Amazing early work from Azymuth – rare demo recordings done at the home studio of keyboardist Jose Roberto Bertrami, in the short space before the group issued their legendary debut! The tracks here are as much jazz funk as they are the later modes that Azymuth would put forth – killer instrumentals that are really driven by great keyboard lines from Bertrami, who'd already been making music in other formats for years – and who works here on Fender Rhodes, Arp, Clavinet, Hammond, and a range of other keyboards too! The drums are fantastic, too – handled by a young Ivan Conti, who gets help on percussion from an early fourth member of the group, Ariovaldo Contesini – and as you might guess, the incredible basslines of Ivan Mamao Conti really help the whole thing groove. All material is very well-recorded – these aren't rough or unfinished tracks at all – and the whole thing should just be thought of as a first chapter for the group, right before they started putting out their famous records. Titles include "Prefacio", "Castelo", "Melo Do Cuica", "Xingo", "Laranjeiras", "Eqiupe 68", "Unknown Song For Mario Telles", "Manha", "Duro De Roer", "Quem Tem Medo", "Juntos Mais Uma Vez", and "Bateria Do Mamao". CD

Amazing early work from Azymuth – rare demo recordings done at the home studio of keyboardist Jose Roberto Bertrami, in the short space before the group issued their legendary debut! The tracks here are as much jazz funk as they are the later modes that Azymuth would put forth – killer instrumentals that are really driven by great keyboard lines from Bertrami, who'd already been making music in other formats for years – and who works here on Fender Rhodes, Arp, Clavinet, Hammond, and a range of other keyboards too! The drums are fantastic, too – handled by a young Ivan Conti, who gets help on percussion from an early fourth member of the group, Ariovaldo Contesini – and as you might guess, the incredible basslines of Ivan Mamao Conti really help the whole thing groove. All material is very well-recorded – these aren't rough or unfinished tracks at all – and the whole thing should just be thought of as a first chapter for the group, right before they started putting out their famous records. Titles on this first volume include "Prefacio", "Castelo", "Melo Do Cuica", "Xingo", "Laranjeiras", "Eqiupe 68", and "Unknown Song For Mario Telles". LP, Vinyl record album

Amazing early work from Azymuth – rare demo recordings done at the home studio of keyboardist Jose Roberto Bertrami, in the short space before the group issued their legendary debut! The tracks here are as much jazz funk as they are the later modes that Azymuth would put forth – killer instrumentals that are really driven by great keyboard lines from Bertrami, who'd already been making music in other formats for years – and who works here on Fender Rhodes, Arp, Clavinet, Hammond, and a range of other keyboards too! The drums are fantastic, too – handled by a young Ivan Conti, who gets help on percussion from an early fourth member of the group, Ariovaldo Contesini – and as you might guess, the incredible basslines of Ivan Mamao Conti really help the whole thing groove. All material is very well-recorded – these aren't rough or unfinished tracks at all – and the whole thing should just be thought of as a first chapter for the group, right before they started putting out their famous records. Titles on this second volume include "Manha", "Duro De Roer", "Quem Tem Medo", "Juntos Mais Uma Vez", and "Bateria Do Mamao". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Azymuth's best-remembered albums from their American years on Milestone – a really killer classic that beautifully blends Brazilian and American styles of fusion! There's a simple, elegant feel to these tunes that takes off nicely from the group's previous album for Atlantic in Brazil – a pushing forward of the soulful sides of their style, but with just the right blend of quirkier elements as well – one that still keeps the edge of the early years, yet helps the group reach out with a wonderfully warm sound! Most tracks are quite spare, and without any too-smooth polishing in production – and titles include the classic "Jazz Carnival", a funky fusion classic if there ever was one – plus "Light As A Feather", "Avenida Das Manguerias", "This Exists", "Partido Alto", "Dona Olimpia", "Amazonia", and "Young Embrace". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Azymuth's best-remembered albums from their American years on Milestone – a really killer classic that beautifully blends Brazilian and American styles of fusion! There's a simple, elegant feel to these tunes that takes off nicely from the group's previous album for Atlantic in Brazil – a pushing forward of the soulful sides of their style, but with just the right blend of quirkier elements as well – one that still keeps the edge of the early years, yet helps the group reach out with a wonderfully warm sound! Most tracks are quite spare, and without any too-smooth polishing in production – and titles include the classic "Jazz Carnival", a funky fusion classic if there ever was one – plus "Light As A Feather", "Avenida Das Manguerias", "This Exists", "Partido Alto", "Dona Olimpia", "Amazonia", and "Young Embrace". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Azymuth's best-remembered albums from their American years on Milestone – a really killer classic that beautifully blends Brazilian and American styles of fusion! There's a simple, elegant feel to these tunes that takes off nicely from the group's previous album for Atlantic in Brazil – a pushing forward of the soulful sides of their style, but with just the right blend of quirkier elements as well – one that still keeps the edge of the early years, yet helps the group reach out with a wonderfully warm sound! Most tracks are quite spare, and without any too-smooth polishing in production – and titles include the classic "Jazz Carnival", a funky fusion classic if there ever was one – plus "Light As A Feather", "Avenida Das Manguerias", "This Exists", "Partido Alto", "Dona Olimpia", "Amazonia", and "Young Embrace". CD also features the bonus track "Montreux"! CD

One of Azymuth's best-remembered albums from their American years on Milestone – a really killer classic that beautifully blends Brazilian and American styles of fusion! There's a simple, elegant feel to these tunes that takes off nicely from the group's previous album for Atlantic in Brazil – a pushing forward of the soulful sides of their style, but with just the right blend of quirkier elements as well – one that still keeps the edge of the early years, yet helps the group reach out with a wonderfully warm sound! Most tracks are quite spare, and without any too-smooth polishing in production – and titles include the classic "Jazz Carnival", a funky fusion classic if there ever was one – plus "Light As A Feather", "Avenida Das Manguerias", "This Exists", "Partido Alto", "Dona Olimpia", "Amazonia", and "Young Embrace". CD also features four bonus tracks – "Jazz Carnival (full original mix)", "Avenida Das Manguerias (SS translation by Theo Parrish)", "Jazz Carnival (Yambee rework by Ashley Beedle & Yam Who)", and "Codsall Juniors" by Mark E. CD

A bossa nova dream come true – the early compositions of Marcos Valle, played by a young Deodato! This great set collects tunes from Deodato's early albums in Brazil – wonderful bossa nova instrumentals, all written by Marcos Valle, and performed here in a mix of groovy 60s styles. The sound is incredible – and very different than Deodato's funkier 70s work – more uptempo bossa at most points, and at few other times, dreamy and floating, with that impeccable style of arrangements that Deodato virtually pioneered in the 60s! Titles include "Crickets Sing For Anamaria", "Summer Samba", "Love For Nothing", "Chup Chup I Got Away", "Even More Beautiful", "Flap", "Out Of Time", "The White Puma", and "Maria's Dream". Album also includes a few alternate versions of tracks, done in different mixes. CD

A never-issued album by the great Hermeto Pascoal – recorded in the space between his 70s classics Slaves Mass and A Musica Livre – and every bit as amazing as those classics! The music here is fluid, open, and a fantastic mix of jazz and all of Hermeto's new ideas about musical structure – performed at a level that's highly organic, and with that completely individual vision that Pasocal brought to his sound from the start! This isn't typical Brazilian fusion of the time, but nor is it anything like the tighter sounds that Airto and Flora Purim were recording up in the US – instead, a musical mode that's completely in its own space, and which needs only one listen to convince you of the master's genius. The group here is overflowing with young talent – Lelo Nazario on keyboards, Nivaldo Ornelas and Mauro Senise on saxes and flute, Toninho Horta on guitar, Zeca Assumpcao on bass, and Ze Eduardo Nazario on drums – all important musical visionaries on their own, working together here to hit an even new level of creativity. Aleuda Chaves sings wordlessly on a bit of the record – and the whole thing has that blend of soaring sound and lyricism that marks Pascoal at his best. Titles include "Danca Do Paje", "Natal", "Casinha Pequinina", and "Mavumvavumpefoco". LP, Vinyl record album

A tremendous debut from Tunico – a record that seems certain to begin an amazing legacy in Brazilian music – at a level that has this young musician easily rivaling some of our favorites from the past! The set's got this way of mixing earthy roots with very modern arrangements – all set to warmly jazzy instrumentation, at a level that recalls some of our favorite early 70s experiments by artists like Edu Lobo, Hermeto Pascoal, or Airto – especially the latter two right after they'd left the group Quarteto Novo! Tunico himself plays guitar, and both alto and soprano sax – and the tunes have this way of soaring and gliding wonderfully – rhythms that are very organic, but inflected with all sorts of other unusual phrasing on instruments by the leader and other members of the group – more guitar, plus keyboards, flute, bass, and plenty of percussion. The whole thing's extremely beautiful, with a quality that's hard to put into words – and titles include "Decolagem", "Sambola", "Solar Das Hortencias", "Saudade Do Sucupira", "Galope", and "O Que Vira". CD

A tremendous debut from Tunico – a record that seems certain to begin an amazing legacy in Brazilian music – at a level that has this young musician easily rivaling some of our favorites from the past! The set's got this way of mixing earthy roots with very modern arrangements – all set to warmly jazzy instrumentation, at a level that recalls some of our favorite early 70s experiments by artists like Edu Lobo, Hermeto Pascoal, or Airto – especially the latter two right after they'd left the group Quarteto Novo! Tunico himself plays guitar, and both alto and soprano sax – and the tunes have this way of soaring and gliding wonderfully – rhythms that are very organic, but inflected with all sorts of other unusual phrasing on instruments by the leader and other members of the group – more guitar, plus keyboards, flute, bass, and plenty of percussion. The whole thing's extremely beautiful, with a quality that's hard to put into words – and titles include "Decolagem", "Sambola", "Solar Das Hortencias", "Saudade Do Sucupira", "Galope", and "O Que Vira". LP, Vinyl record album

A groundbreaking moment in Brazilian pop culture! The 3rd International Festival of Song in Rio was fraught with controversy – Brazilian music was at a crossroads, and the new experiments of some of the younger groups didn't really sit well with the more conservative audiences in the country (or the newly repressive government.) This 3rd volume features artists who recorded for Odeon – and includes a rare version of "Dia De Vitoria" sung by Marcos Valle with Golden Boys, and arrangements from Eumir Deodato – plus the tracks "Dois Dias" by Dori Caymmi, "Meu Sonho Antigo" and "Negroide" by Taiguara, "Tempo De Partir" by Clara Nunes, "Pra Nao Dizer Que Nao Falei Das Flores" by Vocalistas Modernos, "Mare Morta" by Mary Lauria, "Plenilunio" by Luiza, and "Sonho" by Maria. LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful bossa nova from 60s Japan – groundbreaking work from the young Sadao Watanabe! Like one of his obvious influences, Stan Getz, Watanabe had a great role in bringing the bossa nova out of Brazil – taking a music that had already been introduced to Japan a few years before, and giving it even wider exposure with his wonderfully soulful, jazz-based approach. And although there were earlier Japanese bossa albums, this one stands out as one of the true classics – the Getz/Gilberto set of 60s Japan, although without the vocals of that Verve date. Sadao plays both flute and alto sax, and backing is from a small combo that mixes in Brazilian-styled guitar and percussion next to the bass and drums. Watanabe's reeds have a raspy, off-kilter quality that's almost more human than most Brazilian jazz efforts of the time – and titles include versions of "Song Of The Jet", "Felicidade", "Reza", and "Morning Of The Carnival" – plus some nice originals like "America" and "Cupid's Song". (Jazz, Brazil) CD

A fantastic setting for the sublime vocals of Marcos Valle – the Brazilian singer who first rose up during the bossa years, soon expanded into mindblowing styles of his own – and has then had a few great revivals over the years! Yet this record may well give Marcos the fresh spin he really needed – while also respecting the soulful, jazzy currents of his early 70s work – set up with the kind of perfect arrangements and production that Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad have brought to this Jazz Is Dead series – but which comes out sounding completely different here, thanks to the qualities of Valle's vocals – which maybe sound more rhythmic and jazzy than we've heard in years. Incredible throughout – with titles that include "A Gente Volta Amanha", "Our Train", "Gotta Love Again", "Oi", "Isso E Que Eu Sei", "Quiera Bem", and "Nao Saia Da Praca". (Deep Funk, Brazil) CD

The evolution of Far Out's excellent Brazilian Love Affair series – featuring standouts from earlier volumes as well as new and exclusive tracks! Brazilian Love Affair Revisited celebrates the series to date as well as it charts the evolving sounds of Brazil and its London interpreters – and shows where the sound is going via newer material and younger talents. A great set with both classic and contemporary legends such as Ed Motta, Marcos Valle, Joyce, Azymuth and others, respectful remixes and interpretations by Osunlade, Mark Pritchard and Kirk Degiorgio, newer tracks from more recent Far Out arrivals such as Raf Vilar and Clara Moreno. 15 tracks in all: "Os Escravos Do Jo (Precussion Edit)" and more by Friends From Rio 2, "Ponteio" by Da Lata, "Nova Bossa Nova" by Marcos Valle, "Paz" by Troubleman feat Nina Miranda, "Todos Os Santos" by Joyce, "Preguiciman" by Mamond, "Bossa Me" by Raf Vilar, "Without Words" by 4 Hero Presents Nature's Plan feat Ed Motta, "Sem Pressa (Remix By Danny Wheeler)" by Alex Malheiros And Banda Utopia feat Sabrina Malheiros and more. CD