Brazilian Jazz Fusion-y stuff

[A Lark Ascending]

I dearly love that combination of jazz, Brazilian percussion and fender rhodes.

Airto, Dom Um Romano, George Duke's 'Brazilian Love Affair', Jobim's Stone Flower etc.

What else is out there (either from the 70s or in that spirit)?

A difficult one because it crosses over very easily into Martini music. Be interested to hear of discs in that area with a bit of muscle that people keep coming back to. I'll probably know a fair few but I'm hoping for surprises.

Edited July 15, 2011 by A Lark Ascending

[GA Russell]

In 1971 Joao Donato had an album called A Bad Donato that fits the bill. As I recall, it was on the Blue Thumb label.

Donato also had an album on Muse (ca. 1973?) with Deodato called Donato/Deodato (I think), that I think fits the bill except that I don't think that it's particularly good.

[Jazzjet]

I dearly love that combination of jazz, Brazilian percussion and fender rhodes.

Airto, Dom Um Romano, George Duke's 'Brazilian Love Affair', Jobim's Stone Flower etc.

What else is out there (either from the 70s or in that spirit)?

A difficult one because it crosses over very easily into Martini music. Be interested to hear of discs in that area with a bit of muscle that people keep coming back to. I'll probably know a fair few but I'm hoping for surprises.

There's a great album which has all these elements and more. 'Cesar 830' by Cesar Ascarrunz. Produced by Teo Macero and the band includes people like Steve Marcus, Willie Colon and Hadley Caliman. Also Sivuca live at the Village Gate ( or possibly Vanguard ).

Here's a selection :

Cesar 830

[jazzbo]

Check out Tania Maria. She's the real deal. Almost all her albums have Fender Rhodes as well as piano. I fell under her spell about six years ago and I'm hooked.

Her Blue Note cd "Intimidade" is a good one.

Funky Tamborin on youtube

I take it you are familiar with Ed Motta? His "Poptikal" or "Ayestelum" or "Dwitza" should be heard.

Edited July 15, 2011 by jazzbo

[JohnT]

My favorite Brazilian "fusion" group, that's been going strong since the '70's, is "Azymuth". You can find many of their newer CD's at Dustygroove (their latest, "Aurora", on the Far Out label is great!). Their Milestone recordings from the past are great too!

Edited to add that the bass player for Azymuth, Alex Malheiros has a daughter, Sabrina Malheiros who is is wonderful vocalist and has some great CD's too!

Edited July 15, 2011 by JohnT

[A Lark Ascending]

Thanks for the recs.

The Donato and Cesar 830 seem OOP but I will look.

I have a couple of Tania Maria's...will dig them out again. Ed Motta fits exactly what I'm looking for - again, will dig those out too.

Thanks for taking the time, chaps.

[Free For All]

Manfredo Fest

Clare Fischer

[JSngry]

Ed Motta RULES!!!!

[jazzbo]

Ed Motta definitely rules. So does his aunt, Tania Maria.

[Jim R]

I haven't heard them for awhile, but Moacir Santos did a few albums in the 70's for Blue Note (Maestro; Saudade; Carnival Of The Spirits) that you might want to check out.

[A Lark Ascending]

Manfredo Fest

Clare Fischer

Any specific recommendations? Never heard of Fest; Fischer I only know as a name.

I haven't heard them for awhile, but Moacir Santos did a few albums in the 70's for Blue Note (Maestro; Saudade; Carnival Of The Spirits) that you might want to check out.

I have some earlier Santos and some much later but this area is quite unknown to me. Thank you.

Edited July 16, 2011 by A Lark Ascending

[Jim R]

I think of Fest as more of an acoustic piano guy (and a very, very good one who goes back to the early 60's bossa/jazz era, btw). On the recordings where he used electric piano, I think there was less of a 70's type fusion feel. The one to look for might be "Brazilian Dorian Dream", which is one of the few Fest albums I haven't heard. http://www.dustygroove.com/item.php?id=x4w3jbgsb9

Bev, hopefully you can find those Santos albums... very solid, iirc.

Edited July 16, 2011 by Jim R

[JSngry]

Bev, hopefully you can find those Santos albums... very solid, iirc.

The internet is your friend...

[fasstrack]

I dearly love that combination of jazz, Brazilian percussion and fender rhodes.

Airto, Dom Um Romano, George Duke's 'Brazilian Love Affair', Jobim's Stone Flower etc.

What else is out there (either from the 70s or in that spirit)?

A difficult one because it crosses over very easily into Martini music. Be interested to hear of discs in that area with a bit of muscle that people keep coming back to. I'll probably know a fair few but I'm hoping for surprises.

The following recommendations are somewhat off-topic by your criteria, but:

A 1966 one-shot date by Sergio Mendes, The Swinger From Rio http://www.amazon.com/Swinger-Beat-Brazil-Sergio-Mendes/dp/B00000IJPP has as soloists Phil Woods and Art Farmer, among others.

Tamba 4 (originally Tamba 3) had a 60s recording, We and the Sea, which featured the first recording of (Luis?) Eca's The Dolphin---at a much slower and more relaxed tempo than the jazzer's concept of samba that Stan Getz and many others performed and recorded it in. Not that I don't dig those too, but an original is an original, and this one is 100% pure Brasil (they hate the Americanized 'Z').

And very much on-topic, I believe: If you can even find it anymore, Hermeto Pascoal's(70s?) big band recording called Hermeto (hey, it's his title, or maybe the record company's). His imagination and mastery of so many instruments (including the Rhodes) is in itself worth the price of the ticket, but for the record in the band is Thad Jones and Ron Carter among many other aces I can't recall. Plenty of percussion, too, I have no doubt. Haven't heard it in ages, but it knocked me on my hindquarters when I did. He's as interesting a writer and musician as you'll find anywhere.

I'll stop there, being a lover of Brasilian music and not wanting to go on all night...

Edited July 17, 2011 by fasstrack

[A Lark Ascending]

Thanks all.

I've managed to find one of two of these OOP ones in 'unusual' places and will be giving them a listen in coming days.

I've tried to limit the thread to a narrow area because there are already superb threads on the wider area of Brazilian music and Hard Bossa.

I have a funny relationship with this fusion-y Brazilian jazz. When it was current I largely ran from it; I was moving from rock into more 'serious' music ('I was so much older then....') and so reacted against its light, breeziness. Yet there were things in my collection (like the version of 'Stone Flower' on Santana's Caravanseri) or buried in my memory (the Brasil '66 songs I heard as a kid on the radio) that were just waiting to surface. And, surprisingly, I can now hear influences is in some of the UK prog-jazz-rock that was my staple in the mid-70s.

One result of 'discovering' (in a personal sense) Brazilian music a few years back has been to make me much more open to this fusion-y stuff. I still blanch at the synths, find the tick-a-tikka rhythms on some discs a bit hard to take and don't really relate to the overtly soul-influenced, slap-bass, 'let's get down' side (that has more to do with being a hung-up Englishman). But as an overall sub-genre I find it very attractive, especially on sunny days.

Played this a couple of times yesterday:

One I got on e-music a few years back. A marvellous compilation of more recent, breezy fender-rich performances from the likes of Azymuth, Joyce, Marcos Valle, Victor Assis Brasil (fabulous 'Ginger Bread Boy) etc from the Far Out label who feed a thriving minority interest in this music in the UK (mainly London).

I find you have to step very carefully here. It's very tied up with a dance scene and quite a few of these records (not the example above) get the remix treatment with drum machine beats and the like. That's a line I can't get across!

P.S. Will investigate the Hermeto, fasstrack - one of my favourites. 'Slaves Mass' falls into this area.

Edited July 17, 2011 by A Lark Ascending

[fasstrack]

P.S. Will investigate the Hermeto, fasstrack - one of my favourites. 'Slaves Mass' falls into this area.

I wish I knew more of his stuff to recommend. I don't own anything, but everytime I hear anything by him it knocks me out. There's also a youtube video of Hermeto accompanying Elis Regina that's wonderful. When I find the link again I'll send it on.

Meanwhile, you may want to look into the other two I mentioned. That Tamba 4 is really nice and holds up well, with traditional chants to stuff more on the edge of what was happening then.

[jazzbo]

I agree the Tamba 4 is excellent.

[seeline]

You might want to check out Cama de Gato, from Rio. Unfortunately, their discs are pretty hard to find.

[BFrank]

I don't know what's available, but Opa was pretty good back in the 70's. They were Airto's backup band for a number of years.

Edited July 18, 2011 by BFrank

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

astrud gilberto + james last on polygram, c. 1985-6, absoutely incrdible and exactly what yr looking for

[Joe]

You have heard the Airto dates that were originally issued on Buddha: SEEDS ON THE GROUND and NATURAL FEELINGS? Airto, Flora, Pascoal, Romao and Ron Carter are all featured. Both were reissued on a "2fer" disc courtesy One Way Records in the mid-90's...

and are essential to any collection of post-bossa Brazilian music.

Sivuca's LIVE THE THE VILLAGE GATE (Vanguard), briefly reissued on CD in Japan, is also worth trying to track down.

[jazzbo]

That Airto cd is fantastic!

Bev, if you're not familiar with Vinicius Cantuaria his work falls in those parameters and some of the cds are very interesting.

http://www.vinicius.com/HomePage.html

[mjazzg]

Great thread, Bev, thanks for starting it.

Just the area i've flirted with but never jumped right in but now with the collected O-wisdom I'm all for leaping

Big vote for Vinicius from me too. Marvellous singer, songwriter and great live, if you get the chance

but not sure I recall too much fender rhodes action on the albums I have but maybe others do have that jazzy-fusiony vibe you're after.

and btw when have you had any sunny days recently? Strictly Sou'westers in London town

Edited July 18, 2011 by mjazzg

[A Lark Ascending]

I have a dozen or so Hermeto discs (and a couple of tribute discs to him!) - he's very influential in the UK, having toured here with bands with a Brazilian core but UK horns etc (one of the best concerts I've ever attended was by Hermeto with such a band in Cheltenham). You can hear him all over the music of the Loose Tubes crowd from the 80s. The rock-fusion thing is only a part of what he does (and might be just a 70s thing)- the discs I have are maverick takes on more acoustic Brazilian music.

Got hold of a copy of Tamba 4 and loved it. Great recommendation if not in the fusiony area.

I have Airto's 'Natural Feelings' but not 'Seeds' - one to seek out.

By chance I was listening to Vinicius yesterday - the disc with that title. Splendid stuff. Downloaded his two most recent (including the Frisell duet) as my e-music quota renewed.

Thanks for all the other recs which I'm noting. James Last is really challenging my ability to break through preconceptions, though!

Edited July 18, 2011 by A Lark Ascending

[Jazzjet]

From the early 80s jazz dance movement, this is an excellent summary of the music played, much of which fits right into the Brazilian Jazz Fusion-y bracket.

I spent many a happy hour putting together my own compliation of this music.

The Bottom End

I would also strongly recommend the book 'From Jazz Funk and Fusion To Acid Jazz' by Mark 'Snowboy' Cotgrove. It also covers the same UK jazz dance scene in great detail.

Snowboy book