Early 70s demos from Brazilian fusion band Azymuth released by Far Out Recordings
After being shelved for over 40 years, the earliest demo recordings from legendary Brazilian fusion band Azymuth have finally been made available by the London-based label, Far Out Recordings.
Featuring keyboardist Jose Roberto Bertrami, bassist Alex Malheiros, drummer Ivan ‘Mamão’ Conti, and percussionist Ariovaldo Contesini, the Rio de Janeiro-based quartet released some of the most remarkable Brazilian-influenced jazz-funk and fusion recordings during the seventies and eighties, including their 1975 self-titled debut Azimüth, Águia Não Come Mosca (1977), Light as a Feather (1979), Outubro (1980), Telecommunication (1981), and many others. The group’s overall sound was well-ahead of it’s time, incorporating a wide range of influences from both the United States and Brazil. They were able to brilliantly fuse together electric jazz instrumentation, heavy-hitting funk grooves, and progressive rock with their native sounds of samba, bossa nova, and tropicália.
Now after four decades, Far Out Recordings has made the group’s earliest demo sessions available. These sixteen previously unheard tracks, which includes a great early version of the jazz-funk classic “Manhã,” were recorded between 1973-75 at Bertrami’s home studio in Rio de Janeiro. Even though the band didn’t originally receive a lot of traction with these recordings, the demos truly showcase the early stages of Azymuth’s brilliant seventies-era Brazilian jazz fusion sound, ranking right up their with some of their greatest work.
The demos were eventually re-discovered in 1994 when English producers Joe Davis and Roc Hunter arrived in Brazil to record the first Azymuth album in over a decade, and Bertrami dug them up after virtually not being touched for over 20 years. The two producers were immediately blown away by the sound, and it led to the track “Prefacio” being re-recorded for the group’s 1996 Carnival album, which was their first on Far Out Recordings.
Overall, this is a phenomenal release that strongly captures the band’s early creative outlook, a sound that eventually led the group to become one of the most visionary Brazilian band’s of their time.
Azymuth — ‘Demos (1973-75) Volumes 1&2’
(Far Out Recordings)
01. Prefacio
02. Castelo (Version 1)
03. Melô Da Cuica
04. Xingó (Version 1)
05. Laranjeiras
06. Equipe 68
07. Unknown Jam
08. Unknown Song for Mario Telles
09. Duro De Roer
10. Manhã
11. Tempos Do Paraná
12. Bateria Do Mamão
13. Quem Tem Medo
14. Xingó (Version 2)
15. Juntos Mais Uma Vez
16. Castelo (Version 2)
