brazilian

Naná Vasconcelos & The Bushdancers: Rain Dance (1989)

2019/04/02

Far be it from me to write anything definitive on the work/life of the late, great Brazilian percussionist Naná Vasconcelos, but let me take a stab to write about a sleeper favorite of mine. Naná Vasconcelos’ Rain Dance wasn’t released on any formative label like ECM, or released with any audacious artist like Milton Nascimento,…
Judith Ravitz Participagao: A Banda Do Zé Pretinho – Bolerio (1983)

2018/04/17

Perhaps Yehudit Ravit’s story can explain the appeal of Brazilian music to the Israeli citizenry. Not to go into deep into cultural history (because Brazil does play a role in it to its storied, political relationship with Israel), but it seems due to its location right on the Mediterranean and it’s quite lovely, simpatico weather,…
André Geraissati: DADGAD (1988)

2018/04/10

Well, this one’s a tough ‘un to describe. Meditative, elegiac, and at points quite melancholic, André Geraissati’s DADGAD is another instrumental, guitar album that uses it’s one voice to say so many things. In this case, it is André Geraissati’s wonderful fusion of Americana and Anglophilic roots music with Brazilian sambista rhythms and edgings of open-tuned “eastern” music…
Grupo Zambo: Bahia, Grupo Zambo (1976)

2018/02/13

A mix of white and black. A mix of religion and spirituality. A mix of cultures, class, and race. Brazilian Bahian musical group Grupo Zambo does its best to look beyond miscegenation, to really get to the root of Brazilian musical folklore and experimentation. Bahia, Grupo Zambo, quite rightfully, holds a mystical memory to anyone…
Jorge Degas & Marcelo Salazar: Muxima (1987)

2018/01/30

Tread lightly, oh you who hate slap bass. Jorge Degas and Marcelo Salazar’s positively radiant Muxima has only two roles pushing all songs along: drum and percussion. Apropos they would remix Matisse’s “The Dance” into their own Afro-centered interpretative design. Deep, deep, Brazilian jazz funk that frequently oversteps its boundaries to go into the realm of…
Nara Leao: Dez Anos Depois (1971)

2017/12/19

Sometime, in the winter of 1971, a young Nara Leao is being besieged by certain elements. Walking through streets and bridges with fellow Carioca photographer Nei Sroulevich, not far from her home, by the river, they are not disturbed by the cold or the snowfall. Enjoying a bit of freedom and space provided by nature, now, Nei realizes,…
Tuca: Dracula, I Love You (1974)

2017/10/31

Periodically, I like to dive into my old “A Track, A Day” blog archives for music I’ve written about before but I feel still hasn’t gotten its fair shake. What better time than Halloween to revisit Tuca’s (real name Valeniza Zagni da Silva) curious masterpiece: Dracula, I Love You? Curious because it’s unlike much released at…
Edson Natale: Nina Maika (1990)

2017/09/29

These are the kinds of albums that really live with you. Sao Paolo native, Edson Natale’s name may be the lead on the album cover, his visage may be the one seen folding in the background (with guitar in hand), but its those other small names around him that make Nina Maika such a beautiful…
Tom Jobim: Matita Perê (1973)

2017/09/20

Lightness, sweetness, and melancholia those are things that define Tom Jobim’s career. You don’t need me to regurgitate a whole Wikipedia page to stress his heralded place in Brazilian music history. Together with João Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim allowed for things like space, quietness, and off-beats to have a place in pop music. Everything we…
Almir Sater: Instrumental (1988)

2017/09/13

Something so simple as an album of 10-string viola caipira instrumentals shouldn’t sound so impressive, but leave it to Campo Grande native Almir Sater to make you rethink a whole lot of something. This release, Instrumental, was more than just a musical document of some brief musical sojourn, it was a massive peek into the…