• Music

    Hermeto Pascoal – Hermeto

    February 11, 2023 - By 

    Our dear friends at Far Our Recordings deliver the first solo album of Brazilian jazz legend Hermeto Pascoal.  From the label’s Bandcamp site: “Far Out Recordings proudly presents Hermeto Pascoal’s remarkable self-titled debut album. Recorded in 1970 at A&R studios in New York, the album features certified North American titans including Ron Carter, Hubert Laws, Joe Farrel and Googie Coppola, and Brazilian stars Airto Moreira and Flora Purim (who also produced the album). While it was Hermeto’s first album released under his own name, he had spent the decade or so prior making a name for himself in Brazil and…

  • Music

    Pete Swinton – First Journey To Antarctica

    February 10, 2023 - By 

    I receive a double blessing for this release.  I have the privilege of pointing my readers to a wonderful boutique label out of Brazil called z0 who are producing quality experimental music, and I add to this the joy of introducing more music from Pete Swinton, whose work has really caught my attention (thanks, in part, to Jeff Gburek). There are two tracks on this album.  The first, Blizzard In Antarctica, clocks in at 15 minutes, and is as cold and noisy as you would expect such a natural phenomenon to be.  It’s noise in a sense, but sculpted and…

  • Music

    Los Malinches – Planeta Náhuatl

    November 25, 2022 - By 

    I can’t seem to find much info on Los Malinches, an incredible psychedelic rock band out of Brazil, save their Facebook and Instagram accounts, but their latest album, Planeta Náhuatl, is phenomenal!  Fans of a Beatlesque style of garage rock, fuzz, and wild Latin American 60s music will be in heaven listening to this.

  • Music

    Soyuz (Союз) – Force of the Wind (​С​и​л​а в​е​т​р​а​)

    November 9, 2022 - By 

    Belarus is not what one would think of as a Brazilian music hotspot, though, if my friends in the country could enlighten me to the local music scene, I would really appreciate it.  Still, Soyuz, led by singer Alex Chumak blend a Brazil-meets-Santana-meets-funk beat and this album engages you quickly, making the listener want to sway with the rhythm. From their Bandcamp site: “SOYUZ (which translates as ‘union’) is a creative collective from Minsk, Belarus, led by composer, arranger, and singer, Alex Chumak, multi-instrumentalist, Mikita Arlou, and drummer, Anton Nemahai. SOYUZ’s previous albums explored and reimagined the legacy of jazz-oriented,…

  • Music

    Joyce Moreno – Feminina (produced arranged and conducted by Claus Ogerman)

    November 5, 2022 - By 

    Joyce Moreno (known mononymously simply as Joyce in Brazil) is one of the country’s finest exports, bringing a sultry and joyful voice to bossa nova, Música Popular Brasileira and jazz. She’s been covered by artists like Annie Lennox, Gerry Mulligan and Omara Portuondo, but this piece, a one-track opus, is one her finest works. It is a collaboration with German arranger, pianist and composer Claus Ogerman, and it sizzles.

  • Music

    Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo – Só Não Toca Quem Não quer (1987) – Remastered

    July 14, 2022 - By 

    Brazil’s finest living export (to my ears, anyway) has been quite active over the past few years, but it’s nice to see some forgotten releases getting some exposure. The personnel on this album plays some wonderfully, uniquely Brazilian fusion. Hermeto Pascoal: Bandola, Piano, Teclados (Keyboard), Flugelhorn, Harmonium, Flauta Baixo (Bass Flute), Craviola, Acordeom (Accordion), Bombardino, Clavinet, Piano CP-80 Jovino Santos Neto: Piano, Flauta (Flute), Piccolo, Harmonium, Piano Rhodes Itiberê Zwarg: Baixo (Bass), Tuba Carlos Malta: Flauta (Flute), Piccolo, Sax Soprano, Sax Tenor, Sax Alto, Sax Baritone Marcio Bahia: Bateria (Drums), Percussão (Percussion) Pernambuco: Percussão (Percussion)

  • Music

    Gui Duvignau – Baden

    February 4, 2022 - By 

    Bassist and composer Gui Duvignau was born in France, but raised in Brazil.  In his latest album, he interprets some classic work by the legendary Brazilian guitarist Baden Powell, whose work left an indelible mark on the samba and bossa nova scene worldwide.