It boggles the mind that Marcos Valle, who is close to having a sixty-year career making music, can still come up with sounds that are so fresh while referencing the past. One can still hear bossa nova, a genre he helped make popular, sit inside a stew that includes funk, Continue Reading
Música Popular Brasileira
Marcos Valle & Leon Ware – Feels So Good
Thanks to Marcos Valle doing a bit of cleanup in his home, Far Out Recordings proudly present a 7-inch single of a track Marcos and the late Leon Ware worked on in Los Angeles during the 1980s. Here’s the back story, courtesy of Marcos’ Bandcamp site: “In 1979, together in Continue Reading
Fabiano Do Nascimento – Mundo Solo
The indubitable Far Out Records have produced what might be my favorite record of 2023, a guitar album by Brazilian guitarist and fellow Los Angeleno Fabiano do Nascimiento. I’ll let the label’s crack promo team describe this absolute beauty of a record below: “Adopting Hermeto Pascoal’s concept of Universal Music, Continue Reading
Joyce Moreno – Visions of Dawn
I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing Joyce Moreno’s music in November of 2022, and it looks like the legends at Far Out Recordings have found yet another long lost masterpiece by the Brazilian queen of Brazilian acid-folk. Does such a genre really exist?! Take a listen to the track Jardim Continue Reading
Soyuz (Союз) – Force of the Wind (Сила ветра)
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, Continue Reading
Joyce Moreno – Feminina (produced arranged and conducted by Claus Ogerman)
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 Continue Reading
Various Artists – Brazil USA 70: Brazilian Music In The USA In The 1970s
We’ll have to rely on a different way of hearing the tracks on this phenomenal comp released by Soul Jazz Records and Mr. Bongo. Consider heading over to Sounds of the Universe’s page to sample tunes from one of the best and widest-ranging comps I’ve had the pleasure of hearing Continue Reading