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Sweetly jazzy Brazilian grooves from the team of Teca & Ricardo – a lovely album recorded in France in the mid 70s, and unheard for years! The feel here is not that dissimilar from some of the recent work by Tom & Joyce, or classic work by the team of Jaime & Nair – Teca's lovely vocals upfront in the mix, often joined in harmony by Ricardo, with backings that are spare and which include lots of acoustic guitar. Post-bossa jazzy vocals with a slight electric twist – warm and intimate, but with lots of groove-oriented touches! Titles include "Saranda", "Estrela Da Cancao", "Cafune", "Trovaoda", "Pra Que Tanta Explicao", and "Le Son Hante".

Sweetly jazzy Brazilian grooves from the team of Teca & Ricardo – a lovely album recorded in France in the mid 70s, and unheard for years! The feel here is not that dissimilar from some of the recent work by Tom & Joyce, or classic work by the team of Jaime & Nair – Teca's lovely vocals upfront in the mix, often joined in harmony by Ricardo, with backings that are spare and which include lots of acoustic guitar. Post-bossa jazzy vocals with a slight electric twist – warm and intimate, but with lots of groove-oriented touches! Titles include "Saranda", "Estrela Da Cancao", "Cafune", "Trovaoda", "Pra Que Tanta Explicao", and "Le Son Hante".

Some of the earliest work ever recorded by Gilberto Gil – served up here in a really great 2CD set! The first CD in the set a beautiful album of rough-hewn samba tracks, done in a really lively style! Gil's great vocals are very firmly in the lead of the album's arrangements – and some tracks use a full samba percussion and instrumental style, while others feature Gil singing in a spare setting, with mostly light percussion and acoustic guitar behind his voice. The sound is really tremendous, and although the album is a short one overall, it's still an essential treasure from some lost years of Gil's career! Titles include "Povo Petroleiro", "Vem Colombina", "Vontade De Amar", "Maria Tereza", and "Meu Luar, Minhas Cancoes". Most of the material on that disc was previously issued on the CD title Salvador 1962-1963 – but there's also a bonus cut here titled "Felicidade Vem Depois". CD 2 is even cooler – 18 early demo cuts recorded in 1966 – very stripped down and earthy, showing Gil in this beautiful space between bossa nova and some of his more personal and experimental moments to come! At points, there's a Joao Gilberto-like charm to the music – and the recording style is almost more like some of the earliest late 50s sides to come from Rio – with all the charm that might imply! Titles include "Beira Mar", "Zabele", "A Ultima Coisa Bonita", "Cantiga", "Retirante", "Lemanja", "Vento De Maio", "Rancho Da Boa Vinda", and "Minha Senhora".

An obscure date from trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and tenorist Benny Golson – but some really great work from both players! The format here is relaxed and very open – long tunes that allow both players to really stretch out on their solos with tremendous grace and imagination. And despite the low price and simple packaging of the set, the quality of both the music and recording is easily on a par with the best 80s work by Hubbard and Golson – and is a masterful meeting of both artists! The group's a quintet, with more additional great talent – including Mulgrew Miller on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Marvin Smitty Smith on drums – hitting the kit with a great sense of energy that really drives the session. Titles include a great acoustic reworking of Hubbard's classic "Povo", presented in a way that's still surprisingly funky – plus "Double Bass", "Sad To Say", "Far Away", "Gypsy Jingle Jangle", and "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing".

Great work from Silverio Pessoa – an artist who's been working in the Brazilian indie scene for years, but whose music is easily right up there with some of the freshest bigger names too! If we had to pick a genre for Silverio's style, we'd probably pick rock – but like some of his best contemporaries, the idea of genre is a very tricky thing – as Pessoa slips around nicely between a range of different sounds – not just in the structure of his tunes, but in the way they're recorded – mixing up acoustic roots, contemporary phrasing, and some mighty fresh songwriting! Titles include "Rara Beleza", "O Povo Canta", "Baiao Desordeiro", "Rei Jose", "Toma", "Saia Azul", and "Ballet Dos Pirilampos".

A tripped-out set of acid folk guitar from Satwa – featuring Brazilian psychedelic folk genius Lula Cortes, in a feel that's very much like his own great work of the time! Satwa is one of the sweetest sets of psych folk jams we've heard in ages – with a mostly-instrumental, wholly mesmerizing sound spun by Lula on sitar and partner Lailson on 12 string guitar – a rich acoustic blend that's even deeper and more enigmatic than music of this type from the American scene! There's a bit of guest lead guitar on one track by Robertinho Do Recife – and titles include "Satwa", "Can I Be Satwa", "Alegro Piradissimo", "Lia A Rainha Da Noite", "Apacidonata", "Amigo", "Atom", "Blue Do Cachorro Muito Louco", "Valsa Dos Cogumelos", and "Alegria Do Povo".

Darkly brilliant work from Simone – a real standout singer in late 70s MPB, working here with a sound that draws heavily from the legacy of the post-Tropicalia scene! Simone's music has a really moody feel overall – arranged by Gilson Peranzzetta and Nelson Ayres with some gently jazzy moments, and a relatively spare feel overall – so that Simone's deep-toned vocals really dominate the set. The approach is a bit like that of Gal Costa at the time, but a bit more haunting overall – and compositions are by Ivan Lins, Chico Buarque and Milton Nascimento – and include "Outra Vez", "Pedaco De Mim", "Comecar De Novo", "Saindo De Mim", "Cordilheira", "Povo Da Raca Brasil", and "Itamarandiba".

In case you haven't noticed lately, the Scandinavian scene's blowing up large – and for good reason! As this set nicely documents, there's a rich array of great groups up north – groundbreaking combos with one ear towards the jazzy riffs of 70s European jazz – bringing more life and light into their work than previous Scandinavian electronicists – and creating tracks that are especially appealing to our classics-steeped ears! The feel here is tremendous – with a classic/modern counterpoint that rivals the best on Compost or Schema – and which has the added influence of decades of Scandinavian fusion, funk, modal jazz, and vocalese! Titles include "Trading Eights" by Five Corners Quintet, "Marinade" by Kahuun, "Noisuf (raw jazz take)" by Stockholm Cyclo, "Open The Door" by Elsa, "I Love You My Friends" by Hird, "Kovin Lentaen Kotin Kaipaan" by Kuusumun Profeetta, "Good & Bad" by Povo, "Logic Of Space" by Iony, and "Bloodstream" by Oddjob.

A tripped-out set of acid folk guitar from Satwa – featuring Brazilian psychedelic folk genius Lula Cortes, in a feel that's very much like his own great work of the time! Satwa is one of the sweetest sets of psych folk jams we've heard in ages – with a mostly-instrumental, wholly mesmerizing sound spun by Lula on sitar and partner Lailson on 12 string guitar – a rich acoustic blend that's even deeper and more enigmatic than music of this type from the American scene! There's a bit of guest lead guitar on one track by Robertinho Do Recife – and titles include "Satwa", "Can I Be Satwa", "Alegro Piradissimo", "Lia A Rainha Da Noite", "Apacidonata", "Amigo", "Atom", "Blue Do Cachorro Muito Louco", "Valsa Dos Cogumelos", and "Alegria Do Povo".

A long-overdue collection of all the mixes, side-projects, and rare "Nicola Conte version" tracks that have cropped up in the past decade or so – work that's every bit as great as the material Conte includes on his own albums and singles! Nicola Conte's not a remixer – he's a re-imaginer – and when he sets out to serve up his own version of a track, he often starts from scratch – using his own band, his own arrangements, and his own key elements – all of which turn any projects for other artists into grooves that are very Conte-directed – the kind of classic jazz-infused gems that Nicola's been laying down on his own Schema Records label for over a decade! This double-disc set is filled with amazing work that Conte's done for other folks – and it also include a few rare and unreleased tracks under his own name as well – a massive helping of music that's really mindblowing throughout – sure to please any fan of Nicola, as well as anyone who digs the artists included in the package. Nicola Conte tracks include "Castles In The Rain", "Charade", "New Blues", "When I Wish Upon A Star", "Solo", "Black Is The Graceful Veil (acoustic version)", "Groovy Samba", and "All Or Nothing At All", which features vocals by Jose James! Other cuts include Conte mixes and reworks of "Stolen Moments (Midnight Mood rework)" by Mark Murphy, "Yellow Daisies" by Fertile Ground, "So Danco Samba (Nicola Conte rework)" by Til Bronner, "Terra De Ninguem" by Sabrina Malheiros, "Take Off (Campi's Idea version)" by Marco Di Marco, "3 Corners (For Friends & Relatives version)" by Five Corners Quintet, "You Are" by Povo, "Our Love" by Luisito Quintero, "Healing Blue (shape of jazz to come version)" by Sunaga T Experience, "Lotus Sun" by Maki Mannami, "Heaven (west coast vibes rmx)" by Bitter:Sweet, "Quiet Nights (out of the cool version)" by Re:Jazz, "Elevated States" by Thunderball, "Mood Indigo" by Akiko, "Take Five (Nicola Conte rmx)" by Roberto Roena, and "Kerma Elastica (Nicola Conte rmx)" by Bobby Hughes Combination.

A tripped-out set of acid folk guitar from Satwa – featuring Brazilian psychedelic folk genius Lula Cortes, in a feel that's very much like his own great work of the time! Satwa is one of the sweetest sets of psych folk jams we've heard in ages – with a mostly-instrumental, wholly mesmerizing sound spun by Lula on sitar and partner Lailson on 12 string guitar – a rich acoustic blend that's even deeper and more enigmatic than music of this type from the American scene! There's a bit of guest lead guitar on one track by Robertinho Do Recife – and titles include "Satwa", "Can I Be Satwa", "Alegro Piradissimo", "Lia A Rainha Da Noite", "Apacidonata", "Amigo", "Atom", "Blue Do Cachorro Muito Louco", "Valsa Dos Cogumelos", and "Alegria Do Povo".