A Brazilian Love Affair

I have a soft spot for Brazilian music, especially Brazilian disco. I just don’t know enough of it.

I think the first Brazilian song I remember enjoying was Rabo De Saia – Ripa Na Xulipa, after hearing it in the excellent Motor City b2b Jeremy Underground mix at Dimensions in 2015.

After hearing this I started to notice a few DJs were also playing Brazilian music in their sets, most notably Gilles Peterson. I listened to George Duke’s A Brazilian Love Affair, tracks of which I still play out to this day – especially the fantastically groovy Brazilian Sugar.

Somehow this led me to the work of Tim Maia, to date the only Brazilian artist I have a decent amount of knowledge on. I love groovy tunes like Acenda O Farol, but also his more soulful jams like Bom-Senso.

Digging For Brazilian Boogie

I thought a good place to start my Brazilian adventure would be on the labels Tim Maia’s music was released on, but as far as I can tell he was putting out music on major labels such as Atlantic and Polydor from the beginning of his career, so I’ll have to go a little deeper.

I know a lot of Brazilian music from this era is categorised as MPB, or música popular brasileira. This style, which is quite a loosely-used term, combines elements of jazz and rock with more traditional Brazilian styles. Hence, a good start seems to be the most collected MPB music on Discogs.

This top-listed Jorge Ben album is new to me. Listening to the opening track reveals some quite laid-back acoustic funk with excellent backing vocal harmonies. Very pleasant but not exactly what I’m after, though I’ll definitely add a more popular Jorge Ben album to my to-listen to list. I have heard Africa Brasil as it was in the 1001 Albums book, so A Tabua De Esmerelda it is.

Next up is Caetano Veloso’s self-titled album. I recognise the cover but I don’t think I know any of the songs. The song Alegria Alegria is the kind of tune I don’t immediately jump at. It’s pleasant, but it feels very 60s and rooted in traditional Brazilian music, rather than the funky, psychedelic influences that seemed to infiltrate Brazilian music in the 70s. This one isn’t making it on to my to-listen to list.

Mr. Bongo (who I got my excellent Disco Club repress from) have a top-selling Brazilian reissue by Evinha listed on Discogs this month. Giving it a listen and it is indeed excellent – great female vocals and a deep groove. Turns out this was on Beach Diggin’ Volume 1, a compilation series I’m aware of but have never fully listened to – definitely another good place to check for new tunes.

Another top-seller from Discogs is Os Novos Baianos – Acabou Chorare. The track Mistério do Planeta, has a great balance between upbeat and acoustic segments, and very lush production. I was ready to dismiss this from its opening moments, but the variety in this song makes me want to check out the full album. I can’t imagine myself playing this out any time soon, but that won’t stop me from listening to it at home.

Side note: I am wondering how long these posts should be, because potentially they could be endless or at least very, very long. I want these to be more of a resource that can be flicked through, rather than something you’d read from beginning to end, so I’ll keep writing as long as my interest is held.

The next recommendation from the wallet-destroyer that is Discogs is Edson Frederico – Edson Frederico E A Transa, which has a super cool cover. I’m grooving to the synth keys, samba rhythms and vocals on Bobeira, and I could definitely imagine playing this at a late-night gig. Unfortunately I can’t check out all of this record on Spotify, however one track is on the Brazilian Beats 5 compilation from Mr. Bongo. Maybe other Mr. Bongo releases are also a good place to dig.

One resource I hadn’t considered before starting this post was to research other DJs who play Brazilian music. I read an interview with John Gómez the other day, and his Outro Tempo compilations are high on my to-listen to list. I also really enjoyed what I heard of his Boiler Room set, so I’ll definitely be listening to more of his mixes. There’s also a DJ who goes by the name of Epic Vinyls From Brazil, which definitely seems to be along the right lines!

Conclusions

I think I now have a good wealth of funky Brazilian music to explore, whether through albums, compilations or DJ sets. These include:

• Jorge Ben – A Tabua De Esmerelda
• Pura Vida Presents: Beach Diggin’ Volume 1
• Os Novos Baianos – Acabou Chorar
• Brazilian Beats 5 (Mr. Bongo Presents)
• Outro Tempo I and II compilations
• DJ sets by John Gomez and Epic Vinyls From Brazil

It took approximately 2 hours of digging and writing to complete this post, which really isn’t a long time to find a whole new bunch of music to explore!

There’ll definitely be more posts to come covering other genres and styles of music – watch this space.