Just bought a re-release of the first album from Azimüth, the funky band from Brazil. This recording was made in 1974/75 and the main reason for buying is was the great keyboard-set José Roberto Bertrami had: Fender Rhodes, acoustic piano, ARP Synth 2600, Moog satelite, ARPO solist, clavinet, ARP Strings and Hammond. They sounded a bit like the Dutch band Solution at times. A bit rougher, fuzzy than later recordings.
That shit is awesome....It reminds me a lot of the music in 1970s Sesame Street....(and, no, Im not being a smart ass as a LOT of that stuff was awesome music)
Love that band....I have a bunch of their albums. Their recent stuff is getting back to their roots, less "produced" and less "Disco-ish," if that makes sense. Also, Bertrami's solo stuff and Alex Malheiros' stuff is also cool.
Malheiros used to play a fretless Ric. That's pretty rare.
They spelled their name Azymuth after the first album, BTW.
Early Azimuth/Azimuth is great, especially the first album and Aguia Nao Come Mosca. Newbies will want to avoid stuff like Tudo Bem and other 80s/90s albums.
I don't know the band very well, so it's hard to see what the real chronology of the recordings is. According to Discogs it seems Aguia Nao is the first album under the name Azymuth in 1977, while the one mentioned in OP is released in 1975 as Azimüth.Originally Posted by dropforge
The ones to get are:
Azymuth - Azimuth
Azymuth - AGUIA NAO COME MOSCA
Azymuth - Light As a Feather
Azymuth - OUTBRO
and any of the newer ones on the Far Out label are great!
Also José Roberto Bertrami's solo albums are excellent, particularly Aventura and Things are Different!
Saw them at The Bottom Line in the late 80's/early 90's. Phenomenal live. I think they were at The Blue Note a dozen or so years ago too but didn't see them then.
Still going; from a month ago-
Better vid from 2 years ago-
http://www.azymuth.net/ Seems they'll be in Rio next week.
"Henry Cow always wanted to push itself, so sometimes we would write music that we couldn't actually play – I found that very encouraging." - Lindsay Cooper, 1998
"I have nothing to do with Endless River. Phew! This is not rocket science people, get a grip." - Roger Waters, 2014
"I'm a collector. And I've always just seemed to collect personalities." - David Bowie, 1973
Count me as a fan. I fell hook, line and sinker for their great keyboards and bass.
I managed to get Light As A Feather. Although it has some typical disco-percussion sounds, the bass and keyboards make it fun to listen to.
Were these the guys who did 'Jazz Carnival'? That was a reasonable sized UK hit.
Yes, they were. It's on Light As A Feather. The 2012-edition has two bonus-versions of this track, a full original mix and an Ashley Beedle and Yam Who? Remix.
Cool! That's an Airto tune; well, I'm not positive he wrote it, but I think he did and at any rate, he recorded it in '79.
"Partido alto" is actually the name of a Brazilian rhythm. It's kind of a funky, backwards samba, based on the rhythm the pandeiro (tambourine with a skin) plays in a samba. Literally, partido alto means "the high part." I love that rhythm and a bunch of the tunes that utilize it.
Just picked up a copy of Telecommunication on vinyl. No one seems to have mentioned this one. I find it pretty tasty.
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ZT did a listening/commentary segment on two tracks from their debut EP. Dig those vintage ARP sounds.
Bought a recent re-release of Aguia Nao Com Mosca plus an album with previously unreleased demo's, recorded between 1973 and 1975.
Next one will probably be OUTBRO.
Funny thing is that when I recently discovered the Dutch trio The Keyboard Circle I thought they sounded just like Azymuth without the Latin-vibe:
Yes, "Telecommunication" and "Rapid Transit" were sort of a 1-2 punch of similar sounds in the early 80's; both are great releases.
"Volta a Turma" from 1991 was a departure for their sound and is probably as close as they got to harder fusion (a different line-up temporarily). "Pieces of Ipanema" and "Brazilian Soul" are the absolute top albums to get from their later catalogue; really outstanding Brazilian Jazz sounds to be explored there).
I remember an article about their bassist in Guitar Player about a million years ago (well, more like 30-33 years ago). As I recall, his main bass was made from some type of nearly extinct wood, which he liked because it handled Brazil's humid climate well.
Hello Gang!.
Something special:
Demos (1973-75) Volumes 1&2 by Azymuth.
(released May 31, 2019)
More:
https://azymuth.bandcamp.com/album/d...75-volumes-1-2
A favorite here from last year!.
Pura Vida!.
There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind. ∞
Duke Ellington.
^^Yes, that's the one I meant in post #16. The only track I mostly skip is the drum-solo (12. Bateria Do Mamão).
For a while he was playing a fretless Ric. I kid you not.
"And this is the chorus.....or perhaps it's a bridge...."
Funny coincidence: yesterday I read a review about a festival in Amsterdam which took place while I was in that city. Well, I missed it, so I also missed Azymuth, one of the performing acts on this events. But I did buy some new music with members of that band last week. Alex Malheiros and Ivan Conti perform on tracks from "What Do The Stars Say To You" by Ron Trent Presents Warm. Also playing on one track: Jean-Luc Ponty!!! Ron Trent is a known producer and DJ of so-called deephouse, but on this album he mixes his music with jazz-rock and some Kit Watkins-like keyboard-prog. Great Summer-music.
Sphere (featuring Jean-Luc Ponty)
Melt Into You (featuring members of Azymuth)
Thanks for the heads up on this! ...from two years ago it seems. The demos are great, and besides how can you not like a band with an umlaut in the name?
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