Hermeto Pascoal e Grupo - Planetário da Gávea (February 4, 2022 Far Out Recordings)

On a balmy Brazilian night in February, 1981, a crowd gathered in Rio de Janeiro's Gávea neighbourhood under the iconic dome of the city's Planetário (Planetarium). Alongside musicians like Helio Delmiro and Milton Nascimento (who were in the audience that night), they were there to see the great "Bruxo" (sorcerer) Hermeto Pascoal live in concert, with his new band formation which would become known simply as "O Grupo" (The Group).

Growing up on a farm in Brazil's northeastern state of Alagoas, Hermeto has always been deeply in tune with, and inspired by nature. In his youth he would make his own flutes to play call and response with the birds and frogs. He would build scrap-metal instruments in his blacksmith grandfather's forge, and sit for hours by the lake listening to the sounds of nature. On the Planetário Da Gávea recordings though, Hermeto is cast as the "sorcerer" or the "cosmic emissary" (as the great Brazilian guitarist Guinga once called him), exhibiting an intuitive sense of harmony and melody beyond that of our own world.

"Tudo e Som" (All is Sound). It's a phrase Hermeto regularly returns to, and it points to the fact that not only can music be made from anything, but also alludes to something much more profound. It's an understanding of the universe as being in a state of constant movement, forever vibrating at the quantum level, like the string of a guitar, or a saxophone's reed. "Tudo e Som" is a declaration of the mystical and spiritual power of sound, as a fundamentally vibrational force.

The series of concerts at the Planetário marked the birth of "O Grupo" which would last with the same line-up (apart from Zé Eduardo Nazário) for the next eleven years. Every member of O Grupo was a phenomenal musician in their own right. It was one of saxophonist/flautist Carlos Malta's first gigs with the group, and the concert unusually featured two drummers, Zé Eduardo Nazário and Marcio Bahia. Nazário, from São Paulo, had played with Hermeto during the mid-70s (as well as with Milton Nascimento, Egberto Gismonti and Toninho Horta, to name a few). Bahia though had just joined the group. Acclaimed keyboard player Jovino Santos Neto was on keyboards, piano and organ, and the great Itiberê Zwarg (who remains in Hermeto's band to this day), played bass. Rounding the group off was the percussionist Pernambuco. During this period (up until the early 90s) the group would rehearse for hours on end, virtually seven days a week, with a total dedication to music and Hermeto's musical vision.

Most of the compositions performed that night at the Planetário had never been recorded before, and many are unique to this album, including the wild 'Homônimo Sintróvio', the exaltant 'Samba Do Belaqua', 'Vou Pra Lá e Pra Cá' and 'Bombardino', which features Hermeto's wonderfully absurd call and response mouthpiece soliloquy. Then there's the stunning 7/4 Samba 'Jegue' which builds with inventive dissonance, before releasing yet another celestially colourful, celebratory refrain. The show also features the first recorded performances of 'Era Pra Ser e Não Foi' and 'Ilza na Feijoada' (inspired by Hermetos' wife Ilza's famed black bean and meat stew), which Hermeto later recorded on his 1984 studio album "Lagoa Da Canoa Município De Arapiraca".

Dubbed by Miles Davis as "one of the most important musicians on the planet", a Hermeto Pascoal live show was (and still is) an experience like no other. Across the recording of the Planetário concert, wild improvisation meets groovy, virtuosic vamping on progressive, extended psychedelic jams. The tracks are generally built around a beautiful, transcendent melody; instantly recognisable as being Hermeto's, and for the most part, the musicians then solo over extended two chord vamps. There's a plethora of powerfully delivered rhythms, wild solos and the performances are punctuated by Hermeto's unpredictable, at times comical sonic antics.

Over forty years since this historic happening, Far Out Recordings is overjoyed to release this magical recording of Hermeto Pascoal e Grupo Live at Planetário Da Gávea, on double vinyl LP, CD and digitally for a February 4th 2022 release. 

1. Paz Amor e Esperança / Homônimo Sintróvio

2. Samba Do Belaqua

3. Vou Pra Lá e Pra Cá

4. Bombardino

5. Era Pra Ser e Não Foi

6. São Jorge / Ilza na Feijoada

7. Duo de Bateras

8. Duo de Bateras II

9. Ferragens

10. Jegue

All tracks composed by Hermeto Pascoal

Hermeto Pascoal - piano, baritone horn, tenor saxophone, flute, vocals

Carlos Malta - soprano saxophone, flute, piccolo

Zé Eduardo Nazario - drums, percussion

Marcio Bahia - drums, percussion

Itiberê Zwarg - acoustic and electric basses, piano

Jovino Santos Neto - piano, electric piano, clavinet, harmonium

Pernambuco - percussion

Recorded at Planetário da Gávea, Rio De Janeiro, February 1981

Original tape transfer by Gabriel M. Yazbeck

Additional tape restoration by Daniel Maunick

Mastered by Lelo Nazario at Utopia Studio and Pete Norman at Finyl Tweek

Project coordination by Joe Davis, Jake Williams and Josh Tautz

Art direction by Josh Tautz and Alessandro Renaldin

Artwork and Design by Alessandro Renaldin

Photograph: Hermeto Pascoal by Dany Gignoux, licensed by Centre d’iconographie, Bibliothèque de Genève

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Alex Malheiros - Tempos Futuros (November 2021 Far Out Recordings)

Stargazing from the sands of the Niterói beach, Tempos Futuros is low-end-led Brazilian futurism from one of Brazil’s most prolific and influential bassmen. As one third of legendary trio Azymuth, Alex Malheiros has pioneered a unique fusion of space-funk, samba and jazz since the early seventies. His playing can be heard on the records of Jorge Ben, Milton Nascimento, Roberto Carlos, Marcos Valle, and Mark Murphy (to name a few), and he’s performed and toured with everyone from Stevie Wonder to Chick Corea.

Written and recorded in Niterói, Brazil, overlooking Guanabara and the beaches, mountains and forests of Rio de Janeiro, Tempos Futuros has deep roots in Brazilian soil. The rhythms of Malheiros’ homeland have always permeated his music. But just like the Oscar Niemeyer designed Niterói Contemporary Art Museum which stands spaceship-like over the water, Tempos Futuros - while inspired by terrestrial forms, reaches out, deep into the great unknown.

Produced by acclaimed London-based producer Daniel Maunick, who has worked with Marcos Valle, Azymuth, Terry Callier, and Ivan Conti, the funk comes full circle. Daniel’s father Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick and Alex Malheiros shared a reciprocal stream of influence throughout the 80s, between London and Rio; Azymuth and Incognito; brit-funk and samba-funk. But just as with Azymuth’s music, you can also hear the influence of stateside jazz-funk masters like Roy Ayers, Weather Report, Lonnie Liston Smith, Mtume and Pleasure.

Tempos Futuros features Alex’s daughter, a Brazilian star in her own right, vocalist Sabrina Malheiros, Brazilian percussion master Sidinho Moreira, London based saxophonist Sean Khan, Marcos Valle’s go-to drummer Massa, and Brazilian keyboard player Dudu Viana. Featuring the late Azymuth keyboard maestro Jose Roberto Bertami on Fender Rhodes, the title track “Tempos Futuros” was originally recorded as a demo in 1995. On this finished version, Alex Malheiros used Bertami’s original keyboard take, explaining the posthumous release.

Tempos Futuros will be released via Far Out Recordings on vinyl LP, CD and digitally on the 26th November 2021 

1. The Razor's Edge

2. Telegramas Para Arp

3. Retrato (feat. Sean Khan)

4. Prece (feat. Sabrina Malheiros)

5. Nikiti

6. Kuarup

7. O Temporal

8. Alto Verão (feat. Sabrina Malheiros)

9. Sereno

10. Marcinha

11. Tempos Futuros (feat. Jose Roberto Bertrami)

12. Requiem For A Storm

Alex Malheiros: Electric Bass, Fretless Bass, Acoustic Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Percussion & Vocals

Daniel Maunick: Organ, Synths & Effects, Additional Keyboards, Drums & Percussion

Sidinho & Ian Moreira: Percussion

Sabrina Malheiros: Vocals

Sean Khan: Saxophone

Victor Bertrami: Drums

Renato Massa: Drums

Dudu Viana: Keyboards

Produced & Arranged By Daniel Maunick

Co-Produced By Alex Malheiros

Mixed By Daniel Maunick @ The Sugar Shack, Carluke, Scotland

Recorded & Engineered By:

Daniel Maunick & Heber Ribeiro @ Castelo Studio, Niteroi, Brazil

Daniel Maunick & Dudu Viana @ DV Estudio, Rio, Brazil

Daniel Maunick & Alex Malheiros @ Estudio Dos Calangos, Niteroi, Brazil

Executive Producer: Joe Davis

Recording Co-ordinator: Livia Malheiros

Artwork: Noopur Choksi

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Francisco Mora Catlett - Mora! I&II (April 2021 Far Out Recordings)

Far Out Recordings is delighted to present Mora, and for the first time ever on vinyl Mora II. Mexican-American percussionist and former member of the Sun Ra Arkestra, Francisco Mora Catlett originally recorded and released his debut solo LP as a private press in 1987, but the sequel he recorded over the course of the next few years with an expanded Detroit jazz brass section was shelved for decades to follow. A pan-American melting pot of hypnotic afro-cuban rhythms, frenetic batucadas and fiery sambas, Mora I & II are holy grails of latin jazz, masterminded by an unsung hero of the genre.

Born in Washington DC, 1947, Francisco Mora Jr is the eldest child of two highly prominent Mexican artists, Francisco Mora Sr and Elizabeth Catlett, to whom this project was dedicated. Being born into a mixed heritage bohemian family provided Mora Jr with what he called a “creative, progressive, and healthy arts environment”, building the foundations for a fascinating career journey ahead. Mora grew up in Mexico City where he began working as a session musician for Capitol Records in 1968, before moving to study at Berklee Music College in Boston, MA in 1970.

Once he’d completed his studies in 1973, he very briefly returned to Mexico City with the best intentions of cultivating an avant-garde movement in the city, but when the Sun Ra Arkestra came to perform, Mora ended up leaving with the band to tour the world for the next seven years, a decent innings within a group famous for its constantly evolving line up.

Settling in Detroit after his years with the Arkestra, Francisco set to work on his self-titled debut, gathering an ensemble of musicians that included keyboardist Kenny Cox, founder of the legendary Strata Records, esteemed bassist Rodney Whitaker of the Roy Hargrove Quintet and percussionists Jerome Le Duff, Alberto Nacif, and Emile Borde. The album openly embraces and unites the broad spectrum of improvisation, rhythm, and jazz that has thrived throughout the American continents for centuries. In Mora’s own words the album intended to “manifest the African heritage presence in the American continent.” Epitomising this outlook, album opener ‘Afra Jum’ deploys a melody based on Haitian, African and Native American motifs, which is expanded upon by the soulful excellence of the Detroit veterans Cox and Whitaker, amidst a backdrop of afro-cuban inspired percussion.

The sequel Mora II was recorded shortly after with an expanded line up that included trumpet legend Marcus Belgrave, famed for his work with Ray Charles, Charles Mingus, Hank Crawford, Eddie Russ and Wendell Harrison. Continuing the concept of the first album, the follow up moves deeper into South America with the samba jazz dance belter ‘Amazona’, led by the rich vocals of Francisco’s wife Teresa Mora. The ‘Afra Jum’ concept is further explored, with the original motifs beefed up by the additional horns, and interspersions of Sun Ra inspired rumbling free improvisations. This follow up album remained shelved until 2005, when Mora put it out as a now obscure CD titled River Drum, but only now has it been given the high quality vinyl treatment it so deserves, presented as the sequel to Mora! as originally intended.

Through the 90s and into the the 21st century Mora would continue his Pan-American explorations, moving toward a more electronic afro-futurist direction as part of Detroit techno pioneer Carl Craig’s Innerzone Orchestra. Mora also worked with Carl Craig, moog synth wizard Craig Taborn, and his former Arkestra colleague, the legendary Marshall Allen, to form the Innerzone Orchestra spin-off Outerzone, released in 2007 on Premier Cru Records.

Mora I & II will be out as two vinyl LPs, CD and digitally

CD / Digital

MORA I

1 Prelude Welcome

2 Afra Jum

3 Rumba Morena

4 Five Am

5 Samba De Amor

6 Cultural Warrior

7 Epilogue Conga Hasta La Vista

MORA II

8 Afra Jum

9 Amazona Prelude / Dawn

10 Amazona

11 Samba / Conga Do Amor

12 El Moro

13 Old Man Joe

14 Por Que Paro

15 Afra Jum

Vinyl LP - Mora! I

Side A

1 Prelude “Welcome”

2 Afra Jum

3 Rumba Morena

4 Five A.M.

Side B

1 Samba De Amor

2 Cultural Warrior

3 Epilogue - Conga “Hasta La Vista”

Vinyl LP - Mora! II

Side A

1 Afra Jum

2 Amazona

3 Amazona Prelude / Dawn

4 Samba Conga Do Amor

Side B

1 Por Que Paro

2 Afra Jum

3 Old Man Joe

4 El Morro

All tunes composed and arranged by: Francisco Mora, Jr.

1. Prelude "Welcome" 01:33

2. Afra Jum 11:54

3. Rumba Morena 04:51

4. Five AM 05:34

5. Samba De Amor 07:04

6. Cultural Warrior 09:28

7. Epilogue-Conga "Hasta La Vista" 01:35

8. Afra Jum Pt. 2 06:27

9. Amazona Prelude "Dawn" 06:52

10. Amazona 04:01

11. Samba "Conga Do Amor" 05:19

12. El Moro 05:53

13. Old Man Joe 04:49

14. Por Que Paro 00:46

15. Afra Jum Pt. 3 02:30

Francisco Mora: Drums and Percussion

Emile Borde: Steel Drums and Percussion

Vincent Bowens: Soprano/Tenor Saxophones & Flute

Ken Cox: Piano

Jerome Le Duff: Berimbau and Percussion

Teresa Mora: Vocal and Percussion

Alberto Nacif: Quinto, Congas and Percussion

Rodney Whitaker: Contrabass

Additional Musicians on Mora II:

Sherman Mitchell: Trombone

Marcus Belgrave - Trumpet

John Douglass - Trumpet and Flugel Horn

Alex Harding - Baritone Sax and Bass Clarinet

‘Amazona Prelude’ String Quartet:

Michele May - 1st Violin

Pat Moore - 2nd Violin

Nina White - Viola

Tanya Bennett - Cello

Produced by: Francisco Mora

Recorded at: Studio A, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

Engineer: John Jaszcz

Mixed: John Jaszcz and Francisco Mora

Pre-order

Ivan 'Mamão' Conti - Poison Fruit (FAR OUT RECORDINGS January 25, 2019)

From an artist in their seventies, you probably wouldn’t expect to hear an album like this. But Brazilian drumming legend Ivan ‘Mamão’ Conti has been experimenting and innovating for the last half a century. As one third of cult Rio jazz-funk trio Azymuth, Mamão was at the root of the group’s ‘samba doido’ (crazy samba) philosophy, which warped the traditional samba compass with jazz influences and space age electronics. Even with his lesser known jovem guarda group The Youngsters, Mamão was experimenting with tapes and delays to create unique, ahead-of-its-time sounds, way back in the sixties. More recently Mamão recorded an album with hip-hop royalty Madlib under the shared moniker ‘Jackson Conti’. 

With his first album in over twenty years, and the first to be released on vinyl since his 1984 classic The Human Factor, Mamão shares his zany carioca character across eleven tracks of rootsy electronic samba and tripped out jazz, beats and dance music. Featuring Alex Malheiros and Kiko Continentino on a number of tracks, the Azymuth lifeblood runs deep, but venturing into the modern discotheque (as Mamão would call it), Poison Fruit also experiments with sounds more commonly associated with house and techno, with the help of London based producer Daniel Maunick (aka Dokta Venom) and Mamão's son Thiago Maranhão. 

Ivan 'Mamão' Conti

Take a bite of Mamão’s psychoactive Papaya and join the maestro on a weird and wonderful stroll through the Brazilian jungle. 

United by a love for the music of Mamão and Azymuth, the CD and digital edition also feature the previously released remixes and dubs from some of today’s most forward-thinking producers with a penchant for percussion, including IG Culture, the 22a crew, Max Graef and Glenn Astro. 

1. Aroeira

2. Jemburi

3. Encontro

4. Bacurau

5. Ninho

6. Ilha Da Luz

7. O Ritual

8. Poison Fruit

9. Que Legal

10. Ecos Da Mata

11. Tempestades

12. Ilha Da Luz (aka Mamão’s Brake) Tenderlonious Remix

13. Encontro (aka Azul) Glenn Astro Remix

14. Que Legal Reginald Omas Mamode IV Remix

15. Encontro (aka Azul) Max Graef Remix

16. Poison Fruit (Dokta Venom's Digital Dub Mix)

Os Catedraticos - Ataque [1965] FAR OUT RECORDINGS December 2018

One of Brazil’s most prolific artists, Eumir Deodato has racked up 16 platinum albums, won a Grammy (and been nominated for two more), and sold over 250 million records in the USA alone. After moving from Rio de Janeiro to New York in the late 60’s, Deodato would work as a composer, arranger, producer and keyboardist on nearing 500 records, under his own name and with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Earth Wind & Fire, Frank Sinatra, Kool & The Gang, George Benson, Tom Jobim and Bjork, to name a just a few. 

But before that, a young Deodato had already cemented his status in Brazil as one of the country’s top musical minds. In the mid-sixties, when he wasn’t working with the likes of Roberto Menescal, Joao Donato, and Marcos Valle, Deodato recorded a string of albums with his lesser known instrumental samba jazz and bossa nova ensemble Os Catedráticos. 

Eumir Deodato

A masterpiece of hip Brazilian swing, Ataque reflects the deeper, groovier side of that magical, hazy sound of sixties Rio, with monster samba grooves backing big brass arrangements and scorching organ solos. Amongst Deodato’s own tracks, there are compositions by Marcos & Paulo Sergio Valle, Baden Powell and Luiz Bonfa, arranged for a big horn section, which includes trombone player Edson Maciel, and given an extra dose of cool from the inimitable drums of Wilson Das Neves and Ruebens Bassini on percussion. 

An elusive long player in the cannon of killer, groovy Brazilian music, with vinyl copies near impossible to find for less than three digits, Ataque finally gets the official Far Out reissue treatment: re-mastered from the tapes and pressed to 180g vinyl. Now available for the first time outside of South America. 

1. Ataque (Full Attack) 02:09

2. Os Grilos (Crickets Sing For Anamaria) 02:19

3. É Bom Parar 01:43

4. Feitinha Pro Poeta 02:00

5. Terra De Ninguém 03:28

6. Razão De Viver (A Little Tear) 03:11

7. Tristeza (Goodbye Sadness) 03:47

8. Samba Do Dom Natural 01:15

9. O Sol Nascerá 01:30

10. Samba De Rei 01:19

11. Até De Cavaquinho 02:12

12. Porque Somos Iguais 02:42

Itiberê Orquestra Familia - Pedra Do Espia (FAR OUT RECORDINGS 2018)

Itiberê Zwarg is an award-winning Brazilian bassist and the longest-serving member of Hermeto Pascoal’s ground-breaking ensemble ‘O Grupo’. Since their first meeting in 1977, the two have been closely collaborating to create a unique musical language: a genre-defying polyharmonic, polyrhythmic music, now widely studied by musicians and musicologists alike, known as ‘Universal Music’. 

Back in 1999, Itiberê led a workshop at Villa Lobos School of Music, with twenty-nine of Rio de Janeiro’s most exceptionally talented young musicians. Employing the principles of Universal Music alongside his long-held belief in the powers of listening and intuition, over the course of many months, with regular intensive 7 hour rehearsal sessions, Itiberê composed and arranged in real time, transcribing the improvisations of the prodigious orchestra while allowing the players freedom to experiment. The result was Pedra do Espia, an Amazonian orchestral masterpiece which is as difficult to categorise as it is fun to listen to. 

Itiberê Zwarg

Named after the beachside viewing point which translates as ‘Spy’s Rock’, where Itiberê would sit as a child, daydreaming and gazing out over the Brazilian coast, the record harnesses the pure creativity of youth and nature, creating a magical sense of innocence amongst the striking compositions and astonishing musicianship. 

On the original liner notes from the 2001 CD release, Itiberê guarantees the record to be “surprising in its uniqueness, it’s harmonic richness, it’s exuberant melodies and rhythmic variations like nothing heard before.” Bringing the album to vinyl for the first time, alongside a full 16 track CD and digital release, Far Out Recordings are honoured to present this overlooked masterpiece from one of the greatest minds in Brazilian instrumental music. 

1. Na Carioca 07:01

2. Bota Para Quebrar 06:17

3. De Coração Aberto 04:05

4. Forró No Encontro Dos Rios 04:07

5. Curupira 04:05

6. Arco-Iris De Som 03:36

7. No Varal 04:20

8. Toada Cigana 09:19

9. Doce 08:12

10. Vale de Luz 02:56

11. De Repente 06:23

12. Muito Natural 06:53

13. Ao Pé Da Lareira 06:23

14. Hora Da Prece 03:33

15. 17 De Janeiro 04:33

16. Pedra Do Espia 11:18

Amaro Freitas - Rasif (FAR OUT RECORDINGS 2018)

In the sweltering North-Eastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco lies the coastal city of Recife, where Amaro Freitas is pioneering the new sound of Brazilian jazz. For the prodigious young pianist, the spirit of his hometown runs deep. From the Afro-Brazilian maracatu born on the sugar plantations of slavery, to the high intensity carnival rhythms of frevo and baião, Amaro’s heavily percussive approach to jazz is as indebted to these Pernambuco traditions as it is to Coltrane, Parker and Monk. 

As with many of the greats before him, Amaro began playing piano in church aged 12, under the instruction of his father, leader of the church band. As his natural talents became obvious, the young prodigy quickly outgrew his father’s instruction. He won a place at the prestigious Conservatório Pernambucano de Música but had to drop out as his family could not spare the money for the bus fare. Undeterred, Amaro gigged in bands at weddings and worked in a call centre to fund his tuition. The transformative moment came at age 15 when Amaro stumbled across a DVD of Chick Corea concert, “he completely blew my mind, I’d never seen anything like it but I knew that’s what I wanted to do with a piano”. 

Despite not actually owning a piano, Amaro devoted himself to studying day and night – he would practice on imaginary keys in his bedroom, until eventually striking a deal with a local restaurant to practice before opening hours. By the age of 22 Amaro was one of the most sought-after musicians in Recife and resident pianist at the legendary jazz bar Mingus. It was during this time he met and begun collaborating with bassist Jean Elton and the pair went in search of a drummer. “We kept hearing about this crazy kid who was playing in 7/8 or 6/4, we knew we had to meet him”. Hugo Medeiros joined, and the Amaro Freitas Trio was born. 

“I want to show the simplicity of music, to break the stigma that the piano is for a particular social class. Yes, it’s a difficult instrument, which many people do not have access to, but with it you can express everything.” 

Following his critically acclaimed debut album Sangue Negro (black blood), the title of his sophomore release Rasif is a colloquial spelling of Amaro’s hometown. A love letter to his native northeast, Amaro explores its traditional rhythms through the jazz idiom, employing complex mathematical patterns reminiscent of some of the most challenging works by fellow Brazilian masters Hermeto Pascoal, Egberto Gismonti and Moacir Santos.

1. Dona Eni 04:03

2. Trupe 04:09

3. Paço 04:23

4. Rasif 06:07

5. Mantra 07:07

6. Aurora 10:16

7. Vitrais 07:01

8. Plenilúnio 09:02

9. Afrocatu 05:22

Azymuth - Light As A Feather [1979] FAR OUT RECORDINGS 2018

Azymuth's career-defining LP Light As A Feather returns. Home to their worldwide disco/fusion hit single ‘Jazz Carnival’, the samba-doido staple 'Partido Alto', and the proto-deep house masterpiece ‘Avenida Das Mangueiras’, this album typifies the trio’s tireless innovation in the fields of jazz, funk, samba and cosmic music perhaps more so than any of their other ground-breaking records from its era.

Their first release on Milestone Records in 1979, it quickly became one of the best-selling LPs of the year, staying in the UK Top 20 for eight straight weeks with more than half a million copies sold. An incredibly well thought out album both in pace, song selection and musicality, ‘Light As A Feather’ marked a maturing of the band as they began to rightfully utilise the studio as an instrument itself, embracing numerous mixing and recording techniques not yet common for the time as well as pioneering the use of the Big Muff and Dolby System to great effect. The result is an album that endures to this day as a samba/jazz-funk masterpiece.

First reissued in 2012, the Far Out edition of this seminal recording was remixed and re-mastered from the original 16-track tapes, which were given to Joe Davis by Azymuth. This latest version is the first ever issue to be complete with a download card that that gives access to previously unreleased tracks, including the incredible full length version of 'Jazz Carnival', as well as remixes from house stalwarts Theo Parrish, Ashley Beedle, and Mark E.

Tracklist:

1. Partido Alto

2. Avenida Das Mangueiras

3. Light As A Feather

4. Fly Over The Horizon (Voo Sobre O Horizonte)

5. Amazonia

6. Jazz Carnival

7. Young Embrace (Um Abraco Da Mocidade)

8. Dona Olimpia

9. This Exists (Existe Isto)

10. O Pescador

CD & digital edition

11. Jazz Carnival (Full original mix)

12. Avenida Das Mangueiras (SS translation by Theo Parrish)

13. Endless Flight (Mark E Remix)

14. Jazz Carnival - Yambee Rework (Ashley Beedle and Yam Who? Remix)

Marcos Valle - Nova Bossa Nova (FAR OUT RECORDINGS 2018)

Marking sixty years of Bossa Nova, and twenty years since Marcos Valle’s first release for Far Out Recordings, what better time to bring back this era-defining classic from the Brazilian master composer? 

Throughout his astounding six-decade career, infiltrating pop, bossa nova, samba, delicate psychedelia, jazz and funk, Marcos Valle has consistently shown a dogged determination to transcend the traditions and structures of bossa nova, whilst never veering away from the movement’s inherent, fundamental spirit. To some extent, his epithet ‘the original Rio beach boy’ is a handy one: it reflects the origin and character of his often sun-soaked sound, but expounding his importance in the lineage of Brazilian music, he is more discerningly known as ‘the renaissance man of Brazilian pop’. He is indeed one the very greatest and most important composers, arrangers, writers and performers in Brazil. 

Up until Nova Bossa Nova, Marcos Valle hadn’t released an album for well over a decade. After 1983, he resented the way the music industry had changed with commercialisation and new demands curtailing his creative freedom. This was until 1994 when Marcos met Far Out boss Joe Davis and they recorded a track for Far Out’s first Friends From Rio album. This new collaborative partnership resulted in a new solo album, which commenced recording in 1996. 

Nova Bossa Nova brought Marcos bouncing back into the 90s, slotting nicely in place alongside the acid jazz movement as well as a voracious new demand for Brazilian music on dancefloors from London to Tokyo. It was witnessing the London club scene’s growing appetite for Brazilian music, as well as a lack of new sounds coming out of Brazil at the time, that a young Joe Davis put in a proposal to record a new album with one of his musical idols. Joe wanted to facilitate an album which would combine the latest technologies and production techniques, with live to analogue tape recording: a Marcos Valle album tailor-made for London’s clubs. Always open to modern influences and possibilities, Marcos agreed to the project, and Joe and his production partner Roc Hunter flew to Rio in ‘96.

The record wasn’t released until ’98, as the original ½ inch tapes were stolen from Far Out’s London studio, meaning parts of the album had to be re-recorded. 

Nova Bossa Nova was unveiled at the peak of the of the Brazilian movement, the record would also prove to be something of a revolution, inspiring a new generation of artists like Bebel Gilberto, Sabrina Malheiros, Da Lata and Bossacucanova, who continued to fuse Brazilian influences with modern electronic sounds. 

The album takes a panoramic view of Valle’s career, which was so fundamental in defining the standard of bossa back in the Sixties and continues to do so to this day. Nova Bossa Nova, the album’s title track is an update on Marcos’s trademark style, developing a more modern, funkier sound. Other gems include the dance-floor ready re-work of his 1970 hit ‘Freio Aerodynamico’, and the smooth instrumentals ‘Bar Ingles’, a jazz fusion looper, and the sun-soaked samba ‘Nordeste’. 

Twenty years since the original release, the album remains a landmark release for Far Out Recordings and Brazilian music in general. It is yet another example of Marcos Valle’s ability to transcend musical limitations and explore new musical ground, as he has done so passionately for the last sixty years. 

1. Novo Visual 04:16

2. Abandonu 05:32

3. Cidade Aberto 03:11

4. Bahia Blue 05:27

5. Freio Aerodynamico 06:05

6. Mushi Mushi 04:17

7. Nova Bossa Nova 04:05

8. Nordeste 06:48

9. Bar Ingles 06:28

10. A Vantage De Rever Voce (Rocking You) 04:52

Victor Assis Brasil - Esperanto / Toca Antonio Carlos Jobim (FAR OUT RECORDINGS 2018)

Gifted his first saxophone by his aunt at the age of fourteen, only four years later the inherently gifted and determined young musician Victor Assis Brasil recorded his debut album, with a second to follow only a year later. The prodigious young carioca was subsequently granted a place to study at Berklee College of Music, where he played alongside the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Chick Corea and Ron Carter. It was also during this period he recorded Esperanto and Toca Antonio Carlos Jobim with Roberto Quartin, upon returning to Brazil in the summer of 1970. 

Recorded in the same sessions as the Toca Antonio Carlos Jobim album, Esperanto consists of some of Assis Brasil's most mesmerising original compositions, as well as a heavy-swinging latin-jazz cover of Jimmy Heath’s ‘Ginger Bread Boy’. 'Quarenta Graus A Sombra’ typifies Assis Brasil's wild, frenetic jazz sound, while ‘Marilia’ and ‘Ao Amigo Quartin’ provide more melancholic moments. Esperanto’s influences span both American continents, finding a meeting point for Latin jazz and North American post-bop, with Roberto Quartin’s perfectionist approach to sound elevating the already incandescent music to divine new heights. The band consists of some mercurial greats of Brazilian music: Dom Salvador (bass), Edison Machado (drums), Helio Delmiro (guitar) and Edson Lobo (Bass). 

On Toca Antonio Carlos Jobim, Victor Assis Brasil morphed Jobim’s soothing originals into raw, deep jazz cuts: a product of its time as the smooth 'n' easy groove of the bossa beat no longer reflected the politics of a nation under the cosh of military dictatorship. 

Victor Assis Brasil passed away aged just thirty-five, due to a rare circulatory disease, but by this point his status was already cemented as one of the most talented musicians in Brazil’s history. 

*The CD and digital product is a double album release, containing both Esperanto and Toca Antonio Carlos Jobim.

1. Ginger Bread Boy 06:14

2. Children 10:16

3. Marilia 06:44

4. Quarenta Graus A Sombra 09:12

5. Ao Amigo Quartin 05:07

6. So Tinha De Ser Com Voce 04:01

7. Wave 09:49

8. Bonita 06:39

9. Dindi 05:04

10. Marilla (Alternative Version) 07:52

11. Ao Amigo Quartin (Alternative Version) 07:51