A stunning celebration of one of the greatest pairings in Brazilian music – and in American music as well, given that both Airto Moreira and Flora Purim recorded plenty of these cuts up in our neck of the woods! Airto's percussion is the stuff of legend – a key force in Brazilian recordings in the late 60s, and then equally important in American jazz – in famous recordings with Miles Davis and other artists, and plenty of great records on his own! Flora's vocals are equally crucial – a soaring, fluid approach that forever changed the way that female singers approached jazz – bred in 60s bossa, but instantly something new by the time the 70s came along – especially when Airto was supporting her with great grooves! This huge package brings together material that both artists recorded – often under the name of one or the other, but often with the other artist present on the recording – with a heavy batch of work from the 70s and 80s, but also crucial cuts from other years too! 3CD set features 37 tracks and a really great package – with titles that include "Love Lock", "The Happy People", "Hungry On Arriva", "The Road Is Hard", "Samba De Flora", "O Canto Da Sereia", "Jeito Bom De Sofrer", "Papo Furado", "Xibaba", "Back Streets Of Havana", "Vera Cruz", "Flora's Song", "When Angels Crie", "Celebration Suite", "Casa Forte", "Black Narcissus", "A Secret From The Sea", "O Cantador/I Just Want To Be Here", "Jump", and "Hot Sand". CD

A stunning celebration of one of the greatest pairings in Brazilian music – and in American music as well, given that both Airto Moreira and Flora Purim recorded plenty of these cuts up in our neck of the woods! Airto's percussion is the stuff of legend – a key force in Brazilian recordings in the late 60s, and then equally important in American jazz – in famous recordings with Miles Davis and other artists, and plenty of great records on his own! Flora's vocals are equally crucial – a soaring, fluid approach that forever changed the way that female singers approached jazz – bred in 60s bossa, but instantly something new by the time the 70s came along – especially when Airto was supporting her with great grooves! This huge package brings together material that both artists recorded – often under the name of one or the other, but often with the other artist present on the recording – with a heavy batch of work from the 70s and 80s, but also crucial cuts from other years too! 5LP set features 37 tracks and a really great package – with titles that include "Love Lock", "The Happy People", "Hungry On Arriva", "The Road Is Hard", "Samba De Flora", "O Canto Da Sereia", "Jeito Bom De Sofrer", "Papo Furado", "Xibaba", "Back Streets Of Havana", "Vera Cruz", "Flora's Song", "When Angels Crie", "Celebration Suite", "Casa Forte", "Black Narcissus", "A Secret From The Sea", "O Cantador/I Just Want To Be Here", "Jump", and "Hot Sand". LP, Vinyl record album

CTI Records meets that Brazilian fusion sound of the 70s – served up here on two classic albums! Fingers is one of Airto's greatest records ever – a really hard hitting batch of tracks that mix sharp-edged fusion lines with some earthier Brazilian percussion touches – all in a way that nicely steps off of Airto's first few American releases, and warms the groove up with a nice dose of California soul! Flora Purim joins in here on both vocals and percussion – and the rest of the group features Hugo Fattoruso on keyboards and harmonica, Jorgte Fattoruso on drums, and David Amaro on both electric and acoustic guitars – shifting nicely between both instruments in a way that further underscores the blended vibe of the record! Most of these tracks are Airto classics – like "Tombo in 7/4", "San Francisco River", "Romance Of Death", "Ringers", and "Wind Chant" – and the record has a very sweet CTI production style, but is still rough enough around the edges to keep things nice and real! Deodato In Concert is an excellent little live set from Deodato – hard to believe because the sound's just as tight and funky as his studio albums, and possibly even more interesting because he manages to pull it off equally well in a live setting! The record features percussion by Airto, guitar by John Tropea, and vocals by Flora Purim – and those are just the marquee names of a large and amazing grew of great musicians! All tracks are long and complicated, for very hynotic feel throughout. The funkiest number is "Tropea", which has a nice long 8 minute groove – and the set also features a cover of Steely Dan's "Do It Again", plus the tracks "Parana", "Branches", "Baubles, Bangles And Beads" and "Skyscraper". Amazing! CD

A really unique album from Yugoslavian group Angel's Breath – one recorded in Brazil, which might come as no surprise, given that one of the members of the duo is Mitar Subotic Suba – who you'll also know from his groundbreaking album Sao Paulo Confessions! Suba got his start in Serbia, but was crucial in the Brazilian advances in the 90s before his too-early death in 1999 – and the record's definitely got some of the same appeal as the best music of the scene from Chico Science or Arnaldo Antunes – especially in the way it uses offbeat guitar lines, crispy electronics, and unusual rhythms next to lyrics that often feel as poetically experimental as they are tuneful! The whole thing's very difficult to describe, but that really gives it a hell of a lot of charm – and if it were not for the turmoil in Yugoslavia at the time, the set might have seen bigger global attention from the same cultural scene who were embracing Brazilian experiments of the period. Titles include "Madalena", "Velvet", "Caura", "Assassino", "Aplauzi", "40 Seconds Of Love", and "Metak". (Rock, Brazil) LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible little record – and the set where it really all comes together for this legendary funky jazz group! Azymuth were already great on their debut, although maybe a little experimental at times – but here, they really find the soulful groove that later got them big fame on the US scene – effortlessly blending their tight jazz skills with a dose of samba soul, and turning out some wonderfully groovy music in the process! There's clearly an influence here from the best years of Earth Wind & Fire – but also more of the edge that you'd expect from the young trio – as the amazing Jose Roberto Bertrami blows us away with his wickedly sharp keyboard solos, as Alexandre Malheiros and Mamao create these beautiful rhythms that go way past anything you might have expected from a trio. The whole thing's wonderful – one of the most soulful Brazilian records of the 70s – and titles include the great cuts "Tarde", "Tamborim Cuica Ganza Berimbau", "Falcon Love Call", and "Aguia Nao Come Mosca". CD

A fantastic early album from Jorge Ben – and one that's also a bit obscure, given that it was one of the few that he didn't cut for Philips Records during the first decade of his career! The album's one of Jorge's most upbeat, most lively – with the kind of ebullient mix of samba and soul influences that he brought to his first big hits – but recorded here in a way that's maybe even more frenetic, especially when piano lines spin out quickly next to his incredible vocals – with a style that's almost soul jazz at times! The whole thing's wonderful – a record that matches, if not tops any of his other 60s albums – and titles include the killer "A Jovem Samba" – worth the price of the album alone – plus "Nascimento De Um Principe Africando", "Menina Gata Augusta", "Si Wanda", "Rosa Mas Que Nada", "Amor De Carnaval", and "Todo Colorida". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic double-length set – two full albums of music, essential for any fan of Brazilian jazz – or even jazz in general! First up is Esperanto – an incredible album from one of Brazil's greatest reed players of the 70s – the mighty Victor Assis Brasil – a free-thinking spirit who really took Brazilian jazz in bold new directions at the time! The record shows Victor absorbing a lot of post-Coltrane influences, and blending them with a tight approach to rhythm – laid down here by Dom Salvador on piano (and organ), Edison Lobo on bass, and Edson Machando on drums. The group is completed by Helio Delmiro on guitar, and Claudio Roditi plays trumpet on one track – but the real highlight is the amazing reed work by Brasil, which is filled with soul and warmth, plus a deep sense of exploration. The whole session was put together by Roberto Quartin in 1970 – and it's still extremely fresh today. Titles include "Children", "Gingerbread Boy", "Senegal", and "Marilia". Next is Toca Antonio Carlos Jobim – a fantastic album from this legendary Brazilian saxophonist – and one that's way different than the usual instrumental reading of the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim! The setting is less of a bossa-inspired one than a post-Coltrane mode – as Victor Assis Brasil blows alto sax, and a bit of soprano – on long, stretched out versions of Jobim compositions – often given a bit of modal energy, thanks to the group's strong piano and organ performances by Dom Salvador. The rest of the players are all great, too – Helio Delmiro on guitar, Edson Lobo on bass, and Edison Machado on drums – all players who grew up in the bossa jazz years of the 60s, but who here are set free to explore new territory by producer Roberto Quartin. The whole thing's wonderful – and titles include "Bonita", "Wave", "So Tinha De Ser Come Voce", and "Dindi". CD also features two bonus tracks – alternate takes of "Ao Amigo Quartin" and "Marilla". CD

One of Chico's strongest albums of the late 70s – a masterful set of sophisticated tunes, recorded with some great guest help from Milton Nascimento, Zizi Possi, and Elba Ramalho! The album's got a slightly melancholy feel overall – not completely somber, but a slightly world-weary sound that makes the album a bit different and more mature than some of Chico's earlier work – and which beautifully unlocks a new chapter in his tremendous talents. The style is great – perfect for Buarque's growing international fame at the time, but not in a way that's ever too commercial. Titles include "Calice", "Feijoada Completa", "Tanto Mar", "Apesar De Voce", "Pequena Serenata Diurna", and "Ate O Fim". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the strangest albums in the career of Chico Buarque – and one of the best-remembered too! Os Saltimbancos is a children's play adapted by Buarque from original text by Sergio Bardotti – set to music by Luiz Enriquez Bacalov, and recorded in both Rome and Rio! Most of the album is spoken, with narration by Magro from MPB-4 – and the story is about some unhappy animals that are on their way to the big city to become musicians! The donkey (played by Magro) gets tired of doing hard labor and meets a dog (played by Ruy, another of the MPB-4 guys), a cat (played hilariously by Nara Leao), and a hen (Miucha, the sister of Chico Buarque). The music is pretty strange, and some of the tracks have a sound that's actually kind of avant-poetry, with lots of strange sounds, shouts, and whispers – in a manner that's almost as experimental as it is whimsical. Titles include "Minha Cancao", "Bicharia", "O Jumento", "Todos Juntos", and "A Batalha". LP, Vinyl record album

Vinicius Cantuaria sounds as wonderful here as ever – lean, sharp, and with his trademark style of mixing all the charm of older Brazilian music with more contemporary presentation – not in a way that's commercial or overdone, but just with this sensibility that really keeps all the urgency of the best MPB work firmly in place! The vocals are great, with a warmth that only seems to get better with age – and the group is a small one, with mostly just bass and drums next to Cantuaria's guitar – plus some occasional percussion. Yet the production also has a way of widening out these core elements nicely – this wash of sound that echoes some of the great Brazilian production modes of the past. Titles include "Berlin", "Uirapuru", "Rio Negro", "E Preciso Perdoar", "Verde Mata", "Humanos", and "Nossa Estrada". CD

Gal Costa pays tribute to one of the greatest Brazilian songwriters of an earlier age – the great Ary Barroso, one of the first to also get his songs translated into other global languages too! The language here is all Portuguese, though – but nicely updated by Gal in that range of styles she was using at the end of the 70s – a bit of jazz at times, and with that evolved level of MPB arrangement that was helping song artists find their way forward – done on this set by arrangers Roberto Menescal and Perna Froes. Caetano Veloso joins Gal on a duet of "No Tabuleiro Da Bahiana", and other tracks include "E Luxo So", "Folha Morta", "Camisa Amarela", "Aquarela Do Brasil", and "Novo Amor" – plus Gal's classic reading of "Aquarela Do Brasil". LP, Vinyl record album

An organ bossa classic from the legendary Eumir Deodato – one of his strongest albums from his early years in Brazil! There's a very jazzy feel to the set all the way through – thanks to a tightly arranged group that not only features the organ and percussion you might expect from such a date, but which also features some great horn work as well! Trombone, tenor, and baritone sax all get in some nice licks – and Deodato's organ cooks wonderfully throughout, often with a quick-stepping bossa jazz sound that really keeps things lively. Titles include "O Sol Nascera", "Samba Do Dom Natural", "Terra De Ninguem", "E Bom Parar", and "Ataque". CD

A really great entry in this excellent series – one that not only features lots of great Fender Rhodes from Brazilian jazz legend Joao Donato, but also vocals from Loren Oden on almost every track – which makes the whole thing feel like a fantastic hybrid of Joao's genius with a righteous approach to spacey soul! Oden sounds maybe even better here than ever before – singing jazzily, and drifting in and out of the instrumentation – which often has a more dynamic lead in the mix, with lots of work on a variety of instruments from Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad – upbeat, but just a few shades short of funk, which works perfectly for the way that Donato slides his Rhodes in and out of the tunes. Titles include "Forever More", "Sua Beleza E Beleza", "Desejo De Amor", "Aquarius", "Nao Negue Seu Coracao", "Liaisons", and "Adrian Ali & Gregory". (Deep Funk, Brazil) CD