Once in a great while the stars align in the world of record collecting and very extreme rare recordings will resurface. Some of you might know from my online posts and past reviews elsewhere that across the past five or so years I’ve been diving deeply into the music of Brazilian multi-instrumentalist composer-wizard Hermeto Pascoal (recipient of an honorary doctorate from Juilliard last year).
I have been continually amazed at the wonders from this alternate musical universe (if you will), unveiling a wealth of sonically delicious, progressive, melodic and ultimately inspiring sounds hailing from Northern Brazil.
On my recent trip to Los Angeles, I was gobsmacked to find a reissue of one of the “holy grails” of Brazilian jazz: the 1967 album by Quarteto Novo. This was something of a proto-super group as it featured Pascoal — who a few years later would be featured on Miles Davis’ 1970 Live Evil 2LP — as well as legendary percussionist composer Airto Moreira who also played with Davis as well as Weather Report, Return To Forever, Deodato, Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum, Santana and many others.
Quarteto Novo pointed toward the future direction for Brazilian music, lifting off from popular bossa nova and less well known Northern Brazilian (Baião) music styles. Infused with the joy and wonder of expansive improvisation and more complex compositional structures, this album sounds absolutely timeless.
The new reissue of Quarteto Novo from France’s Jazzybelle Records label ($45 at Amazon) is really quite lovely, especially given the obscurity of this release (the five rare original copies on Discogs are selling for between $300 and $1100). I don’t now how this compares to the original but it certainly sounds better than my CD copy. The vinyl pressing quality is excellent — quiet and well centered —with respectable packaging recreating the simple black and white original album art and even the label design elements.
As if Quarteto Novo‘s reissue wasn’t enough, when I returned to San Francisco I was yet further gobsmacked (!) finding the one earlier album Pascoal and Airto released in 1965 — Em Som Maior, by Sambrasa Trio ($26 at Amazon). There are only a few original Brazilian pressings Discogs right now, all selling for more than $200 each.
Once again the music here is forward looking. And while not quite as complex as Quarteto Novo. you can feel its place in the architectural trajectory of this luscious, rich musical future that is Brazilian jazz.
I’m quite pleased with the sound quality on this reissue of Em Som Maior — the recording captures the raw energy of this trio in remarkably high fidelity for such an obscure release. The pressing quality is exemplary and the album recreates the fascinating original album art and basic design of the label. Kudos to Spain’s Vampi Soul Records for bringing this lost gem to a wider audience in such fine form.
If you like progressive bossa nova jazz sounds, do check out these albums, as well as the rest of the catalog from Hermeto Pascoal as well as Airto (their universes often intersect, especially early on).
This is the good stuff folks!
Mark Smotroff is a deep music enthusiast / collector who has also worked in entertainment oriented marketing communications for decades supporting the likes of DTS, Sega and many others. He reviews vinyl for Analog Planet and has written for Audiophile Review, Sound+Vision, Mix, EQ, etc. You can learn more about him at LinkedIn.
