Massively heavy sounds from A Bolha – a Brazilian group who were previously known as The Bubbles, and backed up Gal Costa during the Tropicalia years – but who work here in a fuzzy, bassy groove that's totally great – definitely an heir to the headier sounds of the UK scene at the start of the 70s! The guitars are definitely in full force here, but the basslines drive things along strongly too – echoing some of the Peruvian sounds of the time, but with a bit more Brazilian sophistication – and definitely a musical echo of lessons learned during Tropicalia, even though the set's a fully instrumental one. Organ also figures in the mix too – and titles include "Bye My Friend", "Razao De Existir", "Um Passo A Frente", "A Esfera", and "Neste Rock Forever". CD is beautifully done – with full notes in the great Lion tradition – and bonus tracks that include "Sem Nada" and "18.30 Parte 1". (Rock, Brazil) CD

One of the greatest Airto records ever – a really overlooked record cut for the mostly-Latin Montuno label in the 80s! The album's quite spare, and almost more in a Latin mode at times – given the harder percussion on the set, and the firey recording style given to the set by Montuno – but it also echoes some of the great spare styles that Airto used in his first American recordings, too – the sessions he cut for Cobblestone/Buddah right at the start of the 70s. Airto plays a range of percussion instruments, and Flora's on the set adding in some vocals – and the record also features great keyboards from Jorge Dalto, whose sound really ties thigns together nicely. Includes the classic "Samba De Flora", plus "Yahna Amina", "El Fiasco", "Dedos", "La Puerta", "Parana", and "Latin Woman". 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 wonderful album – timeless in sound and style, and a set that almost takes us back to the warmth of some of our favorite Brazilian records from the 70s! Bala Desejo have a way of mixing harmonies with lead vocals that's completely sublime – often set to light percussion, acoustic guitar, and other spare instrumental touches that glow as nicely as the vocals! If you've heard some of the 70s material from Quarteto Em Cy, you'll know part of the vibe here – but there's also maybe a more contemporary sense of songwriting too, which really keeps things fresh – on titles that include "Lua Comanche", "Nesse Sofa", "Chupeta", "Faixa Tecnica", "Chronofagia", "Muito So", "Dourado Dourado", and "Lambe Lambe". CD

A really wonderful album – timeless in sound and style, and a set that almost takes us back to the warmth of some of our favorite Brazilian records from the 70s! Bala Desejo have a way of mixing harmonies with lead vocals that's completely sublime – often set to light percussion, acoustic guitar, and other spare instrumental touches that glow as nicely as the vocals! If you've heard some of the 70s material from Quarteto Em Cy, you'll know part of the vibe here – but there's also maybe a more contemporary sense of songwriting too, which really keeps things fresh – on titles that include "Lua Comanche", "Nesse Sofa", "Chupeta", "Faixa Tecnica", "Chronofagia", "Muito So", "Dourado Dourado", and "Lambe Lambe". LP, Vinyl record album

Bruno Berle's titled this album in a way that's similar to his debut – but it's way more than just a "part 2", as the Brazilian singer has really grown a lot since that release! There's a rock-solid sound to the record that takes us back to some of our favorite MPB work of the past – not just the 70s, but also that late 90s/early 00s period when it seemed like all these new ideas were coming together in Brazilian music, with a way of pushing the best bits of the past forward into a restyled vision for the future! The instrumentation here mixes lots of acoustic touches on percussion and guitar with just the right use of electronics – delivered on a number of cuts by Batata Boy, who co-produced and arranged the album with Bruno. There's a few other singers along the way, too – and titles include a beautiful remake of Arthur Russell's "Love Comes Back", plus "Sonho", "Margem Do Ceu", "E So Voce Chegar", "Dizer Adeus", "New Hit", and "Te Amar Eterno". CD

Bruno Berle's titled this album in a way that's similar to his debut – but it's way more than just a "part 2", as the Brazilian singer has really grown a lot since that release! There's a rock-solid sound to the record that takes us back to some of our favorite MPB work of the past – not just the 70s, but also that late 90s/early 00s period when it seemed like all these new ideas were coming together in Brazilian music, with a way of pushing the best bits of the past forward into a restyled vision for the future! The instrumentation here mixes lots of acoustic touches on percussion and guitar with just the right use of electronics – delivered on a number of cuts by Batata Boy, who co-produced and arranged the album with Bruno. There's a few other singers along the way, too – and titles include a beautiful remake of Arthur Russell's "Love Comes Back", plus "Sonho", "Margem Do Ceu", "E So Voce Chegar", "Dizer Adeus", "New Hit", and "Te Amar Eterno". LP, Vinyl record album

Bruno Berle's titled this album in a way that's similar to his debut – but it's way more than just a "part 2", as the Brazilian singer has really grown a lot since that release! There's a rock-solid sound to the record that takes us back to some of our favorite MPB work of the past – not just the 70s, but also that late 90s/early 00s period when it seemed like all these new ideas were coming together in Brazilian music, with a way of pushing the best bits of the past forward into a restyled vision for the future! The instrumentation here mixes lots of acoustic touches on percussion and guitar with just the right use of electronics – delivered on a number of cuts by Batata Boy, who co-produced and arranged the album with Bruno. There's a few other singers along the way, too – and titles include a beautiful remake of Arthur Russell's "Love Comes Back", plus "Sonho", "Margem Do Ceu", "E So Voce Chegar", "Dizer Adeus", "New Hit", and "Te Amar Eterno". LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent set of lively samba tunes – played with lots of jazzy flourishes, and instrumentation that includes trombone, guitar, and accordion. Our lack of understanding of Portuguese makes the liner notes a bit difficult to decipher – but it appears that Sivuca's playing and singing on the record, as well as Wilma Valeria and the Trio Fluminense. Tracks have a quality that mixes rootsy samba rhythms with some of the tighter big band styles of the Odeon label – a great mix of sounds, if you ask us! Titles include "Passa Passa Moreninha", "Kalu", "Fogo Pago", "So Uma Louca Nao Ve", "Para Dancar", "Moreninha Ta", and "Maracangalha". LP, Vinyl record album

A lost session by Nana Caymmi – recorded in Buenos Aires in 1973, with a great style that makes the record one of her best from the 70s! The album's got that dark slow jazzy style that she often used during the time – with a mixture of electric piano and bass behind her very deep voice – and the clean lines of the backing let Nana's voice come to the forefront of the session, working the tracks in an intimate style that reminds us of Elis Regina's more laidback work from the late 70s. Instrumentation includes electric piano by Joao Donato, guitar by Helio Delmiro, and some occasional flute by Fernando Gelbard. Titles include "Atras Do Porta", "Dora", "Nunca Mais", "Ahie", "Saia Do Meu Caminho", and a great version of "Cala Boca Menino", with the same funky sound as Joao Donato's famous version! CD

One of the grooviest albums we've ever heard from Erlon Chaves – a Brazilian arranger who got his start in the bossa generation, later did some more traditional music – but here explodes with this great fusion of European and Brazilian soundtrack styles! The record's credited to the Orquesta St Moritz – most likely a studio group with a European name, for good pedigree – but there's a huge amount of sounds here that rival some of the best modes coming from the EMI/Odeon label at the start of the 70s – particularly the mix of samba and bossa elements with larger funky arrangements, then given a more sophisticated twist – as you'd find in the music of Marcos Valle! Most of these tunes are instrumental, and there's some really wonderful organ work on a number of the titles – on tracks that include "Procura Se Uma Virgem", "Grilo", "Uma Velha Bossa", "Ba Oba Oba", "Vamos Nos", "O Anjo E O Diabo", and "Tema De Amor". LP, Vinyl record album

Really mindblowing work from legendary drummer Ivan "Mamao" Conti – a key part of Azymuth through that group's many years – and still going strong here as a solo artist on his own! The album's almost a 21st Century realization of the sound that Azymuth was going for back in the day – cascading percussion with plenty of influences from Brazilian music and jazz, often given some electric elements along the way – but always in a style that's warmly organic, and right on the groove! Conti gets help from younger Azymuth and Incognito generations – as Alex Malherios plays bass on the record and Daniel Maunick handles keyboards, more percussion, and production – all at a level that never stomps on Ivan's vision at all – and which instead makes the whole thing as rewarding as any Azymuth session we've heard over the past few decades. Most tracks are instrumental, save for some airy wordless vocals – but Thiago Martins sings lead on "Que Legal", and other titles include "Aroeira", "Bacurau", "Poison Fruit", "Jemburi", "Ecos Da Mata", "Encontro", and "Tempestades". CD features bonus mixes – "Ilha Da Luz (Tenderlonius rmx)", "Encontro (Glenn Astro rmx)", "Que Legal (Reginald Omas Mamode IV rmx)", "Encontro (Max Graef rmx)", and "Poison Fruit (Dokta Venom's digital dub rmx)". 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

A gem of a record – one we wouldn't part with for anything! Joao Donato's best known as one of the founding fathers of bossa nova – better known for his 60s work over the years, than he was for 70s electric work like this. Fortunately, international groove hounds picked up on the record years back, and it's been firmly brought back into the limelight as the classic it truly is! The set's an incredible reworking of Donato's sound – the gentle jazzy phrasing of the bossa years turned towards mellow groovers that feature a heck of a lot of electric piano. The album's got a few classic funky tracks, and some even more wonderful tracks that feature Joao working sparely on Fender Rhodes – accompanying himself on raspy vocals on most of the cuts! The whole thing's great – and titles include "Nana Das Aquas", "A Ra", "Amazonas", "Mentiras", "Cala Boca Menino", "Cade Jodel", "Me Deixa", and "Ate Quem Sabe". CD

A very cool vocal group from the Brazilian scene of the 90s – a quintet who issued this album initially only on CD, but with a sound that's got a much more classic vibe than you'd expect from the date! The harmonies are great – and follow in a legacy that includes older groups like Trio Esperanca or Quarteto Em Cy – but the setting is a bit different, and borrows as much from Latin music at times as it does from Brazilian rhythms – often served up with some really bold, jazzy currents in the instrumentation that really send the whole thing over the top! Titles include "Pe No Chao", "Cristalina", "Horas", "Meu Lugar", "Rio Seco", "Ave No Ninho", "Sertao Mar", "Esse Amor", and "Pai Do Criacao". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic sounds from the Far Out Monster Disco Orchestra – a group with family ties to Azymuth and Incognito, and who work here in the best blend of Brazilian and soulful elements that might imply! The ensemble is a crowning achievement for the Far Out label – a summation of all the great work they've done from the London scene, including their reintroduction of key Brazilian musicians of the 70s – all soaring to the skies here, with a richly collaborative energy! The group features lots of keyboards from Jose Roberto Bertrami, guitars from Alex Malheiros, and keyboards and rhythms from Daniel Maunick – plus great contributions from many others, including some help from the legendary Arthur Verocai. Most tunes groove in a mighty nice way – not vintage disco, but a soaring, righteous 21st Century version of club – on tunes that include "Step Into My Life", "Flying High", "Black Sun", "The Two Of Us", "Walking Bass", "Give It To Me", and "Where Do We Go From Here". CD also features bonus instrumentals of most songs on the album! (New Grooves, Brazil) CD