Apollo Nove "Res Inexplicada Volans" (Crammed Disc, 2006)
Richly layered Brazilian pop-electronica, crafted by producer/multi-instrumentalist Apollo Nove, one of Sao Paulo's postmillennial pop pioneers... Fans of the late mixmaster Suba, Marcelo D2 or Fernanda Porto will find a kindred spirit here. Some of the tracks are a bit facile (particularly the English-language opener, "Mr. Right Now," which is embarassingly dopey...) but other tracks are quite nice, including a pair of tunes featuring vocals by samba-soulster Seu Jorge... Throughout, the album has lovely sonic shading and rich acoustic textures -- the feel of the sound is lovely, even if the soul-electronic format might not be to everyone's taste. Anyway, if you're looking for new frontiers in Brazilian music, this is certainly an album to check out.
Jorge Aragao "A Seu Favor" (RGE, 1990)
Suuuuuuuuper-cheesy soft-pop sambas, with gooey, gelatenous synthesizers and an unusually cloying vocal style on Aragao's part. There are a couple of songs that show some sign of life, but really, this one you can skip.
Jorge Aragao "Um Jorge" (RGE, 1993)
A sweet, simple set of beautiful, old-school acoustic pagode samba, with Aragao, a chorus, some fine Afro-Brasilian drumming and lots of pretty-sounding guitars and cavaquinho. Nice stuff -- a mellow, melodic record that never dips into the trite or goopy pop production that plagues so many similar albums. Recommended!
Jorge Aragao "Acena" (RGE, 1994)
This is pretty cheesy, but listenable. I'd rather he hadn't used all the glossy production and synths, but this disc still has some of its samba roots intact, and if you don't really pay attention to it, it makes fine background music. Not his best work, though.
Jorge Aragao "Bar Da Esquina" (Som Livre, 2000)
This disc opens with a simply dreadful performance, dominated by high, tinny, liqueous electric keyboard progressions -- your eyes roll back and you think, "ye gods, why are Brazilians so tacky sometimes?" Then, suddenly, the album slips quietly into the title track, a sweet, subtle acoustic samba that's saturated through with Aragao's delicate, lulling vocals. Beautiful. Sadly, though, the album keeps wobbling into more saccharine, sappy terrain, and while the acoustic-based numbers are a delight, the more cloying, overly ornate pop tunes are repellant. A mixed bag, but at its core, a very lovely album.
Jorge Aragao "Ao Vivo 2" (Indie/Universal, 2000)
A live album by this upbeat acoustic sambista. Nice stuff, very similar to Martinho Da Vila, although I have to admit the rapturous audience-participation singalongs kind of get in the way of just enjoying the tunes. I've had several readers write to recommend this fellow, so I imagine that if you can check out his studio albums, they may be more rewarding. One really cool detail: the lyric sheet also includes chord tabs for all the songs, so if you want to learn how to play this style of music, this could be a great place to start.
Jorge Aragao "Todas" (Indie/Universal, 2002)
A poppy, and not at all unpleasant, soft-samba album, with lullingly sweet cavaquinho work and smooth vocals. Nice selection of tunes, too, many of which are highly recognizable... most of which were written by Aragao himself! A couple of songs, getting deep into the album, have overly-popped out arrangements, but for the most part this is pretty straightforward and lovely to listen to, in much the same way as Jair Rodrigues' mellowest work from the 1970s. As on his other albums, Aragao includes full lyrics and guitar tabs for all the songs. Recommended!
Ara Ketu "Bom Demais" (Columbia, 1994)
Pretty harmless -- and pretty uninspiring -- softcore pop/axe, with muted Afro-Brazilian percussion underneath. Not unlike later efforts by Olodum and Timbalada, but even wimpier. I think these guys were pretty big at the time, but I don't think they really hold up.
Guilherme Arantes "16 Sucessos" (Sony, 1997)
A best-of of this early rock-MPB composer. The liner notes don't say when these tracks were recorded, but from the production style, it was clearly in the early-to-mid '80s. Mostly pretty tacky, wimpy-sounding synth pop, of the Michael Jackson/A-Ha/Wham variety. I suspect that Arantes has some earlier work that's better, but this disc in particular lacks punch.
Guilherme Arantes "Serie Bis" (EMI, 2000)
Yeesh... maybe not. This 2-CD set is packed with ultra-tacky material from the ealry 1990s, stuff that evokes memories of Bread, Paul Davis, Supertramp and other, even less vigorous soft-pop artists. Placing this in a Brazilian pop context, I suppose you could say Arantes picks up where Lo Borges and Beto Guedes left off; in theory you could place some of this in the "prog" spectrum, but that's a pretty charitable interpretation. Really, there's not much on here that I'd ever need to hear again. Sappy and strained... and eminently avoidable.
Eduardo Araujo "O Bom" (Odeon, 1967)
Although his later work (as described below) places Araujo among some of the most creative Brazilian pop experimentalists of the late 1960s, this rock'n'roll debut did little to lift him above the hordes of mid-'60s jovem guarda teenybop-rockers. Produced by JG veteran Tony Campello (sort of the Frankie Avalon of jovem guarda...) this disc has an energetic edge, but it doesn't quite quite have the perky, dorky charm of the genre's best recordings -- it's almost a punky, hard-edged rock record, but falls just short of being garage-y or cool... Worth checking out, but I was disappointed, coming to this album after being wowed by A Onda E Boogaloo, a chunky, powerful funk-fest that came out a couple of years later.
Eduardo Araujo "O Bom, v.2" (Odeon, 1967)
Eduardo Araujo "A Onda E Boogaloo" (Odeon, 1969)
Wow... this is pretty cool. Singer Eduardo Araujo strikes me as an artist who was kind of constantly in search of a "new sound" to latch onto. He was one of the early jovem guarda '60s teenie-bopper rockers, and got a little wiggier in the '70s... This 1969 pop-soul album is a transitional work, but one that shows he could have done quite well pursuing a career in Brazilian soul music... He had a much stronger sense of American-style phrasing and a stronger band than many of the self-styled "Black Rio" artists such as Cassiano and Hylton who took up the mantle in the 1970s. His secret weapon was Brazilian funk pioneer Tim Maia, who was about to bust out on his own as a solo artist on the Philips label. Maia wrote punchy new arrangements for the numerous cover tunes on here, which range from Smokey Robinson's "Same Old Song" to Arthur Conley's "Funky Street," and for whatever reason this album avoids most of the clumsiness or self-consciousness that many similar imitations of American pop frequently suffer from. Together, Araujo and Maia really "got" the magical mix of rock and soul sensibility that late '60s soul singers such as Sam & Dave or Wilson Pickett created up North. This is an unusually strong album for the style... definitely recommended!
Eduardo Araujo "Eduardo Araujo" (Odeon, 1971)
Eduardo Araujo "Eduardo Araujo" (RCA, 1972)
Eduardo Araujo "Eduardo Araujo" (RCA, 1973)
Eduardo Araujo "Pelos Caminhos Do Rock" (RCA-Brasil, 1975)
An odd, offkilter mix of soul music, Santana-esque salsa-tinged hard rock and jittery stadium rock ala Rita Lee. It's easy to piece out the influence of Brazilian soulsters such as Tim Maia... Araujo even gets all worked up and shouts his way through several songs. Not the most blistering stuff ever, but interesting in the context of Brazilian rock and soul at the time... (A recent CD reissue, perversely, couples this with an incredibly wimpy pop album by Os Incriveis... I scanned the credits and couldn't see any connection, so go figure.)
Eduardo Araujo "Sou Filho Desde Chao" (Beverly, 1976)
Eduardo Araujo "Serie Bis: Jovem Guarda" (EMI, 2000)
A 2-CD retrospective covering Araujo's early JG work...
Severino Araujo "...E Sua Orquestra Tabajara: Warner 25 Anos" (Warner-Brasil, 2001)
Bandleader/composer/arranger Severino Araujo started his career in the 1930s, playing in regional bands and composing choro music... By the 1940s he fell under the sway of American big band music, and became a pioneer of the Brazilian jazz hybrid known as gafieira, bringing bright, punchy swing arrangements to the samba-cancao scene, and later, into the early bossa nova sound. This is a great set of rockin' instrumentals, including several original Araujo compositions and radical reinterpretations of classics by Ary Barroso, Dorival Caymmi and Tom Jobim... The liner notes place these recordings as from 1969-84, but I think most tracks are actually from the band's late 1950s/early '60s tenure on the Continental label, which was later acquired by Warner. Regardless, it's really fun stuff! Highly recommended.
Argemiro Patrocinio -- see letter "P"
Armandinho & Raphael Rabello "Em Concerto" (1992)
Armandinho "Brasileiro" (Movieplay, 1999)
Armandinho & Epoca De Ouro "O Melhor De Chorinho - Ao Vivo" (CID, 1999)
Armandinho "Retocando E Choro - Ao Vivo" (Biscoito Fino, 2004)
Dense, dynamic live choro music centered on soloist Armandinho, formerly of the band A Cor Do Som, and of trio eletrico fame... This is all about the flashy fretwork; he doesn't give his listeners or the songs a chance to breathe -- it's all one dazzling virtuoso riff after another. From a strictly technical standpoint, this one's a jaw-dropper, although I'm sure some choro aficianados will lament the headlong rush past the melodic core of many of these tunes. Then again, the choro genre does seem overreliant on a classicist's point of view, so it's probably good to have someone shake things uponce in a while.
Armandinho "Armandinho" (Universal, 2004)
FYI - this is a different guy... A pop-reggae singer, not the cavaquinho whiz...
Armandinho "Ao Vivo" (Universal, 2007)
Again, this is the reggae dude.
Arranco "Samba De Cartola" (Dubas, 1993/2001)
It's a little strange to hear the driving, old-school sambas of escola legend Cartola refashioned into slower MPB ballads... Not that it hasn't been done before, or that Cartola's music didn't already have a romantic elegance to it, but it's the cumulative effect of hearing an entire album's worth of radical retoolings that makes a big impact. I imagine for some, more pop-oriented listeners, this disc way come as a welcome modernization or even as a revelation... For me, though, it's too slushy and stylized, and the vocal harmonies come just a bit too close to the sleek drabness of the Quarteto Em Cy... This has its moments, but on balance,it was a record that I could easily live without.
As Meninas "Xibom Bombom" (Universal/Polydor, 1999)
Perky, anthemic, frothy axe pop from this (sort of) all-female band... Yeah, there are also a bunch of guys playing along in the studio, but as well as sing and look cute, the gals play guitar, bass, sax and surdo, so they're pretty legit. Spice Girl-y carnaval music, following in the footsteps of Margareth Menezes and Daniella Mercury... not classic, immortal art, but cute and fun. The title track is irresistible.
As Meninas "As Meninas" (Universal/Polydor, 2000)
More irrepressibly perky samba-pop from this cutesy gal band. Although this album is packed with plenty of shameless commercial affectations and fluffy, by-the-numbers studio riffs, it's still pretty fun. It also seems slightly more rootsy than Xibom Bombom, but really, either album would get the point across. Worth checking out.
Badi Assad "Solo" (Chesky, 1994)
Badi Assad "Chameleon" (Chesky, 1995)
Badi Assad "Rhythms" (Chesky, 1995)
Badi Assad "Echoes Of Brazil" (Chesky, 1997)
Badi Assad "Chameleon" (Polygram, 1998)
Badi Assad & Jeff Young "Nowhere" (2002)
Badi Assad "Danca Das Ondas" (Gha, 2004)
Badi Assad/John Abercrombie/Larry Coryell "Three Guitars" (Chesky, 2003)
Badi Assad/John Abercrombie/Larry Coryell "Three Guitars: The Paris Concert" (DVD) (Inakustic, 2005)
Badi Assad "Verde" (Universal, 2005)
Badi Assad "Wonderland" (Deutsche Grammophon, 2006)
Badi Assad "The Best Of Badi: The Badi Assad Collection" (Chesky, 2006)
Carlos Augusto "Serie Bis - Cantores Do Radio" (EMI-Brasil, 2000)
A syrupy singer specializing in the classic Latin American bolero, Carlos Augusto eschewed the hometown rhythm of the samba in favor of the lush romanticism of the ballroom sound. These Portuguese-language dance tunes seem to have been written mainly by Brazilians, although the style is definitely an import from el mundo espanol. Still, his vocals aren't overly corny, and the early '60s arrangements are also forceful but demure. A nice example of Brazil's participation in the wider Latin America culture.
Jorge Autuori Trio "Ovalo" (RCA, 1969)
Most "classic" Brazilian jazz from the 1960s leaves me pretty cold, but this is a noteworthy record. The "jazz trio" scene of the early part of the decade permitted great mediocrity and endlessly clattersome performances, all the more remarkable since many of these musicians were also key players in the breathtaking subtlety of the bossa nova sound. Anyway, this is drummer Jorge Autouri's third album and his first for the RCA label, and on it he covers some of the coolest, slickest new music to be found, including songs by Jorge Ben, Roberto Carlos, Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, as well as medleys of classic samba cancao songs from decades gone by. It's not surprising that he also performs a string of songs written by Martinho Da Vila, since Da Vila's longtime producer, samba-jazz swinger Rildo Hora plays the guitar on this album. Now, to be honest, like most of the Brazilian jazz of the era, I don't think this album is really all that great -- the playing still seems rushed and heavy-handed -- but it's certainly a notch or two above many similar albums. Autuori invests more emotion and nuance into the style than many of his contemporaries, and occasionally hits a moment of grace... The one standout track turns out to be the album's only original composition, a sweet tune called "Canto Azul," which was cowritten with bassist Edson Bastos... It's on this brief, incandescent number that pianist Edson Frederico finally slows down and plays expressively, and the haunting notes that close the album out make you turn your head and wonder: why didn't they play like that on the rest of the record??
Luiz Ayrao "Os Grandes Sucessos" (EMI, 1979)
Toned-down pagode-style '70s samba... Ayrao uses the same stylistic trappings as the genre's great stars (Clara Nunes, et al.) -- there are the same anthemic choruses, the same perky instruments -- and yet, there's little of the same spark and fire. It's kind of analagous to when Linda Ronstadt "went punk" in the late '70s by singing Elvis Costello songs; the comparison is fairly apt: Ayrao started out in the music industry as a songwriter for the prefab, teenybopper jovem guarda rock scene, then he retired from music for several years, and came back in 1974 as part of the rootsier pagode movement. Still, he sounds like an outsider crashing the party; I'm sure he was reasonably successful, but these aren't very exciting recordings. You're much better off listening to Nunes, Alcione and the other real stars of the style, the folks who made it sound magical.
Anastacia Azevedo "Amanaiara" (Piranha, 2004)
An aggressive, kinetic mix of Northeastern music and various brands of rock, funk and reggae from a Cearan expatriate now living in Berlin... The forro aspects drop out of the picture after the first few tunes, and a thumping rock sensibility takes over... The prominence of a sharp-sounding snare drum undercuts comparisons to the funky manguebeat scene, and nudges this more towards a plain rock sound, with lots of filigreed keyboards and harmony vocals. I wouldn't exactly say this sounds cluttered, but it is a little more forceful and angular than I like my Brazilian pop, a feeling that is heightened by Azevedo's piercing vocal style. This didn't really wow me, but I could see its appeal for folks eager for a more modernized style; maybe if it were a little softer around the edges, I could get more into it.
Geraldo Azevedo - see artist discography
Waldyr Azevedo/Jacob Do Bandolim/Ademilde Fonseca "Ve Se Gostas" (Revivendo)
Prime choro tracks by three stars of the choro genre. These 1942-1955 recordings feature bandolim master Jacob Do Bandolim, cavaquinho whiz Waldyr Azevedo, and vocalist Ademilde Fonseca performing in separate recordings, and all in their prime. Fonseca's voice may be a little operatic at times, but every track on here is a delight... highly recommended!
Azimuth "Azimuth" (Som Livre, 1975)
Yeesh. This is downright embarassing to listen to... Softcore, disco-tinged, '70s prog-fusion with soporific LA-Muzak aspirations... I suppose there are still those who, with the proper recreational drugs in their systems, still giggle with delight as they curl up with this kind of sleazy listening piping in through their headphones... But as a grouchy clean & sober type, I simply find it tacky & dated. Authentic, to be sure, but tacky nonetheless.
Azymuth "Aguia Nao Coma Musca" (Warner, 1977)
Torturously bad Muzak-fusion... The first half of the album features one spacy, slow tune after another, each merely a flimsy prop for keyboardist/composer Roberto Bertrami to noodle around on one of those horrid, high-pitched electric '70s keyboards... The second half of the album picks up a bit of steam, with light touches of funk and latin-jazz, a bit of flashy drumming and whatnot... The album even closes with a fast, if unsubtle, samba percussion number, taped at some live show... But really, there's not much to get worked up about. I took this back to my local Record Hut as fast as my little feet could go. It's pretty tedious.
Azymuth "Partido Novo" (Far Out, 2002)
Their classic sound -- smooth, funky fusion, perhaps a little too slick for its own good -- replicated and updated for the electronica age. For the most part, though, this doesn't seem that innovative or techno-ed out, simply the same sort of smooth jazz stuff they did in the '70s. If you were a fan then, you probably won't find much to complain about on here. But if the whole LA Transfer/Tom Scott style never really rang your bell, then don't worry too much about tracking this disc down.
