Great live material from 1974, recorded in Bahia, and featuring Caetano, Gal, and Gilberto Gil – each performing tracks on their own! The quality's better than a lot of other Brazilian live albums from the early 70s, and the album's a strong one in Caetano's early 70s catalog – showing his keenly collaborative presence at the time, and offering up one of the few important documents of work with Tropicalia contemporaries Gal Costa and Gilberto Gil! Caetano sings "Felicidade", "De Noite Na Cama", and "O Conteudo"; Gal performs "Acontece" and "Quem Nasceu"; and Gil rounds out the set with "Terremoto", "O Relogio Quebrou", "O Sonho Acabou", and "Cantigo Do Sapo". LP, Vinyl record album

The soundtrack for the film version of Chico Buarque's famous opera Malandro – and quite possibly the best recording of the music we've heard! The style here really benefits from the tighter studio production of the film – and the tunes are put together with strong arrangements that have a bit more force than some of the live recordings of the music we've heard, but in a way that still also allows for plenty of up-close intimacy in the vocals. All performances here are great, and really bring a lot out of the tunes – and Gal Costa sings "O Ultimo Blues", Paulinho Da Viola sings "Aquela Mulher", Zizi Possi sings "Sentimental", Bebel Gilberto sings "Rio 42", Elba Ramhalo sings "Palavra De Mulher", Os Muchachos sing "Tango Do Covil", Ney Matogrosso sings "Las Muchachos De Copacabana", and Chico Buarque sings "A Volta Do Malandro". LP, Vinyl record album

Light and lively work from the great Gal Costa – a set that's light years away from her Tropicalia experiments of a decade before, but which is equally beautiful in its own sort of way! First off, Gal's vocals are amazing – more expressive and dynamic than in the early days – with a range of different emotions that comes off wonderfully, and without some of the heaviness of some of her contemporaries – such as Maria Bethania. The arrangements, while not entirely tropical, mix together jazz choro modes with more contemporary touches – providing a surprisingly strong, sparkling backdrop for the lyrics! The album features a nice remake of "India", plus the tracks "Forca Estranha", "Olha", "Meu Nome E Gal", "Balance", and "Samba Rasgado". LP, Vinyl record album

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

... LP, Vinyl record album

A warmly jazzy album from Gal Costa – much more so than you'd expect from her slightly creepy white face on the cover! There's a fair bit of keyboards in the instrumentation – usually stepping around with a relatively mellow feel, which lets Gal concentrate on ballads and gently soulful numbers – all put together by a variety of arrangers who include Lincoln Olivetti, Paulo Ramiro, Luizinho Avelar, and Cleberson Horst. The sound is light years from the Tropicalia generation, but Gal more than proves herself to be a good interpreter in any situation. Titles include "Nada Mais", "Ave Nossa", "Vaca Profana", "Tililingo", "Cabeca Feita", and "Chuva De Prata". LP, Vinyl record album

Gal's in the prime of her sexy diva style here – singing in a sweet warm style with smooth jazzy arrangements that bring out a whole new side of her career. Obviously, the album's not as groundbreaking as some of her early work – but the quality is very high, and Gal's voice is always wonderful, no matter what the setting. Arrangements are by Gilson Peranzzetta and Lincoln Olivetti – and titles include "Meu Bem, Meu Mal", "Canta Brasil", "Roda Baiana", "Festa Do Interior", "Massa Real", and "Estrela, Estrela". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful live set from 1971, featuring a very stripped down set of stuff. Gal comes in at first accompanying herself on guitar, then the band slowly joins in, but never really gets in the way of her voice. The sound is spare, and the production rough, and this one has a dark moody feel to it that you don't always get with her LPs. Tracks include "Falsa Baiana", "Coracao Vagabundo", "Como 2 e 2", and "Hotel Das Estrelas". LP, Vinyl record album

The classic recording of Chico Buarque's opera Malandro – done with the supervision of Chico himself, who also stars on vocals along with singers that include Gal Costa, Zizi Possi, MPB4, Nara Leao, Alcione, Moreira Da Silva, and Francis Hime. Hime handled the arrangements and directed the music – and titles include "O Malandro", "Viver De Amor", "Hino De Duran", "Terezinha", "O Meu Amor", "Pedaco De Mim", and "Opera". LP, Vinyl record album

An essential introduction to the work of this legendary group – an important American issue of some of their best material – all of which never came out in our market back in the day! If you don't know Os Mutantes, prepare to be blown away – as they were a key part of the Tropicalia movement, alongside bigger names Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, and Gilberto Gil – creating music that was years ahead of its time, but which has gone on to become legendary over the years! There's so many different elements going on here, it's impossible to pin down – avant and psychedelic modes, Brazilian styles and postmodern ones, all put together with sublime production that's also way ahead of the pack! This Luaka Bop presentation was put together by David Byrne – and it features a total of 14 cuts in all – including an English and Portuguese reading of the famous "Baby", plus the tunes "Ave Lucifer", "Desculpe, Babe", "Adeus Maria Fulo", "Panis Et Circensis", "Bat Macumba", "Dia 36", and "Fuga No II". LP, Vinyl record album

A rich new chapter in the career of Moreno Veloso – a set that steps off strongly from his work with the +2 trio, but in ways that are even more personal and poetic than before! The shift is a bit like that time when Caetano Veloso took all his previous experiments and found a more intimate style in his music during the 70s – although Moreno is always very much his own man here, and manages to work with a range of elements, yet still never lose a focus in his musical vision. Domenico and Kassin are still along for some tracks, but the record also brings in diverse production help from Daniel Jobim, Melvin Gibbs, and even Gal Costa – who are among the many partners working here with Moreno and core producer Pedro Sa to shape the rich sound of the record. Instrumentation is a warm mix of acoustic with electric undertones – and titles include "La E Ca", "Um Passo A Frente", "Coisa Boa", "Jacare Coruja", "Hoje", "Nao Acorde O Nenem", "De Tentar Voltar", and "Num Galho De Acaias". LP, Vinyl record album

A nice collection of Buarque's songs either sung by him or by others and they include "Pedro Pedreiro", "Roda-Viva", "Construcao" and "Partido Alto" performed by Caetano Veloso, "Folhetim" sung by Gal Costa, and "A Banda" by Nara Leao, plus many more! LP, Vinyl record album

An ambitious larger production from the team of Edu Lobo and Chico Buarque – the famous stage musical O Grande Circo Mistico, based on the poem by Jorge De Lima, and featuring a range of top-shelf performers that includes Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Milton Nascimento, Jane Duboc, Zizi Possi, Simone, and Tim Maia! The work has a serious style that's in keeping with some of Lobo's more contemplative work of the 70s – but also has some of the more dynamic horn arrangements that were also showing up in his work. And as you'd guess from the title, there's a bit of a "circus" feel in the air – but one that's musically playful, and never too kitschy. Titles include "Meu Namorado", "Sobre Todas As Coisas", "Na Carreira", "O Circo Mistico", "A Bela E A Fera", "A Historia De Lily Braun", and "Beatriz". LP, Vinyl record album

Not the same Maria Rita that rose to international fame in the past decade or so – but an earlier, much more obscure singer with a nicely rootsy vibe – one whose presence in the Brazilian music scene is maybe more welcome to our ears than her famous later namesake! The album came out at the end of the 80s, but has a sound that feels more like the experimental generation of MPB in the 70s – some moments that have the brashness of Gal Costa around her India album, other moments of gentleness that recall the sensitive soul of Joyce, and maybe a few slight touches of the deeper drama of Maria Bethania – and yet, like all of those artists, this Maria Rita is very much her own person – as can easily be heard by the lack of pop production or commercial efforts on this very unique album. Titles include "Cantico Brasileiro No 1", "Cancao Da Gaora", "Lamento Africano/Rictus", "A Cidade", "Melodia De Veludo", and "Trilhas". LP, Vinyl record album

Original pressing of this recording of music from the 3rd Festival of MPB in Sao Paulo in 1967. The LP was recorded in the TV Record studio in Sao Paulo – and it's got loads of great stuff, like "Roda Viva" by MPB4, "Bom Dia" and "Dada Maria" by Gal Costa, "Ponteio" by Edu Lovo and Marilia Medalha, "A Moreninha" by Gilberto Gil, and lots more cool stuff! A great one, and the kind of Brazilian compilation from the 60s that features stuff you probably can't get elsewhere! LP, Vinyl record album

The songs of Lupicinio – performed by Zizi Possi, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, Jamelao, Roberto Luna, Nora Ney, Ciro Monteiro, Francisco Alves, Linda Batista, and Lupicino Rodrigues himself! Comes with a booklet of images and photos. LP, Vinyl record album

With Gal Costa, MPB4, Chico Buarque, Dorival Caymmi, Joao Bosco, and more! LP, Vinyl record album

Includes Gal Costa, Caetano Veloso, Milton Nascimento, Toquinho, Chico Buarque, Alceu Valenca, and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent work by some of the greatest Brazilian singers and songwriters of the 70s! The material was recorded exclusively for this TV soundtrack in 1976 – and although the scope of the story stretches back to the early 20th century, the feel of most of the material is prime mid 70s MPB. Overall, this is one of the more introspective titles in this series of classic Som Livre soundtracks – as you might guess from the range of material and performers. Titles include "So Louco" by Gal Costa, "Latin Lover" by Joao Bosco, "O Casarao" by Dori Caymmi, "Coisas Da Vida" by Rita Lee, "Tangara" by Coral Som Livre, "A Dor A Mais" by Francis Hime, "Retrato" by Sueli Costa, and "Carolina" by Aquarius. LP, Vinyl record album

A whole host of groovy soul and jazz tracks – all served up in special Onur Engin edits! Features edits of "Spirit Of Love" by Eddie Palmieri, "Razzamatazz" by Quincy Jones, "Free" by Seawind, "Nightingale" by Dee Felice Trio, "Body Fusion" by Starvue, "Man With The Sad Face" by Stanley Turrentine, "Charley" by Don Costa, and "Night Images" by Gary McFarland. LP, Vinyl record album

One of Les Baxter's greatest records – and one of his rarest too, one of the few he cut for Reprise after leaving Capitol! The record is a continuation of Baxter's exotica sound of the late 50s – played with some great help that includes Larry Bunker on vibes and percussion, Clare Fischer on celeste and piano, and Leo Acosta on gourd! The sweetly dreamy sound of Fischer is an especially nice addition – and often creates a gentle flow to tunes that have a more driving approach overall – but it's Les' genius with the arrangements that make the album sparkle most of all, because even familiar tunes are transformed by his exotica magic! Titles include "Slave Ship", "Congale", "Via Veneto", "Night With Cleopatra", "Peking Tiger", and "Fiesta Brava". LP, Vinyl record album

Mr & Mrs Jazz – and their cool cousins too – given that the combo also features some sublime tenor sax from JR Monterose, in addition to vocals from Sue and piano from Ralph! The set's a much harder-edged date than you might guess from the cover – and Sharon's approach to arrangements is a bit more dynamic than later work with Tony Bennett – swinging in a cool Bethlehem way, but given a great punch from the instrumentation – which also includes vibes from Eddie Costa and guitar from Joe Puma! Sue Sharon's a pretty nice singer, and appears on about half the tracks – the others are instrumentals – and titles include "That Goldblatt Magic", "Mynah Lament", "Just You Just Me", "Nothing At All", "Hugette Waltz", "A Nightingale Can Sing The Blues", and "A Trout No Doubt". LP, Vinyl record album