Casa Das Maquinas "Casa Das Maquinas" (Som Livre, 1974)
The first album from a rock band that came out of the ashes of two groups, The Clevers and Os Incriveis. This is a prime example of mid-1970s Brazilian rock mimicking the trends up North, in the good old U. S. of A. This is an almost perplexingly diverse offering, kicking off with the KISS-ish heavy rock of "A Natureza," sliding next into a prog-psychedelic recitation tune worthy of tropicalista Tom Ze. The hard-rock side of their work gets lost for a few tunes as the band slides into a soft-rock sound, more in line with the AOR ("album oriented rock") that dominated the American charts at the time... Plenty of bands come to mind: Procol Harum, Three Dog Night, The Isley Brothers, maybe a dash of Cheap Trick or Styx. For a comparison in the Brazilian sphere, late-vintage Os Mutantes comes to mind, when the band had settled into its pop-prog mode. And, yeah, if you like those old Mutantes records, you'll want to check this out as well. It's a surprisingly strong offering, if a bit cheesy at times. Worth checking out!
Casa Das Maquinas "Lar De Maravilhas" (Som Livre, 1975)
Casa Das Maquinas "Casa De Rock" (Som Livre, 1976)
Reissued as part of Som Livre's "Perolas" series...
Casa Das Maquinas "Ao Vivo Em Santos" (1978-ish)
Apparently, there's also this pirate LP that captures the band live, in 1978. No info on the album's provenance, etc.
Cascabulho "Fome Da Dor Da Cabeca (Hunger Gives You A Headache)"
(Piranha, 1998)
An interesting mix of manguebeat and forro from this inventive group out of Recife. They stick to their Northeastern roots throughout, although the introduction of rock and rap elements is pretty smooth and effective. A little less aggressive and overblown than contemporaries such as Chico Science or Lenine, these guys have less punch, but sound more subtle. This album didn't blow my mind, but I liked it and think it's definitely worth checking out.
Cascatinha & Inhana "Volume 1: India" (Revivendo, 1996)
Lovely, gentle, delightfully antiquated vocal duets from one of the great sertanejo acts of the "radio singer" era. Francisco dos Santos (aka Cascatinha) and Ana Eufrosina da Silva Santos (Inhana) started singing as a duet in the early 1940s and steadily won over radio audiences in Sao Paulo. No mystery why: they sounded wonderful, particularly Inhana, who had one of the purest, prettiest female voices ever recorded, with beautiful, precise phrasing. They sang a variety of romantic and regional styles -- tangos, boleros, toadas, a samba here and there, something called a guarania and, most delightfully, a sugared-up version of the uptempo northeastern baiao. Everything sounds wonderful. A Brazilian fan recommended these records to me, and she was totally right -- I could listen to these discs for weeks on end. Nice sound quality, too! There's a sweet, dreamy feel to these songs, with gentle arrangements framing Inhana's crystal-clear vocals... The 1952 hit, "India" was covered decades later by MPB star Gal Costa, who made it the title track of one of her finest albums of the 1970s... Nice to find where her inspiration came from!
Cascatinha & Inhana "Volume 2: Meu Primeiro Amor" (Revivendo, 1996)
More great stuff. Beautiful. As with the first album, this spans the early 1950s to the early '60s, though a lot of it hearkens back to an earlier era. I love it. The title track, "Meu Primeiro Amor," was later revived by Nara Leao... Nice to hear the original, though!
Cascatinha & Inhana "Volume 3: A Saudade E Demais" (Revivendo, 1998)
Also quite good. Although most of the tracks span the same timeframe as the first two collections (1951-1962), this disc kicks off with a recording from 1971, "Flor Do Cafezal," which has a noticably modern ambience, but still fits in stylistically with the rest of their work. It's all very pretty
Cascatinha & Inhana "Volume 4: Despertar De Sertao" (Revivendo, 1998)
Cascatinha & Inhana "Volume 5: Flor Serrana" (Revivendo, 1998)
Cassiano "Colecao" (Universal/Dubas, 2000)
Thin, somewhat wobbly Brazilian soul ballads. Soft-soul pioneer Cassiano's made three albums, spread out over three different record companies, so it's a pretty neat trick how the Universal-distributed Dubas label was able to collect and reissue the material on a single CD, which draws liberally from all three records. Compiled by modern Braz-soulster Ed Motta, this best-of is probably a pretty good representation of Cassiano's strengths and weaknesses. I thought this was pretty cheesy, and with rather ricketty arrangements... I'm sure many people find Cassiano's fragile voice to be delicate and emotionally vulnerable, I simply thought it was thin and limited, and close enough to Lionel Richie for the hackles on my neck to bristle up. Historically important , but the material doesn't move me.
Cassiano "Imagem E Som" (RCA Victor, 1971)
Brazil's soul equivalent of Os Mutantes' mimickry of American and British psychedelic rock. Of the Cassiano stuff I've heard, this album seems to have the strongest material... The style echoes the Jackson Five's pop-soul bounciness, with a dash of Philly goopiness thrown in for good measure. Musically, the album falters around his weak vocals, although it's still pretty interesting... particularly in the solid, professional arrangements. Worth checking out.
Cassiano "Apresentamos Nosso Cassiano" (Odeon, 1973)
Cassiano "Cuban Soul - 18 Kilates" (Polydor, 1976)
Settling firmly into the lavish, over-the-top orchestral-pop sound of the Philly Soul scene, Cassiano's vocals are more restrained and more palatable on this album, which may be his finest effort overall. This includes "Hoje E Natal," the song chosen as the title track of a Brazilian soul collection curated by Arto Lindsay (see below). It's one of many songs co-written with Paulo Zdanowski, who co-wrote all the material on this album. I'm not personally into this super-sugary style -- whether it's sung in English or Portuguese -- but I could easily see how fans of classic soul might want to hear this Brazilian version of the old-school sound.
Mario Castro-Neves "... & Samba S.A." (RCA, 1967)
Pianist Mario Castro-Neves, brother of multi-instrumentalist Oscar Castro-Neves, worked prolifically as a session player and arranger during the 1950s/60s bossa-jazz boom, yet he recorded infrequently as a bandleader himself. This is his debut album for the RCA label, a vocals-oriented disc that starts out sounding a bit like early Sergio Mendes, but is soon dominated by the female vocal duo of Biba & Thais, who are basically a clunkier (yet paradoxically more entertaining) two-voice version of the vocal gymnastic style of the better-known Quarteto Em Cy. Fine in small doses, though you might find yourself driven to distraction should you attempt to listen to this disc from start to finish. Still, it's a nice slice of the old-school Brazilian jazz scene, and better than average for the times. Includes a handful of songs sung in English, as well as several of the requisite bossa standards.
Oscar Castro-Neves "Big Band Bossa Nova" (Audio Fidelity, 1962)
Nice album by one of the best jazz-oriented bandleaders of the early bossa era. Sure, maybe it's not as "big band" as it might have been, but this is still perky, fun material, and more engaging than most of the self-proclaimed jazz ensembles of the time... Worth checking out!
Oscar Castro-Neves "Oscar!" (Living Music, 1987)
A pretty soft-core, smooth jazz offering, co-produced by Paul Winter (who recruited Castro-Neves to play with him in the early '60s, when he first went down to Brazil...) Winter plays saxophone on a couple of tunes; in general the album is prety lightly arranged and intimate. It's waaaay too gooey for me, but fans who like super-mellow, muzak-y jazz will probably love this album.
Oscar Castro-Neves "Playful Heart" (Mack Avenue, 2003)
Several decades on down the line, and still going strong, this album features braz-jazz old-timer Castro-Neves along with the like of Toots Thielemans and Dave Grusin, in a light, breezy set, punctuated by Jobim songs, show tunes by Stephen Sondheim, a bit of bebop and Beatles, and a few original compositions. Again, this is too much on the soft side for me, but smooth-jazz aficianados and Castro-Neves fans will enjoy it.
Pericles Cavalcanti "Baiao Metafisico" (Trama, 1999)
An impressively diverse, warmly engaging set which starts out with a slightly modernized version of the classic 1930's samba cancao sound, and moves into light pop-funk reminiscent of Gilberto Gil's early '70s work, quiet acoustic numbers that recall Caetano Veloso's softer side, and a few glitzy jazz-tinged tracks that are closer to the contemporary dance scene. Cavalcanti has a very pleasant voice, and a nice way around a melody -- all but two of the songs on here are his original compositions; the other tracks include the aptly-named "Caleidoscopico," a Herbert Viana song, and a fine Portuguese-language cover of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," translated by Cavalcanti and Caetano. All in all, this is an album well worth checking out... Definitely recommended!
Nelson Cavaquinho "Nelson Cavaquinho" (RCA, 1972)
The second album by samba songwriter Nelson Cavaquinho, a member of the samba velha guarda, or old guard, who had been writing hit songs for decades before this record came out. Its nice, fairly stark, acoustic samba music, framing Cavaquinho's slightly croaky vocals. The small-scale vocal chorus, which is often a bit shrill and off-key, may wear thin, but on the whole this is classic, thoroughly engrossing material from one of those great Rio sambistas. Recommended!
Danilo Caymmi "Cheiro Verde" (Terra, 1977 / Whatmusic, 2002)
A genuine lost classic from the world of mid-1970s Brazilian "MPB" jazz-pop... Flautist Danilo Caymmi, son of samba composer Dorival Caymmi, worked prolifically as a studio musician in the heady world of Brazilian MPB, as well as in conjunction with his well-known siblings, Dori and Nana Caymmi. But there's little record of his work as a solo artist, which is one of the reasons that this reissue disc is such a treat. The main reason, though, is the high calibre of the music within -- this is one of the best records in the genre, on a par with the finest work of Joao Bosco, Ivan Lins and Milton Nascimento, a super-mellow yet substantive set that grows stronger each time you listen to it. However, the album remained obscure and out of print for decades, since it was originally released on the independent Terra label, a pet project of Caymmi's wife, singer/lyricist Ana Terra. She produced this album and cowrote several of the songs -- also featured on this project are songwriters Nelson Angelo and Ronaldo Bastos, as well as superstar guests Airto Moreira and Milton Nascimento, who perform on a few of the tunes. All in all, this is a remarkable disc... If you are a fan of sleek, sensuous Brazilian pop, then this is a must-have album.
Danilo Caymmi "Trilhas" (Ouver, 2001)
Danilo Caymmi "Eu Voce Nos Dois" (Ouver, 2002)
Danilo Caymmi & Manu Lafer "O Patriota" (Tratore, 2004)
Danilo Caymmi "Serie Retratos" (EMI, 2004)
A best-of collection, drawn from his work for EMI.
Dori Caymmi - Dorival's son. See artist discography
Dorival Caymmi - Father to Danilo, Dori and Nana Caymmi. See artist discography
Nana Caymmi - Dorival's daughter. See artist discography
Henrique Cazes "Waldir Azevedo, Pixinguinha, Hermeto & Cia" (Kuarup, 1988/1990)
A selection of tunes culled from two albums, Henrique Cazes and Tocando Waldir Azevedo, which feature plenty of flashy choro instrumentals. Other super-pickers and players such as Rafael Rabello, Paulo Sergio Santos and Paulo Moura pitch in... These are dazzling performances, but like many choro albums, the pacing is a bit monochromatic. Worth checking out, but your attention may wander.
Cazuza - see artist discography
