Month: December 2009

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Eumir Deodato / Neco – Samba Nova Concepção (1964)

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Eumir Deodato
Samba Nova Concepção
Released 1964 on Equipe label (EQ-803)
Reissue 2007 on Atração Fonográfico (ATR41035)

The inner panel that contains some info specifically about this album is barely legible in the included scan, due to the way the digipak is constructed. I have therefore taken the liberty of reproducing it here, and translating it from Portuguese to English:

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///// An album originally released on vinyl by the Equipe label in 1964, “Samba Nova Concepção” counts among its participants some of the musicians that would be join together for the band “Os Catedráticos do Samba,” that accompanied Eumir Deodato on his subsequent albums like “Impulso” and “Ataque”. Amidst those who formed the group were drummer Wilson das Neves, saxophonist Alberto Gonçalves, bassist Luiz Marinho, and Daudeth de Azevedo, also known as Neco, guitarist responsible for the disc’s arrangements and the direction of the musicians during the recording. Eumir Deodato played piano on all 12 cuts.* (see note at bottom)

In the repertoire of the album we have themes from the record “Coisas” by master Moacir Santos, such as ‘Coisa no.1″ and “Nanã (Coisa no.5), songs from representatives of Bossa Nova like Roberto Menescal, Ronaldo Boscoli, and the brothers Valle (Marcos and Sérgio), alongside one song by Jorge Ben Jor, “Capoeira”, from his second album “Sacundin Ben Samba” released the same year of 1964.

Just like all the other five discs of the Brazilian maestro and pianist released in the Coleção Galeria (on the Atração label) ……. “Samba Nova Concepção” shows the early musical production by one of the Brazilian artists most highly-esteemed outside Brazil, with his roots in bossa nova, in samba, and in jazz.

**Note: as pointed out below in the info lifted from a wonderful online discography of Deodato I’ve come across, this album was not originally released under his name but rather that of Neco — guitarist, arranger, and conductor for the sessions. That the Atração label omits this fact in their liner notes is… interesting.
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SAMBA NOVA CONCEPÇÃO
Neco
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: c. 1964
Clélio Ribeiro (tp); José Araújo (Zé Bodega) (ts); Jorge Ferreira Da Silva (Jorginho) (as,f); Emilio Baptista (as); Alberto Gonçalves (bs); Eumir Deodato (p); Daudeth de Azevedo (Neco) (g,arr,cond); Luiz Marinho (b); Wilson Das Neves (d); Jorge Arena (cga); Humberto Garin (guiro); Rubens Bassini (perc).

a. Samba No Congo (Jorge Ferreira da Silva) – 2:24
b. Adriana (Roberto Menescal/Luiz Fernando Freire) – 2:08
c. Estamos Aí (Durval Ferreira/Mauricio Einhorn) – 1:56
d. Carnaval Triste (Sergio Carvalho/Paulo Bruce) – 2:14
e. Nanã (Moacir Santos/Mario Telles) – 3:20
f. Straits Of McClellan (Don Elliott) – 3:13
g. Capoeira (Jorge Ben) – 2:23
h. Sonho De Maria (Marcos Valle/Paulo Sergio Valle) – 3:22
i. Samba A (Durval Ferreira/Mauricio Einhorn) – 2:53
j. Amor De Nada (Marcos Valle/Paulo Sergio Valle) – 2:22

same, except Euclides J. Conceição, Pedro Luiz de Assis (as); Adherbal Moreira (bs); Tenório Jr. (p).

k. Coisa No.1 (Moacir Santos/Clóvis Mello – 1:52
l. A Morte De Um Deus De Sal (Roberto Menescal/Ronaldo Bôscoli) – 3:08

Note: While the music on this album was originally released under Neco’s name (Equipe (Br) EQ-803), it has subsequently become credited in further issues and compilations to the music’s producer and pianist, Eumir Deodato (with kind thanks to Paulo Sá Pereira, musician and professor of MPB at Ribeirão Preto College – Sao Paulo, who alerted me to this fact).

Issues: a-l on Equipe (Br) EQ-803, Ubatuqui (Sp) UBCD-502 [CD], Ubatuqui (Sp) UBCD-102 [CD], Bomba (Jap) BOM-22083 [CD].
Samplers: a-j also on Irma (It) 508350-2 [CD] titled THE BOSSA NOVA SESSIONS VOL. 1. b also on Irma (It) 508814-2 [CD] titled A DAY IN RIMINI. h & j also on Irma (It) 507901-2 [CD] titled SUMMER SAMBA.
Producer: Eumir Deodato. Executive Producer: Ogide. (LP). Eumir Deodato & Arnaldo DeSouteiro (CD).
Engineer: Umberto Contardi
Notes: Myriam Conceição.

Note: As with all posts here over the last month or two, the ID TAGS included restored diacritical characters (ç, ã, é, and so on ) as well as songwriting credits on each individual track. You may need to configure your media player to see these while listening, but you can also simply right-click (on a Windows OS) and see songwriter credits under “properties”. Also note that if you decompress to WAV and archive (that means you, Simon..), as far as I know you completely lose these ID tags.

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Johnny Alf – Diagonal (1964)

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Johnny Alf
“Diagonal”
Released 1964 on RCA-Victor
Reissued by Sony/BMG – RCA

Johnny Alf is one of the older figures in the nascent bossa nova movement who inspired everybody and then failed to receive the same recognition as the young scrappy bunch that ended up putting it on the map. Although his name is more associated with the effloresence of that scene in the 1950s, he didn’t record until the 1960s. This is his second album. A jazz crooner of the first order, the combo backing him up is tight as can be on this record, peppered with the rhythmic organ of Celso Murilo, with wonderful brass and woodwind work going on as icing on the cake. Alf also wrote a great deal of his own material, setting him apart from the majority of singers in the genre. The title track sees him having a harmonic scat duet with himself, using overdubbing techniques that most people weren’t taking advantage of in 1964 jazz bossa. This album is a delight.

01 – Disa (Johnny Alf / Maurício Einhorn)
02 – O Céu Você (Luis Bonfá / Maria Helena Toledo)
03 – Bondinho do Pão-de-açúcar (Armando Cavalcanti / Victor Freire)
04 – Podem Falar (Johnny Alf)
05 – Vejo a Tarde Cair (Tita / Edwiges)
06 – Desejo do Mar (Marcos Valle / Paulo Sergio Valle)
07 – Céu e Mar (Johnny Alf)
08 – “Seu” Chopin Desculpe (Johnny Alf)
09 – Diagonal (Durval Ferreira / Maurício Einhorn)
10 – Moça-flor (Durval Ferreira / Luis Fernando Freire)
11 – Têrmos de Canção (Victor Freire / Johnny Alf)
12 – Triste Noturno (Zé Maria / Johnny Alf)

Celso Murilo – organ, piano, arrangements
Santos, Maurilio, Hamilton, Julinho and Wagner – trumpets
Ze Bodega – tenor sax
Aurino – baritone sax, Macaxeira and Norato
Jorginho – alto sax and flute
Macaxeira and Norato – trombones
Neco – electric guitar
Luis Marinho – bass
Edison Machado – drums
Johnny Alf – vocal

There is a biographical article about Johnny Alf, written by Duracell bunny, that you can read here

Johnny Alf – Diagonal (1964) in 320 kbs em pee three

Johnny Alf – Diagonal (1964)in FLAC LOSSLESS AUDIO format

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Trinity – Three Piece Suit (1977)

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Tracklist:
Song Of The Midnight Hour
Queen Majesty
Render Your Heart
John Saw Them Coming
Strictly Cash
Rasta Dub
Kingston Two Rock
Mr Bassie
Three Piece Suit
Mohammed Ali
U Brown – Nice Up The Yard *
Jamaican Dollar *
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Release history:
Joe Gibbs LP #none 1977
Joe Gibbs Europe LP #JGELP 006 2006
Joe Gibbs Europe CD #JGECD 007 2006
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Producer : Errol Thompson & Joe Gibbs
Engineer : Errol Thompson

Vocals : Trinity
Drums : Sly Dunbar
Bass : Lloyd Parks & Robbie Shakespeare
Guitar : Eric Lamont & Bo Peep
Organ : Harold Butler & Franklyn Bubbler Waul
Piano : Franklyn Bubbler Waul & Errol Nelson
Alto Saxophone : Herman Marquis
Trombone : Vin Gordon
Trumpet : Bobby Ellis
Tenor Saxophone : Tommy McCook
Percussions : Sticky & Ruddy Thomas

Studios :
Recording : Joe Gibbs (Kingston, JA)

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Deejay Trinity, born February 10, 1954 in Kingston, was a keen follower of soundsystems such as Tippertone, El Paso, Kentone and King Tubby’s HiFi, to name but a few. At soundsystem Vee Jay the Dubmaster he started his career and there stayed for some four years. It’s not sure whether he recorded his first tune for producer Derrick Harriott (‘Owner Fi De Yard’) or for Channel One boss JoJo HooKim (‘Step Up Yourself’), both tunes released in 1976.

After doing some more tunes for JoJo, he switched to the then in-demand producer Joe Gibbs, where he recorded his most popular tune Three Piece Suite in just one cut! The tune utilized the riddim of Marcia Aitken’s updated version of Alton Ellis’ Studio One hit I’m Still In Love. The whimsical version by teenage schoolgirl duo, Althea Forrest and Donna Reid — ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ — was virtually ignored when first released; the preferred cut was Trinity’s piece on the riddim! A slew of fine singles followed: John Saw Them Coming, ‘Starsky and Hutch’ and ‘Judgement Time’. Joe Gibbs released Trinity’s debut LP in 1977, predictably under the title ‘Three Piece Suit’.

At the time of this album’s original release deejay Trinity was — alongside fellow deejays Dillinger and Ranking Trevor — at the height of his powers and popularity. After his stay at Joe Gibbs’ he went on recording for Prince Tony Robinson, Alvin Ranglin and he also released some self-produced albums. In 1987 he resurfaced as Junior Brammer – a fine vocalist – and under that moniker he put out two vocal albums.

The ‘Three Piece Suit’ album has been a sought after piece for a long time. Now Crazy Joe Records in France has re-released this classic deejay album in truly fine style. The digipack format includes two wicked bonus tracks, and comes in the original, amusing sleeve art. The sound quality is excellent, probably they have used the original tapes.

The ten album songs offered here utilize the classic Jamaican riddims which Joe Gibbs used for tons of his productions. Queen Majesty is Rocksteady style, riding the riddim of the same name. Strickly Cash tackles another rocksteady riddim, the Jamaicans ‘Ba Ba Boom’ tune. ‘Heart and Soul’ was a hit for Junior Byles, here Trinty lays down a wicked rendition called Render Your Heart. Bob Marley’s ‘Hypocrites’ riddim is used in full effect on John Saw Them Coming. Jacob Miller, by the way, delivered a stunning version on the same riddim for Joe Gibbs as well. Studio One’s Coxsone Dodd released several tunes on the ‘Rockfort Rock’ riddim. Joe Gibbs loved the riddim and Trinity voiced his cut calling it Kingston Two Rock, complete with some bizarre sound effects. Muhammed Ali is cut across the ‘Joe Frazier'(!) riddim.

The bonus tracks are two 45’s on Joe Gibbs’ Belmont label. The first one — Nice Up The Yard on the ‘Boxing’ riddim — sees Trinity in combination with U Brown, while the second tune is a hard roots tune on Gibbs’ cut to the Gaylads ‘Hard To Confess’.

information compiled and reproduced without permission from reggae-vibes.com and Roots Archive.org

Even if the music on this disc sucked, you will still have one of the coolest album covers ever. Thankfully the tunes are of an equally high standard. The song Mohammed Ali scares me though, and its necessary to turn on all the lights in the house and check all the cupboards for gremlins. You might notice “Nice Up The Yard” has the same chant as ‘Soul Makossa’ that would later be reappropriated by MJ who would then give “permission” to meritless/talentless pop divas to use “his” material..

When I get married, I am going to list “dub toaster” on the gift registry. An original copy of this LP will suffice nicely.

Don’t worry, it’s very unlikely this situation will ever occur in real life.

Enjoy this THREE PIECE SUIT!

Trinity – Three Piece Suit (1977) in 320kbs em pee tree

Trinity – Three Piece Suit (1977) in FLAC LOSSLESS AUDIO