelos, and their instant kinship is what elevates this album from just incredible music to something even more special.

The concept that the two musicians agreed on, according to Gismonti, was "two boys wandering through a dense, humid forest, full of insects and animals, keeping a 180-feet distance from each other".  This is evoked straight away in the atmospheric introduction (named Quarto Mundo, possibly even before the late Jon Hassell used the term "Fourth World"), with flutes and voices evoking Amazonian wildlife.  The album's first suite then focuses on Gismonti's stunning guitar playing and Vasconcelos' percussive versatility.  Six songs are ran together for the LP's first side, including two from Academia Da Danças (link below).

The first half of the side two suite is given over entirely to Gismonti's piano, in a gorgeous piece called Tango that casts him as a Brazilian Keith Jarrett.  A low rumbling gong reintroduces Vasconcelos for a more atmospheric interlude including voices and handclaps, then Gismonti briefly returns to guitar.  To finish, a rush of shaken bells from Vasconcelos leads in to the choppy piano coda.  Both musicians would go on to international renown from here, on ECM and elsewhere, and on Dança Das Cabeças they produced a lasting landmark in their careers from a fortunate chance meeting.

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Previously posted at SGTG: 
Academia Da Danças
Sol De Meio Dia 
Circense
Sanfona

Duas Vozes (with Naná Vasconcelos)
Dança Dos Escravos
In Montreal (with Charlie Haden) 

Lula Côrtes / Zé Ramalho - Paêbirú (1975)

Of all the 1970s Brazilian albums I've heard so far, this double concept album collaboration between Lula Côrtes & Zé Ramalho is one of the most experimental and psychedelic.  Containing numerous moments that could almost be Amon Düül, Agitation Free, Between or a less refined Popol Vuh, it's like Brazilian krautrock.  Needless to say, Paêbirú has become a cult classic, both as a great acid-folk brain-melter, and as a once-ultra-rare obscurity: before various reissues brought it back into availability, most of the small original pressing was lost in a warehouse accident.  Fittingly for the 'four elements' concept, this was either by fire or flood, depending on which story is correct.

So as above, to structure their double-LP about Brazilian mythology, Côrtes & Ramalho titled the four album sides elementally: Earth, Air, Fire & Water, or in Portuguese: Terra, Ar, Fogo, Água.  Vocals are minimal and often basic chants, so the language barrier is a non-issue in getting immersed in the incredible sound.  The Terra side starts as it means to go on, with acoustic guitars, flute and tribal percussion.  After a minute of this comes the first of many moments of wow, that bassline is incredible - seriously, crank the bass up for this whole album as high as you can.  After a short track of incredible percussion and acid-drenched fuzz guitar, the Terra side ends on a calm flute, piano and acoustic guitar piece.

Ar begins in much the same territory, against a backdrop of melodic acoustic guitar scales, before this album side delves into darker, more ritualistic jams with a sax adding a jazzier element.  The brief Fogo side has appropriately firey guitars and sitar, skull-splitting garage-psych Farfisa and scorching grooves.  For the final stretch, Água commences by invoking the sea-goddess Iemanja (see also here), then takes in more guitar duelling and great percussion, two lovely short tracks evocative of Jorma Kaukonen/Hot Tuna, and one more great acoustic/percussion jam.  Hugely recommended masterpiece.

Original 2-LP gatefold with Ramalho (L) and Côrtes (R)

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Astrud Gilberto - The Astrud Gilberto Album (1965)

Last week we had the album that introduced Astrud Gilberto to the world; now, here's her debut solo album from the following year.  The Astrud Gilberto Album has an even bigger Jobim presence, which is always a huge plus point for me: he's featured on guitar throughout, on vocals duetting with Gilberto on the classic Água De Beber, and the tracklist is heavy on his songwriting.  At the heart of this short and sweet record though is Gilberto's voice, still establishing herself as a singer but already imbued with a melancholic, wistful quality that shines on all these songs, whether in English or Portuguese.  Filling out the arrangements is the skilful touch of Marty Paich and Creed Taylor's production, making for a classic of Brazilian jazz-pop, always evocative of summers gone by.

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Previously posted at SGTG:

Getz/Gilberto

Look To The Rainbow

I Haven't Got Anything Better To Do

Gilberto With Turrentine (scroll past main post)

Caetano Veloso - Transa (1972)

One more stopoff in Brazil for this summer - although it's really a stopoff in London, where Caetano Veloso (along with Gilberto Gil) was spending the early 70s in political exile.  He was able to return home shortly after completing this album, and the homesickness is palpable in the lyrics, many of which are in English.  I've always wondered if the Portuguese expletive of the album title was cheekily chosen by Veloso to rile the censorious establishment who'd booted him out of Brazil, or likely to fly over the heads of Anglophone audiences, or both.

The out-of-sorts ennui is never more succinctly expressed than in the album opener You Don't Know Me, which comes across like an MPB version of Neil Young's On The Beach title track.  Veloso switches in and out of Portuguese as the emotion rises in the song.  Nine Out Of Ten is even more evocative in time and place, with an echo of the same downer exile vibe coming later in It's A Long Way.

Veloso also roots the album in Brazilian authenticity, with an update of an old samba classic in Mora Na Filosofia, and also in the album's longest track.  Over nine minutes, Triste Bahia takes a poem by 17th century poet Gregório de Matos and riffs on it with surreal non-sequiturs and even rooster crowing (if you ever wanted to know the Brazilian-Portugeuse equivalent of "cock a doodle doo", well, it's "cocorocô" - thanks to lyrictranslate.com for that gem).  One of the definite highlights of a beautifully melancholic, sometimes warmly funny record.

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Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 - Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 (1966)

A quick shot of pure sunshine bossanova pop, from Sergio Mendes and the group he'd assembled to work as an international crossover act.  It was an inspired setup that had a smash hit with Jorge Ben's Mas Que Nada, and this debut album packs in that and nine more tunes into 26 minutes.  Just piano, percussion and vocals in Portuguese and English, it's a formula that still sounds fresh and joyful.

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Lô Borges - s/t (1972)

About 6,000 miles south-east of Shuggie Otis, another incredibly talented musician barely out of his teens was involved in two great albums in 1972.  First was the Clube Da Esquina double-album with Milton Nascimento (see below); and then whilst it was being put together, Lô Borges was also asked by the label to make a solo album.

This was the result: with 15 tracks in a half-hour runtime, quickly made with songs written and recorded the same day, Borges' solo debut covers a mind-boggling variety of songwriting hooks and great guitar playing.  "Disco do tênis", as it would become informally known due to the shoes on the cover, squeezes in inspired moments in the very model of economy - even the 37-second track that ends Side 1 packs in a neat harpsichord part and a tempo change.

Much of the material is cut from the same Beatlesque cloth as Clube Da Esquina, including three instrumentals, making this album an every-bit-as-good overspill from its legendary parent project.  An essential MPB classic.

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Previously posted at SGTG:
Clube Da Esquina
Clube Da Esquina 2

Antonio Carlos Jobim - The Composer Of Desafinado, Plays (1963)

Summer isn't summer without Jobim as far as I'm concerned.  So here's his debut solo album, recorded in New York, which became the launchpad for his international reknown.  The tracklist is a virtual bossanova songbook - just about every one of these twelve Jobim-penned tunes would become much-covered standards.  The album also marked the beginning of his working relationship with Claus Ogerman, who fleshes out every track in typically gorgeous style with his lush strings and flutes over Jobim's spare guitar and piano.

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Previously posted at SGTG:
Wave
Stone Flower
Elis & Tom
Urubu

Milton Nascimento - Courage (1969)

Milton Nascimento's international debut, with Deodato arrangements and slick production from Creed Taylor's nascent CTI imprint.  This makes it a bit of an outlier in his early catalogue, as do the two English-language songs, but it works beautifully on its own merits.  The album definitely made an impression on Stanley Turrentine, who would shortly base an album around two of the tracks here: Vera Cruz and Canção do Sal, aka Salt Song.  In a way, the lush, jazzy arrangements on this album anticipate Nascimento's later work with Wayne Shorter.  Even at this early stage, Nascimento's unique voice and heartfelt songwriting are the main draws that elevate Courage from just another gorgeous-sounding CTI record to something truly timeless.

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Previously posted at SGTG:
Clube Da Esquina
Milagre Dos Peixes
Native Dancer
Minas/Geraes
Clube Da Esquina 2

Astrud Gilberto - Look To The Rainbow (1966)

Astrud Gilberto's third solo album showed her vocal range and interpretive skill beginnig to mature, and with this came a gorgeous half hour of arrangements by Gil Evans (with the exception of the third last and second last songs, arranged by Al Cohn) and production by Creed Taylor.  Perhaps trying to position Astrud as both international pop star and authentic bossanova voice, just over half the album's tracks are sung in English, and Look To The Rainbow presents a cracking selection of songs by the likes of Jobim, João Gilberto, Vinicius De Moraes and Baden Powell.

Mixed in with these are I Will Wait For You from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, and Maria Quiet from the considerably less well known (and never fully performed as written) Brazilian musical, Pobre Menina Rica (Poor Rich Girl).  Without that context, the latter song, sung in English, can seem a little...odd, but never mind - as a whole, this album is pure bossanova-jazz-pop perfection.

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Previously posted at SGTG:
I Haven't Got Anything Better To Do
Gilberto With Turrentine

Elis Regina & Antonio Carlos Jobim - Elis & Tom (1974)

29-year old Elis Regina was already about 20 albums into her career when Philips Records of Brazil made a wish come true for her as a special anniversary gift (she'd been at the label for ten years): an album shared with Antonio Carlos 'Tom' Jobim.  The album that resulted became a hugely popular masterpiece for both artists - one of the elder statesmen of bossanova, and one of the biggest stars of Brazilian popular music, or MPB.

Sadly, Elis' star would only burn brightly for another seven years, before her death at just 36 from accidental overdose.  Elis & Tom remains one of the highlights of her catalogue, as well as Jobim's.  The album sets out a relaxed, informal vibe from the outset, as Jobim tries to make Elis laugh (and succeeds) towards the end of his classic naturalist free-association song, Águas de Março. 

After that, there's another thirteen classics by Jobim and some of his co-writers, including Triste (first released on Wave - see links below), Corcovado (aka Quiet Nights in its English versions), and Chovendo na Roseira, known as Children's Games on Stone Flower.  An absolutely gorgeous, late-night collection of songs from start to finish, in mostly understated arrangements.

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pw: sgtg

Jobim at SGTG:
Wave
Stone Flower
Urubu

Milton Nascimento - Clube Da Esquina 2 (1978)

Second album from the Clube Da Esquina collective of musicians from Minas Gerais, Brazil, that had been established by Milton Nascimento and Lo Borges at the beginning of the 70s.  Following the success of their first album and Milton Nascimento's subsequent solo albums (see links below), the collective regrouped in 1978 for another double album.  If, as I initially did, you might assume the album cover above was another impromptu shot of Brazilian children, it can be surprising to learn it was taken by English photography pioneer Frank M. Sutcliffe, circa 1890.  That's just the first difference between this album and its predecessor.

Clube Da Esquina 2 was credited to Nascimento alone as the primary artist; while still involved as a musician, Lo Borges was more peripheral to this project rather than a partner, and only has three songwriting credits.  Milton takes most of the rest, shared with his usual songwriting partners of the time, and there's more songs by outside writers.  The result is an album with a much broader scope, and while the greater diversity has its own reward, it takes longer to digest (and not just in length - 15 minutes over its predecessor, despite having only two more tracks), running through a range of Brazilian folk themes and the various MPB styles of the time.

One other thing that made the first Clube De Esquina album such a joy in its accessibility was the Beatlesque sensibility that Nascimento and Borges brought to so many songs.  This time around, waiting for something with that poppy immediacy will take until the final quarter of the album (Maria Maria).  None of this should put anyone off approaching Clube Da Esquina 2 - live with it for a week or two, and it'll take just as strong a residency deep in your soul.  Nascimento's impassioned longings for unity and understanding; for lost loved ones; for all of Brazil's historical pain, and an urge to keep moving forward, is instilled in every one of his songs (and on key ones by others).  The highlights from the other group members and guests are many - more great guitar work from Beto Guedes, for instance, and the legendary Elis Regina as the first vocalist on O Que Foi Feito Deverá/De Vera, aka Vera Cruz.  More Elis Regina to come in the weeks ahead, and a different look at Vera Cruz coming on Monday.

Disc 1 link
Disc 2 link
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Previously posted at SGTG:
Clube Da Esquina
Milagre Dos Peixes
Native Dancer
Minas/Geraes

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

Geraldo Azevedo - s/t (1977)

Hailing from Petrolina, Pernambuco, Geraldo Azevedo started out as a songwriter and a player in a few minor groups, which included crossing paths with Nana Vasconcelos early on.  This was his first solo album, following a collaborative release with Alceu Valença five years earlier at the height of the Udigrudi underground movement.  Cross-fertilizing MPB with folk styles from Northeastern Brazil proved to be a good combination on this album, allowing Azevedo's fingerpicked guitar talent to shine.

There's a good balance in these ten songs between string arrangements (and occasional synth) and earthier guitar sounds - lead guitarists Robertinho do Recife & Ivinho are particularly well featured on the 8-minute medley in the first half, and on the following Domingo De Pedra E Cal and Em Copacabana.  That stretch of the album contains its strongest highlights for me, and it's arguably the style that fits Azevedo best: languid and contemplative, but with just enough fire to drive the tracks forward.

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Milton Nascimento - Milagre Dos Peixes (1973)

Milton Nascimento's follow up to Clube Da Esquina was this, his most experimental album.  Even the presentation of the original release was out of the ordinary - an elaborate fold-out sleeve and colour-coded inserts for each track, and eight of the album's 11 tracks on LP, the final three on an accompanying 7".  This was a good three years before Songs In The Key Of Life - anyone know of any other precedents, or was Milton the first to do the LP+single package for an album?

The music was much more exploratory, earthy and percussive (Nana Vasconcelos is on fire throughout) than Milton's previous releases.  Highlighting this was the complete absence of lyrics on all but three tracks, the result of censorship from Brazil's military dictatorship of the time.  What remained were repetitive incantations from the vocalists, reaching their most primal on A Chamada, and just exhilarating and celebratory elsewhere.  The jazziness of Native Dancer is prefigured on the longest track Hoje É Dia De El-Rey, and that album would of course see a reworking of the Milagre Dos Peixes title track.

One of three tracks here left with its lyrics intact, the title track remains one of Milton's most enduring and gorgeous songs.  The other two are Pablo, sung by Lô Borges' youngest brother Nico (13 at the time), and a cover of Nelson Angelo's Sacramento, but this album is primarily about the music.  The uplifting rhythms and chants; the occasional string arrangements on Hoje É Dia De El-Rey and the title track; the barroom atmosphere created on A Última Sessão De Música - Milagre Dos Peixes is, in spite of the circumstances in its home nation at the time, a joyous experience, and unique in its creator's lengthy discography.

Alternate cover for European reissues - some with altered running order.

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Milton Nascimento/Lô Borges - Clube Da Esquina (1972)

Back to Brazil, with possibly the most stunning high water mark in MPB (música popular brasileira).  Clube Da Esquina (corner club) was a collective of musicians from the Minas Gerais state, led by Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges, the latter just 20 when this double-album was recorded.  With 21 songs in 64 minutes, Clube Da Esquina is like a fat-free White Album or stripped-down Manassas.  Over the succinct running time, it manages to take in regional folk influences, hazy, languid psychedelic pop and a huge dash of Beatlesque styling in a journey that feels more perfect with every listen.  Even the album cover has a great story behind it.

A track-by-track is pointless on an album like this; picking out highlights near-impossible for one with literally no duds - even the two tracks that don't break the minute mark are necessary, rather than jokey filler.  So here's a handful of favourites.  From Lô Borges' seven compositions, I'll go for the sun-dappled goodbyes of O Trem Azul with its gorgeous harmonies, and Trem De Doido, a poignant ode to mistreated psychiatric patients, with Beto Guedes' stinging lead guitar.

Out of Milton Nascimento's phenomenal songwriting and legendary voice... what to choose as favourites?  I'm going to plump for his more impressionistic side that comes out in the Side 3-4 split, on Um Gusto De Sol's woozy, sleepy personification of a pear in a fruit bowl, and the swirling production effects of Pelo Amor De Deus.  But then he's just as good as an interpreter, of Spanish songwriter Carmelo Larrea's bolero standard Dos Cruces, or duetting with Alaíde Costa on Me Deixa Em Paz.  Or indeed with no lyrics at all, on the near-title track or on the ode to his adoptive mother Lilia, soon to be re-recorded with Wayne Shorter (Wagner Tiso from Native Dancer is also all over Clube with his great organ style). Stay tuned for more of the near-instrumental side of Milton later this week, but for now make sure to download this perfect album.

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