Joyce Moreno & Toninho Horta: Sem Você (2007)
Two of my favourite artists in Brazil (or perhaps the world) on the same disc. Two masters playing samba, bossa nova, jazz, sublime guitar.
Azymuth: Light As A Feather (2012)
Complex yet danceable mix of jazz, fusion, and disco. Makes me feel like digging into Azymuth’s entire collection. Partido Alto has a funky offbeat rhythm that’s actually in 4; Avenida Das Mangueiras stomps along—driving pulse with funk sixteenth note solos; the second section of Light As A Feather mixes jazz and bossa nova brazil with an uber-tight drum foundation; Fly Over The Horizon reminds me of Weather Report; Jazz Carnival goes full on disco; Young Embrace is a bouncy, swaying electronic biological thing, obviously from Brazil.
The drummer from their band joined with Madlib to form “Jackson Conti” and release Sujinho (2008): jazz/hip-hop instrumentals mixed with pandeiro and all sorts of Brazilian instruments and rhythms, Coltrane-era sax solos, synth riffs, flute melodies—I’ve never heard anything like this.
From The World’s End soundtrack (2013). Body-shaker, head-banger, wall-breaker—100% energy using cues from techno song forms. I have some nostalgia for Lil Jon’s general screaming and expletives. Moving!
Lingua Ignota: PENNSYLVANIA FURNACE
From SINNER GET READY (2021). Filled with dark piano textures, and a strong, pure vocal tone that manages to create this deep and expansive intensity with just a few parts. Reminds me of how powerful the acoustic piano can be. You can hear the pedals of the piano triggering overtones…