MUSIC

"I think I have never met anybody, with the exception of Brazilian guitarists Baden Powell and Toquinho, as connected to his instrument as Agustín Pereyra Lucena" – Vinicius de Moraes Agustín Pereyra Lucena was one of South America’s outstanding guitarists. Hailing from Buenos Aires but obsessed with the music of neighbouring Brazil, Agustin abandoned his architecture studies to pursue music full-time, earning friendship and collaborations with Brazilian music's greatest figures including Vinicius de Moraes, Baden Powell, Toquinho, Dorival Caymmi, Maria Bethania and Chico Buarque. Originally released in 1975, Ese Dia Va A Llegar (which has also been issued under the title Brasiliana) finds Agustin and band—which includes key collaborators Guillermo Reuter on contrabass, and Carlos Carli on drums and percussion— at their most blissfully laid back. The album features idiosyncratic renditions of classics by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes, João Donato and Agustin’s personal hero and friend Baden Powell, alongside Agustín's own works which ooze with captivating mystical wonder. The analog warmth of the recording is such that it feels like you’re there in mid-seventies Buenos Aires, on a balmy late night session at Estudios Audión, with a group of phenomenally impressive musicians. The heat generated is offset only by the cool temperament of everyone involved. On the handful of vocal tracks on the album, Agustin’s gentle voice is responded to by the liquid smooth vocals of Laura Hatton, Luis Maria Cosenza and Patricia Scheuer. Agustin’s unique position in the annals of his continent’s musical history has been lovingly maintained by Agustin’s nephew Jose Luis Pereyra Lucena, who has entrusted Far Out Recordings to preserve and re-release Agustin’s works. The music has been professionally remastered, directly from the original master tape, at London’s Metropolis Studios.

A modern MPB jewel. Jazz harmonies and cosmic pop . 2025 Remastered.

“One of the most important singers and songwriters in Brazil”

João Donato, to the newspaper O Globo

Released in 2022, Tulipa Ruiz's Habilidades Extraordinárias (HabEx) showcases one of Brazil's most inventive voices. Blending MPB, jazz, pop, and psychedelic textures, the album reveals Tulipa's rich harmonic vision and fearless creativity.

From the hypnotic "Samaúma" to the infectious "Estardalhaço," HabEx flows between improvisation and groove. The duet “O Recado da Flor” with João Donato — one of his final recordings — bridges generations, mixing Donato’s bossa-jazz swing and Fender Rhodes warmth with Tulipa’s luminous voice. "Pluma Black" (feat. Negro Leo) explores avant-jazz abstraction, while "Novelos" and the title track evoke Hermeto Pascoal and Stevie Wonder-era soul-jazz.

Praised across Brazil, HabEx established Tulipa Ruiz as a key figure in modern MPB, combining melodic sophistication, humor, and emotional depth. A decade after her breakthrough and a Latin Grammy win, she continues expanding Brazilian pop and jazz.

Tulipa Ruiz is a Latin Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, and illustrator from São Paulo. Raised in a musical home—her father Luiz Chagas played with Itamar Assumpção, and her brother Gustavo Ruiz remains her longtime producer—she emerged from the Vanguarda Paulista lineage with a bold, genre-blending sound. Fusing MPB, soul, pop, and rock her music is joyful, layered, and unmistakably her own. Since her breakout Efêmera (2010), Tulipa has become one of Brazil’s most distinctive voices, with five acclaimed albums, collaborations with Elza Soares and Milton Nascimento, and performances at global festivals from Montreux to Lollapalooza.

Creatively visionary and groundbreaking on numerous terms, 1973 'Os Tincoãs' revolutionized Brazilian music by harmonizing Afro-religious singing, heavenly vocal harmonies, and frawing on Yoruba mythology, Samba, Capoeira chants and spiritual songs.

Over five decades since its original release, Os Tincoãs (1973) remains a cornerstone of Brazilian music, blending Afro-Bahian traditions with mesmerizing harmonies and poetic lyricism. Now, this timeless masterpiece is being rediscovered by a global audience, celebrated for its cultural richness and profound influence on MPB (Música Popular Brasileira).

Formed in Bahia, the trio—Mateus Aleluia, Heraldo do Monte, and Dadinho—crafted an album that transcends time, fusing Candomblé rhythms, samba, and folkloric storytelling. Tracks like Deixa a Gira Girá and Ojuobá are spiritual journeys, while Cordeiro de Nanã showcases their ethereal vocal interplay. The record stands as a bridge between tradition and innovation, inspiring generations of artists from Caetano Veloso to contemporary global acts.

"Os Tincoãs didn’t just sing—they channeled the soul of Bahia. Their music is a sacred dialogue between past and present." — Music Critic, The Guardian

"A harmony so pure it feels like a prayer. This album is Brazil’s answer to The Staples Singers or Ladysmith Black Mambazo." — Pitchfork

Clube da Esquina is a 1972 double album by the Brazilian music artists collective Clube da Esquina, credited to Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges. Considered one of the greatest Brazilian albums and an important record in the history of Brazilian music, it features arrangements by Eumir Deodato and Wagner Tiso, and conductions by Paulo Moura. The album garnered high attention for its engaged compositions and miscellany of sounds. Indeed, the LP was considered in the list of the Brazilian version of Rolling Stone as the 7th best Brazilian album of all time. In 2022, the album was ranked number 1 on the Discoteca Básica podcast's 500 Greatest Brazilian Music Records list and Spin ranked the album at number 19 in its list for the 50 Best Albums of 1972. Despite popular belief, the photo on the album cover does not depict Borges and Nascimento as children. It was taken by a member of the collective, Brazilian photographer Cafi (Carlos da Silva Assunção Filho), on the side of a road in the rural northern Rio de Janeiro state.

Originally released in Brazil in 1963 this is Nara Leao's debut album. A marvelous first statement from an artist usually recognized as the Muse of Bossa Nova. A great piece of Brazilian art featuring warm attangements of solid compositional material signed by the likes of Edu Lobo, Vinicius DeMoraes and Baden Powell... and of course Nara Leao's beautiful, soft and super-sensitive vocals.

The collaborative album 5 Na Bossa was originally released in 1965 on Philips Brazil and featured some of the top player of the genre. If you are into the sound of Nara Leão, Edu Lobo, and Tamba Trio, this is a magical encounter, bringing together Nara's soft voice, Edu's battering guitar and Tamba's swinging vocals. Featuring classic compositions like "Reza" and "Zambi," this album is a must have for any fans of the Latin jazz legacy. The set was recorded live at the Paramount Theater in Sao Paulo.</p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-85Jppslh3Y?si=rsptB66Qkhg3Gbkh" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe

Recorded in 1966, Os Afro-Sambas is a groundbreaking album that fuses traditional samba with Afro-Brazilian spiritual rhythms from candomblé and umbanda. The collaboration between virtuoso guitarist Baden Powell and poet Vinícius de Moraes creates a deeply evocative soundscape, blending haunting melodies, rich harmonies, and intricate arrangements. Featuring the vocal harmonies of Quarteto em Cy, the album honors Bahia’s cultural roots while expanding the expressive possibilities of Brazilian music.

xavisphone's debut for Modern Love hits with unrelenting energy; a hyper-kinetic, red-lining funk that joins dots between DJ Anderson do Paraiso’s darkside minimalism, Equiknoxx’s riddmic pressure and DJ Ramon Sucesso’s walloping delirium.

Born to Dominican and Brazilian parents, xavi grew up bouncing from place to place, picking up inspiration wherever he landed. His first love was baile funk, but he was raised on classic hip-hop, eventually notching up production and songwriting credits for Vince Staples, Demi Lovato and Ariana Grande. But the major label life wasn't giving; sick of the industry, he headed back to São Paulo to soak up the atmosphere and connect with artists on the ground. Before long, he started uploading quickfire bangers to SoundCloud - at this point there are over 350 of them on his feed - an "evolutionary playlist" in his own words, bursting with ideas.

'balança e paixão' is his debut release, proper, a 12-cut snapshot of chaotic, trailblazing, turbulent genius - bending thrashed rhythms into relentless vocal chops from a laundry list of young brazillian MCs. Built on ear-zizzing "tuin" hits and razor's edge cuts, he creates hypnotic ripples that wedge themselves between São Paulo's weirdo fringe (artists like JLZ and Iguana) and the percussive, MC-heavy sound of funk ritmado, one of the contemporary scene's most vital and recognisable strains. Crucially, you can hear a Photek-like approach to space in his productions too, filling the gaps with metallic clangs to lend his rhythms their own unique dimension.

The flipside takes it slower, deeper. On 'sei q tu gosta' (I know you like it), DJ Leal Original and MC Vuk Vuk's voices are transformed into ghosted sibilances next to xavi's sonar pings and woodblock hits with an almost avant-dancehall slant, like some choice Equiknoxx dub, while on 'cuidado bandida' (be careful bandit), he deploys bone-rattling trills that bite down on atmospherics that wouldn't be out of place on Akira Yamaoka's 'Silent Hill' OST.

Reissue of the third album from Brazilian combo. Creatively visionary and groundbreaking on numerous terms, 1975 'O Africanto dos Tincoãs' (as the previous Os Tincoas album) revolutionized Brazilian music by harmonizing Afro-religious singing, heavenly vocal harmonies, and Percussive rhythms derived from Candomblé traditions.

Even though it was recorded during a time of political repression, the album remains gentle, rhythmic, and eflecting Afro-Brazilian syncretism and resonating with themes of suffering, exile, and hope.

Before Edu released this album, he tried to break the English speaking market by releasing his “Sergio Mendes Presents Edu Lobo” album. This collection of his hits that he rebuilt and sung in English, was an opportunity for this market to experience an authentically new-Brazilian sound that was the equal of anything out there. So self assured of his own talent Edu came back to Brazil and concentrated in making an album that would make a statement on the importance of free will. His own terms were his unique Nordeste sound and just mind-boggling great arranging talents that came from Brazil’s folkloric and regional roots. He took what was becoming a generic mainstream jazz-influenced bossa nova sound and went beyond it displaying what he thought the pinnacle of post-bossa nova sound could be.

Psychedelic MPB Top! Such an incredible record – a true classic that is a companion piece to 'Clube Da Esquina' which came out the same year, 1972. Re-issued on Polysom, an essential Brazilian record.

Imagine it’s late afternoon, you’re outside by the lake, and there’s sunlight on the water. This is the peaceful and contemplative scene that Matt Gold and Resavoir set on their collaborative LP Horizon. Across 10 lush and exploratory tracks, it’s the product of two Chicago-based musicians—Will Miller, the acclaimed trumpeter, composer, and producer who’s worked with SZA, Whitney, and more, and Gold, a seasoned multi-instrumentalist and accomplished guitarist—effortlessly combining their distinct sensibilities for something hypnotic and tangibly inviting. What started as a love letter to their shared admiration for ‘60s and ‘70s Brazilian music evolved into a dynamic and sprawling body of work. These sunny and expansive tunes are as immersive as they are endlessly replayable.

Both Miller and Gold attended Oberlin College’s Conservatory of Music together and in the years after graduating, they orbited each other around Chicago’s music communities. “We were showing up for each other as friends and taking an interest in each other's projects, noticing a lot of resonances and similarities working within in our music,” says Gold, who’s collaborated with artists like Makaya McCraven and Jamila Woods and stretched the bounds of jazz and Americana on solo albums Imagined Sky and Midnight Choir. “We had talked so much about eventually working together that it was almost like an ongoing bit at a certain point,” says Miller. Though they had known each other for over a decade, they first had their chance on “Inside Minds,” the breezy lead single on 2023’s Resavoir. While those sessions were remote, two had palpable chemistry.

It wasn’t until Miller left the touring band of the Chicago group Whitney in 2023 that their plans to make music together in person came to fruition. “When I first started Resavoir, I was chasing the desire to produce records and now that I had time to focus exclusively on that, Matt was the first person I called to come to the studio,” says Miller. The two had bonded over an admiration for the Brazilian guitarist Luis Bonfa and songwriter Milton Nascimento, especially the latter’s work with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, so they decided to use nylon string guitar as a starting point for these early sessions. “Canopy,” which opens Horizon, was the earliest track. Kicking off with bright acoustic chords, the song slowly unfurls into a slinking groove, samples, and fluttering leads from soprano saxophonist Tim Bennett.

As these initial experiments proved successful, Gold and Miller felt they could broaden the scope of their vision. “We were initially conceiving of it as this acoustic guitar driven record but eventually we wanted to frame it orchestrally and see how many shades and colors we can bring in around that sound,” says Gold. “Dewy” thrives within this orchestral palette of woozy synths, strings from Macie Stewart, Claire Chenette’s oboe, flautist Wills McKenna, and French horns from Lloyd Billingham. “We discovered that our multi-instrumentalist mentalities—using piano and bass, samplers, drum grooves, guitar ideas all as starting points— nurtured the broad orchestration across this record,” says Miller.

“The LP took about a year with on-and-off sessions,” says Miller. “The songs benefit from letting them ferment for a couple months, coming back to it, and seeing what sort of new flavors have developed.” Co-produced by Miller and Gold (and mixed by Dave Vettraino), Horizon proudly reflects the artists’ vast artistic community and musical network in Chicago and beyond. Along with Gold, Eddie Burns (Clairo), Peter Mannheim (Tony Glausi), and Carter Lang (SZA, Lil Nas X) provide drums and percussion throughout. On the dreamlike single “Diversey Beach,” New York songwriter Mei Semones lends vocals and along with her band members Noah Leong and Claudius Agrippa, collaborated on a mesmerizingly conversational string arrangement. “We wrote "Diversey Beach" on the coldest day of the year watching a blizzard coming down out of the window, where the sounds of the cars driving by sounded like waves crashing on a beach,” says Miller. “I sent it to Mei Semones, who I’ve been a fan of for a long time. She's absolutely incredible and it’s amazing what she did with it.”

Horizon is a testament to the feeling of endless possibilities that come from collaboration. It’s a remarkable synthesis of two artists who share musical community and an artist lineage but have carved their own paths in unique ways. Nowhere is this more evident than “Hazel Canyon,” which boasts Gold’s silky pedal steel and a subtly enveloping arrangement that evokes Erasmo Carlos. “Musically, we're always trying to capture a fleeting moment of infinite expanse, feeling the vastness of things while knowing they'll always change,” says Gold. “This record keeps the light reflecting on the water just a little longer -- our collaborative process running through the backbone of these songs and rippling out in so many beautiful directions..”

“Prudência / Praga”, or “Prudence / Plague”, is a double single with these two songs that I composed and which were originally recorded by two of my heroes: Maria Bethânia and Alaíde Costa. Curiously, they are two sambas: although I come from the rock and roll scene in São Paulo, I wound up writing a samba as if it were the 50s. At the time of my first heartbreak, at the age of 17, I had the record Jamelão canta Lupicínio with the Orquestra Tabajara on my iPod, and I identified with those dramatic sorrows, almost a hundred years old. In a way, I felt that Lupicínio Rodrigues was bloody and direct, like Tarantino, and Nelson Cavaquinho, heavy metal like Black Sabbath. So, I feel it’s a compact 45 of sambas but it’s also very Rock n Roll to me. Raw and coming from hell.

“Prudência” is that internal battle between the passionate side and the controlling side in the head of the former romantic bohemian. I wrote it for Bethânia to record on her album Noturno. Her version turned into a moving bolero. When I saw her singing it live and the audience singing along with her, I couldn’t believe it. I cried, hidden in the audience. She said that when she showed the record to her brother, Caetano Veloso, he thought that “Prudência” was some old classic that she had dug up to bring back to light. Nothing could be a greater compliment than this mistake on Caetano’s part.

“Praga” also has to do with MPB heroes of mine that I never imagined I’d see up close or have any relationship with or any connection with. I was asked to write these lyrics in partnership with the main man Erasmo Carlos for Alaíde Costa’s album! Surreal. Like many people, I got acquainted with Alaíde listening to “Clube da Esquina,” her singing with Milton Nascimento. And the idea was to do a poisonous cabaret song samba. The curse of a woman who has dumped a drunk. I love it when Alaíde sings “BIBIDA” in her recording of the song—a total legend. I wanted to produce a kind of horror samba recording, because if it wasn’t rock and roll, it wouldn’t be much fun for me. I went over to Bielzinho’s, and we recorded this chorus that explodes with the percussion and the choir of my friends Tulipa, Maria Beraldo, and Luiza Lian.

This take of “Prudência” came from the unpretentiousness of recording two live sessions of the song with Fred Joseph with the cameras of the 70s’ program “Ensaio” (MPB Especial) by the great Fernando Faro. The video take ended up being so unexpected and raw that it unseated the studio version, and that’s what you hear on the single. The idea behind the video is a sort of this temporal mindfuck; like found lost tapes of the MPB Especial from the early the 70s. Same microphones, same cameras, that zoom—time travel.

Between Mil Coisas Invisíveis, the end of the cycle with O Terno, and starting the new album process, I decided to take advantage of the respite to release this rock and roll 45 of sambas, without thinking too much or over-producing the thing. “Prudence? Don’t talk to me about prudence!” 😉

-Tim Bernardes, 2025

The result of an 18-month residency in Rio de Janeiro, 'Só Ouço' distills classic Brazilian pop (think Gilberto Gil, Tom Zé and João Gilberto) into a sunbleached contemporary art-pop statement.

Genre-agnostic German-Spanish artist Wolfgang Pérez might not be Brazilian, but he's spent enough time in the country to at least come to terms with its rich musical history. He moved to Rio in 2022 on a university exchange to study composition, and extended his semester into three, learning the ropes under Brazilian masters Josimar Carneiro, Marcello Gonçalves and Almir Cortes. 'Só Ouço' emerged from jam sessions and shows around Rio with a cast of young players and it's surprisingly on-point material. Pérez was no doubt awed by his surroundings, and his collaborators help manage the tone precisely.

Milton Nascimento’s 1969 ‘Courage’ blends Brazilian music with jazz, marking his international debut. Featuring Herbie Hancock and arranged by Eumir Deodato, the album highlights Nascimento’s emotive vocals and lush arrangements. A timeless introduction to one of Brazil’s most unique voices.

In 1972, Joyce and Nelson recorded the LP Nelson Angelo e Joyce, her only professional recording between 1971 and 1975. Sophisticated in its simplistic sound, the album explores Joyce’s tender voice and Angelo’s melancholic mantra-shaped melodies. The duo fuse bossa nova and acoustic psychedelic rock in arrangements that incorporate nature sounds and ritual drumming. The opening track stands out with its angular chord changes and pretty melody, a perfect start. They trade tunes, Joyce sings Hotel Universo and Nelson sings the next track and then back to Joyce. A cohesive work from both musicians.

With the release of this seminal album, Veloso would become the leading voice of Tropicalia. The songs on this album immediately connected with people. Alegria, Algeria was his breakout hit that gained traction as a hymn for liberty advocates, juxtaposing images of Coca Cola, guerrilla groups, bombs and Brigitte Bardot as part of the everyday experience. The album's first song Tropicalia was an anthem for the whole movement; it's a fragmented allegory, a structure borrowed from friends in the concrete poetry scene, touching on divergent cultural symbols, events, allusions and idioms, nimbly representing and critiquing the many contradictions in the new Brazilian dictatorship. Superbacana (translated as 'Supergroovy') follows a hyperbolic superhero's use of technology to fight a gang of cowboys led by the money-hungry Uncle Scrooge, serving as allusions to American imperialism and greed felt in their country, all in the rapid-fi re structure of a comic book. The subtext in all these songs, which the dictatorship would not immediately catch, were that these repressed but glaring contradictions, not the bountiful sunny paradise that the military regime was pushing, were the true national identity. Unfortunately, these cleverly veiled jabs in Veloso and his contemporaries' bodies of work gained greater and greater exposure as the movement became more and more popular, leading to the arrest, imprisonment and forced exile of Veloso and many of his cohort.

Preview tracks

 

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is the fourth and most recent studio album by the Brazilian band O Terno. The record, which follows the acclaimed 2016 release "Melhor do Que Parece", features 12 unreleased compositions and musical experimentations that show a new path for the band. Released by Selo RISCO, it's filled with orchestral arrangements that add up the sound of the trio, formed by Tim Bernardes, Biel Basile and Guilherme d'Almeida, and also features special appearances by Devendra Banhart and Shintaro Sakamoto.

Authentic Brazilian music inspired and respected by the most legendary musicians of the genre: Seu Jorge, Arthur Verocai (who arranged strings on both Curyman albums), Arlindo Cruz (cowrote 100% Samba). A masterful contemporary that carries the legacy of the best of Brazilian music: past, present and future. Latin Grammy-nominated and Brazilian Music Awards-winning artist Rogê has become a pivotal figure in the resurgence of Música Popular Brasileira (MPB). With a rich career spanning over two decades, Rogê has released seven solo albums that have solidified his place in the contemporary Brazilian music scene. In March 2023, he released his U.S. debut album Curyman under Diamond West Records. Produced by Thomas Brenneck of the Budos Band who has worked with artists like Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Amy Winehouse the album is a celebration of samba infused with messages of resilience and redemption. Curyman not only marked the launch of Brenneck's new label but also reflected Rogê's deep belief in the power of music to inspire hope and perseverance. Now comes Curyman II. Building on the success of his U.S. debut, this album promises to deliver even more vibrant samba rhythms and thought provoking lyrics. As Rogê continues to evolve his sound and push the boundaries of Brazilian music, he remains dedicated to spreading the rich cultural heritage of Brazil to audiences around the world.

This essential reissue presents a rare collection of dub instrumental reggae tracks recorded by Tommy McCook (who you may know as the sax man from super ska outfit The Skatalites) and Bobby Ellis (who played the trumpet for dub legends The Upsetters) in 1977. Originally licensed to Grove Music, this still remarkable album features renowned musicians such as Sly and Robbie, Ansel Collins on organ, Clinton Fearon from The Gladiators on lead guitar, and Bernard Harvey of The Wailers on piano. The recordings took place at Channel One and were mixed at King Tubby Studio and every single tune cuts deep and with great authenticity.

For fans of: Sessa, Caetano, Veloso, Alabaster DePlume, Bala Desejo London has a bright new Brazilian talent in town, who goes by the name of MOMO. Not so new, actually. One of the recent generation of artists influenced by the Brazilian classics, from 1970s tropicália, Os Mutantes and Milton Nascimento. MOMO. releases his 7th album Gira, on Batov Records bringing together some very special musicians and guests from London’s bustling and hustling jazz community, with fellow Brazilian artists, recorded and cut to tape at East London’s Total Refreshment Center. A journeying collaboration which effortlessly swings, guided by Marcelo Frota’s soft yet reassuringly familiar vocal, with ruminative and explorative brass twists, Gira was recorded with friends and guests including Alabaster DePlume on tenor sax (in whose band Marcelo toured), Jessica Lauren on keys, Tamar Osborn on baritone sax, Nick ‘Emanative’ Woodmansey on drums, Carwyn Ellis of Rio 18 fame on piano, Magnus Mehta from Penya on percussion and Caetano Malta on bass. Gira is MOMO.’s eighth album yet his first recorded in London. After a musical odyssey that took him from his home of Rio de Janeiro to Angola, Michigan, Chicago, Spain and Lisbon, MOMO. now calls London his home, where he lives with his young family, and whose creative spirit has inspired him for the last three years. Unsurprisingly, therefore, the new album marks a real departure. His debut from 2006, A Estética do Rabisco was named one of the best albums of the year by the Chicago Reader and set Marcelo’s musical path in motion. His singer-songwriting talents have already earned him plaudits from royalty like Patti Smith and David Byrne and he was invited to participate in A Tribute to Caetano to mark the 70th birthday of Brazilian musical legend, Caetano Veloso. Inspired by seeing his young daughter breaking out in dance to some music at home, MOMO. thought, "I would love to make an album that she could dance to" and Gira was conceived. In recruiting his new London friends as collaborators, MOMO. rekindled the fun and feel of his earliest recordings in Rio, when he would invite people over to his studio and "just see what happened." And the best way to capture such spontaneous energy was to record Gira live. In this case, at London’s Total Refreshment Centre, a creative hub that is also a concert space, artist workshop and studio which has become a beacon for jazz music since its ‘warehouse’ inception in 2012 by promoter Lex Blondin. The title Gira means to move. "It made sense to start with the grooves, the patterns, then start filling in the melodies,” MOMO. explains. So drummer Nick Woodmansey, leader of the genre-melting jazz collective Emanative, along with co-founder of Penya, percussionist Magnus Mehta, and fellow Brazilian immigrant and bassist Caetano Malta, combine to anchor the resulting effortless grooves, while other contributors then spark the little touches of magic in its wake. Alabaster DePlume's saxophone adds an exotic touch to Oqueeei. Francesca Ter-Berg's cello adds a startling dimension to two of the longer improvisations, the superb opener Pára and A Walk in the Park. Rosie Turton's brash, brittle trombone embellishes Summer Interlude and the first single, Jão. Inspired by the early work of Tim Maia, the album's shortest song pictures a guy in a gafieira (where people go to dance to samba in couples), MOMO. explains, "just dancing and having fun." Fun is a hallmark of Gira. "You come, you play, we have fun," MOMO. told his collaborators. You can hear it so clearly on that simmering eight-minute-plus opener Pára, chosen as the second single: the way MOMO. savours its memorable vocal refrain like a tasty morsel while Jessica Lauren's keyboard vamp takes root and Tamar Osborn's deliciously resonant baritone sax echoes Ronnie Cuber’s trademark work for Eddie Palmieri on Harlem River Drive. Fun, too, is what MOMO. had in collaborating with his old friend Wado on the lyrics to six of the album's 10 songs. The third and final single Rio, for example, is a tribute to the city where MOMO. grew up and first learned to play the guitar. Appropriately, Carwyn Ellis of Rio 18 fame was invited to play electric piano and add his touch to the song. The album’s finale, the focus and title track, is ”like folkloric music, like a baião but with a London vibe.” Gira is a new departure for MOMO. While previous albums have always started with guitar and voice, Gira begins with the groove – yet succeeds sublimely in balancing this new emphasis on spontaneous improvisation and songwriting. “Life brought me to London and I think I’ve made my lightest album; it could only have been created here." When Brazil meets London, you can't help but move to the groove.

When his Brazilian LP first appeared on Philips in 1967, both Gal Costa and Caetano Veloso had released only a few singles individually, so this is the first long player from either of them. Although presented as a team effort, this LP is actually mostly Caetano Veloso’s work, with him composing, performing and arranging most of the songs. Gal is featured as the solo vocalist on a few tracks and there are a few duets. These are almost art songs with a tropical wrapping, sometimes defying normal pop song convention by quickly fading out after only 90 seconds or so without a hook or chorus to grab onto, but there’s great vocal control and careful use of strings in the arrangements. This captures a moment when bossa nova was the best known musical export of Brazil, largely through the hugely popular work of Jobim and Astrud Gilberto, but neither Costa nor Velosos would ever sing and play so gently and lushly as this again…they both were to be major figures in the psychedelia-influenced Tropicalia movement that became a cultural and political force in Brazil only a year after this LP was released.

In 1975, Joyce Moreno, who had just wrapped up a tour with legendary Brazilian composer Vinicius de Moraes, found herself in a studio with producer Sergio Bardotti in Rome, Italy. She had been taking a break from writing and she decided to pick up a selection of her favorite compositions from contemporary Brazilian writers who‘s songs were beacons of hope in times of an ongoing intense Military leadership in her home country. Unlike their previous albums, these recordings live from their reductiveness and intimacy. For a long time, Passarinho Urbano was considered a secret masterpiece and was highly sought after by record collectors, now Week–End Records is glad to be making it available internationally on vinyl for the first time ever.

This record shows many different places, from some electronics, SambaJazz, Batucada, etc. Surprise. Perhaps almost unknown by many friends at Loronix. This is a work of a serious Jazz Band. This cover edition is sponsored by Varig Airlines that gave this album as a gift to their DC-10 passengers.