Azymuth – Telecommunication (1982) (2023 Jazz Dispensary Top Shelf)

Azymuth – Telecommunications
Vinyl rip in 24-bit/192 kHz | Brazilian Jazz
Distributed as FLAC (24/192, 24/96) and mp3 (320kbs)
1982 Milestone || 2022 Jazz Dispensary (Craft) || Ltd. ed

Hey, remember when this blog featured Brazilian music?  Me neither!  Well, the relative inutility of music blogs in 2023 notwithstanding, I’m going to make a New Year’s resolution to start visiting Brazil more often, sonically at least, in 2024.  Why not start early with this classic recording from Brazilian jazz outfit Azymuth, recorded in Brazil but not released there, this was originally issued by Milestone. It is presented as part of the Jazz Dispensary Top Shelf series by Craft Records in a limited run.

In general it took me a while to get past the shimmering slickness of Azymuth — and that applies to their 70’s as well as 80’s ouput — but I’m fully on board now. This record has a lot of warmth to it – Kevin Gray’s remastering doesn’t hurt either – and bandleader / keyboardist / chief composer J. R. Bertrami’s various electric piano, organ, and synth parts taking center stage. There is also a cover of the Clube Da Esquina classic, Nada Sera Como Antes. A band like this covering Brazilian MPB / rock , rather than drawing from the well-established bossa nova canon, well, that could have gone either way. It could have been terrible. But it’s not only not terrible, it’s delightful.

The core trio of Bertrami, the fabulously talented Alex Malheiros on bass, and the effortlessly agile Ivan Conti on the drum kit are complemented by Hélio Delmiro de Souza on guitar and no less than three guest percussionists.

Be forewarned, the funky, Vocoder-driven tune “May I Have This Dance ? = Concede-Me Esta Dança?” Is an earworm that will be stuck in your head all day. What’s your favorite use of the Vocoder in any late 70’s / early 80’s jazz-funk? Or even disco-jazz, or anything “futuristic” and funky?

Azymuth – Telecommunication

Label/Cat#: Milestone – CR00517, Jazz Dispensary – CR00517
Country: US
Year: 15 Jul 2022
Genre: Jazz
Style: Latin Jazz
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, Remastered, 180g

Tracklist

A1 – Estreito De Taruma (04:18)
A2 – What Price Samba = Quanto Vale Um Samba (06:15)
A3 – Country Road = Chão De Terra (03:30)
A4 – May I Have This Dance ? = Concede-Me Esta Dança ? (05:18)
B1 – Nothing Will Be As It Was = Nada Sera Como Antes (03:08)
B2 – Last Summer In Rio (10:47)
B3 – The House I Lived In = A Casa Em Que Vivi (04:35)
B4 – Prelude (01:13)

Total length: 39:04

More information: https://www.discogs.com/release/23888717-Azymuth-Telecommunication

MUSICIAN CREDITS:

José Roberto Bertrami – Keyboards, organ, Vocoder, percussion
Alex Malheiros – bass, acoustic guitar
Ivan Miguel Conti Maranhão – Drums and percussion

Hélio Delmiro de Souza – Guitar
Sidney Martins Moreira – Percussion
Aleuda – Percussion
Dotô – Repinique (percussion)

Recorded At – Estúdio Transamérica
Mixed At – Fantasy Studios
Mastered At – Fantasy Studios
Mastered At – Customatrix
Remastered At – Cohearent Audio
Lacquer Cut At – Cohearent Audio
Pressed By – Record Technology Incorporated – 39314
Exclusive Retailer – Jazz Dispensary
Exclusive Retailer – Craft Recordings

Art Direction – Phil Carroll
Artwork [Video Art] – Jim Wiseman
Co-producer – Alex Malheiros
Design – Georgia Gillfillan
Engineer – Claudio Farias, Lacy Enock, Rafael Azulay, Roberto Leite, Wanderley Loureiro*
Mastered By – George Horn
Producer – José Roberto Bertrami
Remastered By, Lacquer Cut By – Kevin Gray
Remix – Danny Kopelson

40th-Anniversary Pressing Limited to 2000 Copies. Remastered from the original analog tapes.
Recorded at Transamérica Studio, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil (September 1981)

Matrix / Runout (Side A runout etched): CR00517 A KPG@CA 39314.1(3)…
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout etched): CR00517 B KPG@CA 39314.2(3)…

LINEAGE: RCM, Music Hall WCS-3 with custom fluid; vinyl – 2022 Jazz Dispensary Top Shelf (Craft) CR00517; Pro-Ject RM-5SE with Audio Tecnica Signet TK7E cartridge; Pro-Ject Tube Box S2 preamp with Philips NOS ECC83 tubes powered by Accu-box battery PSU; Audioquest Black Mamba and Pangea Premier interconnect cables; RME Babyface Pro interface ; Adobe Audition at 32-bit float 192khz; clicks and pops removed manually with Adobe Audition 3.0; resampled, dithered, converted to FLAC using iZotope RX Advanced. Tags done with Foobar 2000 and Tag and Rename.

Mirror 1 || Mirror 2

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