GUILHERME COUTINHO E O GRUPO STALO Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Brazillian music boffins Mr Bongo have pressed up the 1978 self-titled classic from Guilherme Coutinho E O Grupo Stalo so those who want a piece of this mythical classic no longer have to get a mortgage to do so. It's a stunning mix of lo-fi and laidback tropicalia, jazz, funk and MPB with a signature sun-kissed sound that will melt you into your sun lounger on a lazy afternoon. This one is incredibly hard to find even in Brazil and marked a high water mark for band leader and keyboard player Guilherme Coutinho. He was only 41 when he died in 1983 but his legacy lives on with this album which is distinct from many others of the time with its alluring vocal deliveries and charming arrangements.

Review: Since it was first released in the collective's native Brazil in 1978, the self-titled debut album from Guilherme Coutinho E O Groupo Stalo has become a sought-after item amongst collectors of Latin jazz. This reissue - the first of any kind - proves why. Offering a mixture of samba-soaked Latin jazz rhythms, sweet vocals, spacey analogue synthesizer sounds, Azymuth style electric piano motifs, MPB style songwriting and Brazilian jazz-funk stylistic tropes, it's a joyously sunny and quirkily off-kilter affair that impresses from start to finish. Production wise it's a little loose and fuzzy round the edges, but that only adds to the album's obvious allure. Recommended!