#22 - 070 Starting Point - Grupo Um

$ 35.00

In 1975, under the oppressive air of...

Product Sku:
Categories & Friends, Albums, All, Brand New, World / African / Brazilian / Latin
Type: Album

Description

In 1975, under the oppressive air of military dictatorship in Brazil, brothers Lelo and Zé Eduardo Nazario invited bassist Zeca Assumpção to join their musical experiments in a basement under Sao Paulo’s Teodoro Sampaio Street. As teenagers, the trio had already been playing together in Hermeto Pascoal’s Grupo, alongside guitarist Toninho Horta and saxophonist Nivaldo Ornelas, and it was while working together under Hermeto’s direction that the Paulista rhythm section (as they were then known) began to realise their own potential.

With many nightclubs and venues closed in the mid-70s and government censors dictating the output of radio, TV and art galleries, many Brazilian artists fled during the years of dictatorship. But underground, Grupo Um were fusing avant garde ideals with contemporary jazz and Afro Brazilian rhythm; making phenomenally free and expressive music - in stark contrast to the sterile, conservative conditions being imposed above ground.

Just like Hermeto Pascoal’s Viajando Com O Som from the following year, Starting Point was recorded over two days at Vice-Versa Studios, by revered engineer Renato Viola. The studio was one of the best in Sao Paulo and musicians communicated with... more

credits

released February 17, 2023

Lelo Nazario | piano, prepared piano, fender rhodes, percussion, voice
Zé Eduardo Nazario | drums, percussion, berimbau, voice
Zeca Assumpção | bass, voice

1. Porão da Teodoro
(Zé Eduardo Nazario)
2. Onze por Oito
(Lelo Nazario)
3. Organica
(Lelo Nazario)
4. Suite Orquidea Negra
(Lelo Nazario)
5. Jardim Candida
(Zé Eduardo Nazario)
6. Cortejo dos Reis Negros
(Lelo Nazario)

Produced by Lelo Nazario and Zé Eduardo Nazario
Recorded at Vice-Versa Studio, São Paulo, 1975
Engineered by Renato Viola
Mixed by Lelo Nazario, Zé Eduardo Nazario and Renato Viola
Tape restored by Lelo Nazario at Utopia Studio
Mastered by Lelo Nazario @ Utopia Studio, February 2022
Mastered by Stuart Hawkes @ Metropolis Studios, September 2022
Liner notes by Lelo Nazario and Zé Eduardo Nazario
Project coordination in Brazil by Irati Antonio (Utopia Studio)
Photography by Jorge Las Heras and artists' personal archives
Photos restored by Lelo Nazario
Artwork and Design by Alessandro Renaldin
Art Direction by Josh Tautz

More Products by Far Out

{"id":7909712560340,"title":"#22 - 068 Demos (1973-75) - Azymuth Vol.2","handle":"22-068-demos-1973-75-azymuth-vol-2","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eListen: \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/8h1Tw78QHlM\" title=\"1\"\u003ehttps:\/\/youtu.be\/8h1Tw78QHlM\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSince their debut album release in 1975, Azymuth have risen to rank alongside the world’s greatest jazz, funk and fusion artists. As young men in Rio de Janeiro, they stood out for both their exceptional talent as musicians, and their wild rock‘n’roll antics in the predominantly middle-class worlds of bossa nova and jazz. Their signature “Samba Doido” (crazy samba) sound ruptured the tried and tested musical structures of the day, resulting in what can only be described as an electric, psychedelic, samba jazz-funk hybrid. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBefore they became Azymuth, Jose Roberto Bertrami (keyboards), Ivan ‘Mamão’ Conti (drums), Alex Malheiros (bass) and Ariovaldo Contesini (percussion) played backing band to just about every major artist in Brazil. Bertrami was also contracted as an arranger and songwriter at the biggest labels of the era: Polydor, Philips, Som Livre, and EMI being just a few. Azymuth’s name can be found on record sleeves by the likes of Jorge Ben, Elis Regina, Marcos Valle, Ana Mazzotti and countless others. But at the dawn of the seventies, fascinated by developments in improvisational music - from jazz in the US, to progressive rock in the UK and of course samba, bossa and tropicália on home turf - the energetic young group were inspired and ready to move forward. Any spare moment in which they\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e weren’t in sessions and writing music for other artists, they would be carving out their own sound. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese previously unheard recordings took place between 1973-75 at Bertrami’s home studio in the Laranjeiras district of Rio de Janeiro. At the time of recording, there was nothing in Brazil, less the world that sounded anything like them, so perhaps it’s unsurprising that when Bertrami presented his demos to the record companies he had been working for, he was turned away, and told in effect that the music was ‘wrong’. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of the demos ‘Manhã’ would be picked up by Som Livre and Azymuth released their seminal debut album in 1975. Throughout the late seventies and eighties the group released a series of now classic albums for Milestone Records, before taking an indefinite hiatus to pursue their individual careers. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen English producers Joe Davis and Roc Hunter arrived in Brazil in 1994 to record the first Azymuth album in over a decade, Bertrami dug out the demos which had sat virtually untouched for over twenty years. Joe recalls how he was “blown away by the freedom and intensity of the music, as well as the genius of the ideas musically.” Beginning a long and fruitful relationship, ‘Prefacio’ would be the first track Azymuth recorded for Far Out Recordings and was released on the Carnival album (1996). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIncluding ‘Manhã’ and ‘Prefacio’, only a handful of these demo tracks were ever professionally recorded and released, making this the first opportunity to hear many of these early Azymuth compositions in their raw, original form. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn every track the frenetic energy in the studio is palpable, giving the recordings a beautifully personal feel and a sense of the phenomenally creative vision Bertrami, Malheiros and Conti were realising at the time. Fifty years on, Azymuth’s earliest recorded music retains an ineffable, futuristic quality, standing amongst their most captivating and moving work.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","published_at":"2023-05-24T09:50:15-04:00","created_at":"2023-05-05T16:41:54-04:00","vendor":"Far Out","type":"Album","tags":["1973-75","Azymuth","Demos Vol.2","Funk","Jazz Instrumental"],"price":3800,"price_min":3800,"price_max":3800,"available":true,"price_varies":false,"compare_at_price":null,"compare_at_price_min":0,"compare_at_price_max":0,"compare_at_price_varies":false,"variants":[{"id":43769409863892,"title":"Default Title","option1":"Default Title","option2":null,"option3":null,"sku":"","requires_shipping":true,"taxable":true,"featured_image":null,"available":true,"name":"#22 - 068 Demos (1973-75) - Azymuth Vol.2","public_title":null,"options":["Default Title"],"price":3800,"weight":275,"compare_at_price":null,"inventory_quantity":1,"inventory_management":"shopify","inventory_policy":"deny","barcode":"","requires_selling_plan":false,"selling_plan_allocations":[],"quantity_rule":{"min":1,"max":null,"increment":1}}],"images":["\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0761\/5143\/files\/image_7fb22623-9a80-47bf-9570-7af58b79619d.jpg?v=1683319315"],"featured_image":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0761\/5143\/files\/image_7fb22623-9a80-47bf-9570-7af58b79619d.jpg?v=1683319315","options":["Title"],"media":[{"alt":null,"id":31627900387540,"position":1,"preview_image":{"aspect_ratio":1.0,"height":600,"width":600,"src":"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0761\/5143\/files\/image_7fb22623-9a80-47bf-9570-7af58b79619d.jpg?v=1683319315"},"aspect_ratio":1.0,"height":600,"media_type":"image","src":"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0761\/5143\/files\/image_7fb22623-9a80-47bf-9570-7af58b79619d.jpg?v=1683319315","width":600}],"requires_selling_plan":false,"selling_plan_groups":[],"content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eListen: \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/8h1Tw78QHlM\" title=\"1\"\u003ehttps:\/\/youtu.be\/8h1Tw78QHlM\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSince their debut album release in 1975, Azymuth have risen to rank alongside the world’s greatest jazz, funk and fusion artists. As young men in Rio de Janeiro, they stood out for both their exceptional talent as musicians, and their wild rock‘n’roll antics in the predominantly middle-class worlds of bossa nova and jazz. Their signature “Samba Doido” (crazy samba) sound ruptured the tried and tested musical structures of the day, resulting in what can only be described as an electric, psychedelic, samba jazz-funk hybrid. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBefore they became Azymuth, Jose Roberto Bertrami (keyboards), Ivan ‘Mamão’ Conti (drums), Alex Malheiros (bass) and Ariovaldo Contesini (percussion) played backing band to just about every major artist in Brazil. Bertrami was also contracted as an arranger and songwriter at the biggest labels of the era: Polydor, Philips, Som Livre, and EMI being just a few. Azymuth’s name can be found on record sleeves by the likes of Jorge Ben, Elis Regina, Marcos Valle, Ana Mazzotti and countless others. But at the dawn of the seventies, fascinated by developments in improvisational music - from jazz in the US, to progressive rock in the UK and of course samba, bossa and tropicália on home turf - the energetic young group were inspired and ready to move forward. Any spare moment in which they\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e weren’t in sessions and writing music for other artists, they would be carving out their own sound. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese previously unheard recordings took place between 1973-75 at Bertrami’s home studio in the Laranjeiras district of Rio de Janeiro. At the time of recording, there was nothing in Brazil, less the world that sounded anything like them, so perhaps it’s unsurprising that when Bertrami presented his demos to the record companies he had been working for, he was turned away, and told in effect that the music was ‘wrong’. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of the demos ‘Manhã’ would be picked up by Som Livre and Azymuth released their seminal debut album in 1975. Throughout the late seventies and eighties the group released a series of now classic albums for Milestone Records, before taking an indefinite hiatus to pursue their individual careers. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen English producers Joe Davis and Roc Hunter arrived in Brazil in 1994 to record the first Azymuth album in over a decade, Bertrami dug out the demos which had sat virtually untouched for over twenty years. Joe recalls how he was “blown away by the freedom and intensity of the music, as well as the genius of the ideas musically.” Beginning a long and fruitful relationship, ‘Prefacio’ would be the first track Azymuth recorded for Far Out Recordings and was released on the Carnival album (1996). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIncluding ‘Manhã’ and ‘Prefacio’, only a handful of these demo tracks were ever professionally recorded and released, making this the first opportunity to hear many of these early Azymuth compositions in their raw, original form. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn every track the frenetic energy in the studio is palpable, giving the recordings a beautifully personal feel and a sense of the phenomenally creative vision Bertrami, Malheiros and Conti were realising at the time. Fifty years on, Azymuth’s earliest recorded music retains an ineffable, futuristic quality, standing amongst their most captivating and moving work.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e"}

#22 - 068 Demos (1973-...

Listen: https://youtu.be/8h1Tw78QHlM Since their debut album release in 1975, Azymuth have risen to rank alongside...

$ 38.00