Azymuth

Fourteen years is a long time to spend with one label, especially for jazz and fusion groups. Azymuth celebrated 14 years with the United Kingdom's Far Out label in 2008. Butterfly is their eight record for the imprint and their first new studio album in four years. The original trio – Jose Roberto Bertami (keyboards/vocals), Alex Malheiros (bass/guitars/vocals), and Ivan Conti (drums/percussion/vocals) – is still together after 35 years. Here jazz, funk, fusion, and elegant samba are woven together seamlessly. The disc was produced by the trio with David Brinkworth (Harmonic 33). "Butterfly," the album opener, is a sultry, breezy cover of the classic Herbie Hancock track, originally on 1974's Thrust. The elegant sound of gorgeously arranged strings (by Arthur Verocai no less), warm rolling Rhodes piano, Conti's breaking drums that walk the line between lithe funk and samba, and a pronounced but languid bassline gradually and deliberately build the space, stopping at interludes to reinsert the sensuous mood in the melodic line. Certainly it's an auspicious way to begin, but it's only one of the many highlights on this set.

Light as a Feather is simply the first version, a little over half of what would become Azymuth's fine Outubro album. It opens with the weakest cut, the ten-plus minute faux disco "Jazz Carnival," with awful drum effects and popping, funky-yet cliched basslines by Alex Malheiros. After this there is much to like, however, in the breezy execution of the title track that is nearly as beautiful as Return to Forever's, and features a fine jazz-samba number that evokes both Walter Wanderley and Tom Jobim in Jose Roberto Bertrami's "Fly Over the Horizon," as well as a beautiful version of Toninho Horta's "Dona Olimpia."

The instrumental trio Azymuth modernized the sound and style of Brazilian jazz with their electronic instruments, angular arrangements and ingenious synthesis of jazz, funk, rock and samba. After the passing of founding keyboard player José Roberto Bertrami in 2012, Alex Malheiros (bass) and Ivan “Mamão” Conti (drums) recruited synthesizer samurai Kiko Continentinho to the trio as it continued to build on their sound, now in their fifth decade of pushing the boundaries of their beloved samba.

Golden-era, 1977, Brazilian jazz-funk-fusion album from the legendary, Azymuth. Lush Rhodes, soaring synths and fusion guitars from Malheiros and Bertrami combine with the inimitable drum grooves from Ivan “Mamao” Conti that create the signature Azymuth sound. The album moves from mellow soulful moods, into screaming disco-jazz-fusion, samba funk, synth boogie and ends with a tough 160bpm Batucada workout.

Telecommunication demonstrates Azymuth's ability to occasionally get into trouble when resorting to hi-tech gimmickry for its own sake, but also illustrates how rewarding the Brazilian trio can be. With its vocoder-ish hijinks, the funk-influenced "May I Have This Dance" is a dated and corny bit of silliness unworthy of Azymuth. But there's also much to admire on this CD, including the haunting "The House I Lived In," the sensuous "Country Road," and the sentimental "Last Summer in Rio." Though keyboardist/pianist José Roberto Bertrami and bassist/guitarist Alex Malheiros do not always stretch out enough, the results are quite appealing when they do.

Azymuth is a three-piece electric funk jazz group from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Formed in 1972, the members are Jose Roberto Bertrami (keyboards), Alex Malheiros (bass, guitars), and Ivan Conti (drums, percussion). They call their music "Samba Doido", which means "Crazy Samba". From 1979 to 1988, they released many albums for Milestone Records. They have been releasing albums for various labels steadily since. They had a major hit with "Jazz Carnival" in 1979.

Outubro is Azymuth's tribute recording, in a sense, to their Brazilian brothers and sisters. It leans heavily on José Roberto Bertami's Fender Rhodes as a direct means of communication, with gorgeous guitar and bass work by Alex Malheiros, and top-notch drumming by Ivan Conti, who engages the tonal and programming reaches of the ARP 2600. The album was recorded in 1979 and its first nine cuts were remixed in 1980 when it was finally issued. The most successful moments here are the covers, where the trio digs into spaced out, modern-day electric jazz classics such as "Light as a Feather," and "500 Miles High," both of which are closely associated with Return to Forever, its vocalist at the time Flora Purim, and her husband, percussionist Airto Moreira…

Brazilian Jazz-funk trio Azymuth and singer-songwriter Marcos Valle once decided to collaborate on a promotional record for South American airline company ‘Cruzeiro’. Luckily for you we've unearthed it from the hazy sun-bleached skies of history. Strap yourselves in for a flight back in time with generous helpings of Jazz, Funk & Bossa Nova.

These 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’. One 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.