Tags: Latin Jazz

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!

Review: A key accelerant in the early 70s MPB melting pot; decorated sessionist, composer and band leader Salvador's 1971-released album is a fizzing brew of bossa, samba, funk, carioca brought together with energy and a fused rawness that has led to OG copies regularly going for around 200. The range is everything in this fourth album; from the sudden floor filling party flourish of the opener "Uma Vida" to the Beatles-like narrative oddity "O Rio" to the orchestral boogaloo of "Number One", this is Salvador at the peak of his fusionista powers.

Review: Mariana Zwarg is an accomplished Brazilian flutist and saxophonist who presented her Universal Sexteto group in 2020 with the Nascentes album. Released on CD by Scubidu Music, it's now getting a vinyl pressing thanks to Equinox in Australia, getting the music further afield, which it thoroughly deserves. Zwarg's group deals in a modern, sprightly kind of jazz led by her own joyous vocals and flute flurries, but there's also a sense of the deep heritage of Brazilian jazz hanging behind everything she does. It's a vibrant album bursting with kinetic energy - just the kind of revitalising tonic to lift the spirits through long winter months in the Northern hemisphere.

Review: The Warm World Of Joao Gilberto from 1963 welcomes you deep into the iconic sounds of the so-called Godfather of bossa nova. Brazilian legend Joao pretty much invented the sound and this collection is a comprehensive selection of some of his most pivotal works from 1958 to 1961. While listening you can hear a nascent bossa sound emerging from the speakers as the formerly rare unknown and then late 20-something explored new rhythms and rich harmonies that make for mesmerising and addictive listening. The album is something of a grail so snap up this reissue while you can.

Review: As with its five predecessors, the sixth volume in the Mr Bongo Record Club series of compilations is another must-check affair. Keeping the same "lesser-known music we like and want to share" approach, the 21-track collection drifts between drowsy, jazz-powered ambient pop (Japao), righteous gospel disco (New York Community Choir's sublime 'I'll Keep a Light in My Window'), floor-friendly Latin jazz-funk fusion (The Drive), suspenseful big band mambo (Manny Corchado & His Orchestra), soaring 1970s dancefloor soul (Vee Gees), samba-funk (Copa 7), dubby and dreamy pop (Dina Ogon), acoustic guitar-smothered dream pop psychedelia (Matta), and much more besides.