Alaíde Costa – Coração (1976)

Produced by Milton Nascimento and Mariozinho Rocha

Arrangements – Joao Donato

Joao Donato (piano)
Novelli (bass)
Robertinho Silva (drums)
Nelson Angelo (guitars)
Toninho Horta (electric guitar)
Ivan Lins (piano on track Corpos)
Joao Donato, Beto Guedes, Novelli, Nelson Angelo and Fernando Leporace (backing vocals)

01 – Pai Grande (Milton Nascimento)
02 – O Samba Que Eu Lhe Fiz (Sueli Costa)
03 – Coração (Nelson Ângelo / Ronaldo Bastos)
04 – Catavento (Milton Nascimento)
05 – Quem Sou Eu (Johnny Alf)
06 – Sonho e Fantasia (João Donato / Lysias Ênio)
07 – Corpos (Ivan Lins / Vitor Martins)
08 – Pé Sem Cabeça (Danilo Caymmi / Ana Borba)
09 – Tomara (Novelli / Paulo César Pinheiro / Maurício Tapajós)
10 – Viver de Amor (Toninho Horta / Ronaldo Bastos)
11 – Tempo Calado (Alaíde Costa / Paulo Alberto Ventura)
12 – O Que Se Sabe de Cor (Fernando Leporace)

Another fine album from Alaide Costa, this time with Milton Nascimento producing and the one and only João Donato on keys and arrangements. It’s a fine record, but Milton’s production is a bit on the slick side and, in my opinion, sometimes heavy-handed. Milton was well on the road to international respect as a Brazilian jazz-pop-fusion star, but this record sees him still clinging to some of the charms of the Clube da Esquina period. A bunch of the players from that Minas Gerais scene are here, and the repetoire includes songs penned by Toninho Horta, Nelson Angelo, Ronaldo Bastos, and of course Milton. The first song is from the latter’s 1970 album, where it received a much more psychedelic performance, and frankly this one leaves me cold but I suppose Milton wanted to make sure we knew he was producing this. But lest we forget of Alaíde’s bossa nova roots, we move right along with “O Samba Que Eu Lhe Fiz” and soon after, the highlight of this album for me — her version of Johnny Alf’s “Quem Sou Eu.” Other standout tracks are Danilo Caymi / Ana Borba’s “Pem Se Cabeça,” and “Viver de Amor” from Horta & Bastos, both songs bringing a bossa-informed MPB sound that suits Alaíde’s style quite nicely. The closer, “O Que Se Sabe De Cor,” is everything that makes Alaíde will leave you, well, wanting more as the alternate title says. The orchestration from Donato is very good throughout, helping keep things interesting in a set of songs that tend to stay around the same mid-tempo pace.

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