quête:vasc

Sistro (Sistrum) is a kind of percussion instrument that has had several incarnations and names in various cultures since the time of the Sumerians and throughout history has always been associated with religious rituals. It’s from this relationship between music and the transcendent that Nuno Oliveira (Nuno O, Judas Triste, José Pinhal Post-Mortem Experience), Tito Silva (Vasco da Ganza, José Pinhal Post-Mortem Experience) and Rodolfo Oliveira (Oficinas TK) were gradually inspired to create a trio that pays homage to this instrument of ancient times.

The project was born casually and without intentionality throughout several incursions into megalithic monuments in the hills and mountains of northern Portugal, culminating in an unusual two-day session of musical experimentation in Esposende, in September 2019. In this two-day session, codenamed “Arménio Sessions”, the trio explored a sound based on sea soundscapes, electronic beats, electric noises and the strings of na altered guitar. Channeling the strength of the elements and the mystique of the place in the form of a musical experience.

In 2021, Sistro collaborated with Mario Klingemann (aka Quasimondo) who created a music video especially for the band, created using a vintage video mixing board. Then using feedback loops and a process that Klingemann calls “Neural Edit”, which uses an artificial intelligence algorithm to correlate the raw video material with the sound.

After a long period of incubation, the group's first full-length release sees the light of day on the 31th October, 2023, moment in which a sequence of rituals begins to present and celebrate the relationship between music and the transcendent. Sistro's debut album will be released by Favela Discos, having been mixed by Tito Silva and mastered by Pedro Augusto. The photography and graphics are by Oficinas TK.

Devilish is an album surrounded by a darkest atmosphere, its lyrics show urges experienced in our century, such as the constant degradation of the Amazon rainforest and the population increasingly affected by psychological illnesses such as anxiety and depression At the same time, it opens windows of escape for an imaginary world inspired by games, series and fiction books. In their second album with the new lineup, Mayara Puertas (Voice), Rene Simionato (Guitar), Castor (Bass) and Amilcar Christofaro (Drums) transcend the sound of extreme metal with maturity, incorporating progressive metal, influences from Brazilian music and symphonic elements.

The album also honors Brazilian heroes with a participation of Andreas Kisser (Sepultura) in the track "Buried Alive", and a tribute to Rickson Gracie the resilient fighter of Jiu Jitsu considered one of the greatest legends in this sport, the theme of the track "Warrior". The band also mobilized several musicians related to indigenous causes in their country to collaborate on the song "Uatuma", making an appeal for the preservation of the Amazon in a song that flows in an powerful way with the speeches of the indigenous leader Raoni Metuktire and tribal rhythms. For the cover art, the band had Marcelo Vasco, a Brazilian illustrator who has already created artworks for Slayer, Dimmu Borgir, Soulfly among others.

Singer-songwriter Dora Morelenbaum is one of the stunning voices at the forefront of Brazil’s exciting new musical wave. Her sublime 'Vento De Beirada' EP takes you on a trip into the sensuous sounds of Dora's world. On first hearing her music, we were reminded of the transformational moment when we first discovered the Brazilian singer-songwriter, Joyce. The music is completely new to you, yet instantly familiar, like rediscovering a past love.

Dora is a member of the Brazilian Latin-Grammy-winning superstar quartet Bala Desejo; a trailblazing light opening up Brazilian music to a whole new audience outside of the country. 'Vento De Beirada' EP showcases a different sound to the riotous, joyful, avant-garde Tropicália sound of Bala Desejo. This solo set takes a more dream-like, downbeat, MPB stance. It is firmly contemporary, yet you can also trace the lines of influence back to idols such as Gal Costa and Maria Bethânia.

The EP is comprised of four tracks that have already garnered critical acclaim following their digital release. It starts with the tender and gentle 'Japão', which was inspired by the melodies of the legendary Japanese composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto. Sakamoto once collaborated with Dora's musician parents, Paula and Jaques Morelenbaum, when she was young. 'Dó a Dó' is drenched in lush, sweeping strings that were arranged by her father himself, and is co-written by Dora and Tom Veloso of the band, Dônica. There’s further collaboration on the EP, including production from one of the lynchpins and stars of the current Rio scene, Ana Frango Elétrico. Fellow Bala Desejo band member, Lucas Nunes, contributes towards the production, writing, and guitar with Guilherme Lírio also on production, guitar, and bass. Whilst Bala Desejo’s Zé Ibarra penned the song 'Vento De Beirada' with Lucas and Victor Vasconcellos.

The four-track EP has been cut to 12" and mastered for vinyl by Joker (Liam McLean). With crystalline beauty and a breezy sense of ease and serenity, sounding classic yet contemporary. This release serves as the perfect introduction to an extraordinary talent.

Gatos Negros, aka Madrid DJs/ producers Christian C. & Iván Smoka, second album 'Hi Score' is a texture and abstraction gambling project now on sale via Vasco Ispirian's Made in Green Records label.
'Hi Score' sees the duo sailing ethereal ambient soundscapes, shady alt rock waves, experimental grooves almost horizontally danceable, acid electro-pop & avant-garde electronica- all in an utterly smart, consistent, and effective vocal fashion.

'In 1972, trumpeter Baikida Carroll and some of his colleagues from the Black Artists Group (more precisely saxophonist/flutist Oliver Lake, trombonist Joseph Bowie, drummer Charles "Bobo" Shaw and trumpeter Floyd LeFlore) took the advice of their friends in the Art Ensemble Of Chicago and left their native Missouri to come and discover the bright lights of Paris for themselves. The following year they would even get the chance to record their only album which would rapidly attain mythical status and a collector’s item: “In Paris, Aries 1973”.

Therefore, it was not surprising that they crossed paths with Jef Gilson in the capital. He was always on the lookout for new artists for his recently formed Palm label and had been active on many fronts in jazz since the end of the 50s. The French bandleader / pianist / composer / sound engineer had already recorded, in the preceding months other American musicians who would go on to have great careers: Byard Lancaster, Keno Speller, Clint Jackson III, Khan Jamal... Gilson therefore offered Baikida Carroll the chance to record his first album under his own name, which would be the 13th release on the label. Carroll logically asked Oliver Lake to join him. He also recruited Manuel Villaroel, a young Franco-Chilien pianist from the group Matchi-Oul, who had already released an album on Futura in 1971 and would release another on Palm in 1976. The group was completed with the addition of Brazilian percussionist Naná Vasconcelos, who had just released a well-received album on the Saravah label. They were ready to enter the studio for the 3rd, 4th and 5th June 1974.

The first side of the album is divided into two long tracks which send free jazz back to its long-lost African roots. The opener “Orange Fish Tears” indeed rolls out a jungle of percussion of all sorts and sizes -the whole group is involved- which weave and mix together reaching a point where all bearings are lost, lending a sense of wonder to the majestic entry of the brass and woodwinds, flying suddenly out from the undergrowth. “Forest Scorpion” (sic) is a real voodoo ceremony where a venomous percussive groove backs the fiery solos from keyboards and saxophone in a furious trance. A warning; after these two tracks listeners are physically and emotionally wiped out!

The other side is more introspective. Deliberately using dissonance and repetition, “Rue Roger” -the only composition by Oliver Lake- in a long dialogue between trumpet and saxophone, could almost remind us of Terry Riley in his favourite ballpark. “Porte D'Orléans”, the fourth and final track on the album, has the group back to their old tricks in a long hallucinatory jam which owes as much to the contemporary music of György Ligeti as to the most angst-ridden Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack music (remember the heavy chords which beat through “Planet of the Apes»).

With these two sides, and in under 45m, Baikida Carroll and his musicians show just what they can do, from cerebral to charnel without ever simplifying things. This is an essential album if you are a fan of free-wheeling avant-garde music from the Art Ensemble of Chicago to Sonic Youth and including Shabaka Hutchings and Rob Mazurek. For those with good taste, in other words.'

"Split 1.0" is definitely a split release! Side A delivers some fresh hypnotic techno sounds by Bastian Balders himself while side B catches up with some groovy house tracks by Anton Kubikov, who is active since the mid 90s and well known for his minimalistic dub techno-house style. Side A ends with a mysterious electronica outro while Anton produced some chilled guitar riffs combined with acoustic signals and delays to finish the whole EP. Don't miss this limited hand-stamped record!

Early bird support by:
Vincent Neumann, Cecilia Tosh, Truncate, Alexander Kowalski, Kaiser, illousion, ForestOn Stasys, Kontinum, Richie Hawtin, Cristian Varela, Virgo, Hellix, Vasco Valente, Frank Leicher, Ina Kacz, Carlotta Jacobi, Hypnotic Black Magic, Clubberia / Nori, Juho Kusti, DJ W!ld, Rich NXT, Marcel Dettmann, JosephCapriati, Wlderz, JakoJako & many more.

Cult album of Brazilian music finally reissued || Official reissue of this real tour de force of Brazilian creativity, where the mighty Naná Vasconcelos is joined by his friends Nelson Angelo and Novelli (both members of the legendary Clube da Esquina) to create one of the greatest Brazilian albums ever recorded outside of Brazil.

The three musicians grasp here for the kind of musical freedom that could then only be achieved outside of their country. A boundary-pushing experimentation that makes your soul flow and is to be enjoyed at large.

Recorded in 1975 and released in Pierre Barouh's label Saravah. Artwork by the great Belgian artist Jean-Michel Folon.

Cult album of Brazilian music finally reissued || Official reissue of this real tour de force of Brazilian creativity, where the mighty Naná Vasconcelos is joined by his friends Nelson Angelo and Novelli (both members of the legendary Clube da Esquina) to create one of the greatest Brazilian albums ever recorded outside of Brazil.

The three musicians grasp here for the kind of musical freedom that could then only be achieved outside of their country. A boundary-pushing experimentation that makes your soul flow and is to be enjoyed at large.

Recorded in 1975 and released in Pierre Barouh's label Saravah. Artwork by the great Belgian artist Jean-Michel Folon.

180gr LTD RE-ISSUE!!! 'Visions of Dawn' is a legendary lost treasure encapsulating the special freedom and beauty of Joyce, Nana and Mauricio's music that has finally been rescued and set free after 33 years. Cover by Andy Votel (Finders Keepers).

Das im März 1979 aufgenommene Album Saudades des brasilianischen Perkussionisten Naná Vasconcelos war die Erfüllung eines Traums für einen Musiker, der sich schon lange danach gesehnt hatte, die Berimbau in einem orchestralen Kontext zu hören. Dieses ”Konzert” für einen innovativen Spieler eines traditionellen Instruments wurde durch den kreativen Beitrag von Egberto Gismonti ermöglicht, der hier das Material für Streicher arrangiert hat und auch als Mitkomponist und begleitender Solist fungiert.
Das Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart wurde von Mladen Gutesha dirigiert (der mit ECM bereits an transidiomatischen Projekten mit Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek und Terje Rypdal gearbeitet hatte). Produziert von Manfred Eicher, bleibt Saudades eine außergewöhnliche Reise, ein Album, das seiner Zeit voraus war
und gewissermaßen darauf wartete, von der Welt eingeholt zu werden. Diese Wiederveröffentlichung auf Vinyl in einer Klapphülle enthält neue Liner Notes mit historischem Kontext und Hintergrundinformationen.
ECMs neue audiophile Vinyl-Serie ( Luminessence Series ):
Schätze aus dem renommierten Label-Katalog, die lange vergriffen oder noch nie auf Vinyl erhältlich waren, in eleganten, hochwertigen Editionen präsentiert. Von den originalen Masterbändern geschnitten
Herstellung in Europa und analog, wo möglich.

With French Connection, discover rare tracks of Funk, Soul and Jazz made in France. 23 avant-garde nuggets from the 60"s and 70"s gathered in a nice double vinyl! With: Cortex, Janko Nilovic, Godchild, Francis Lai, Bernard Estardy, Philippe Sarde, Edition Spéciale, Bruno Leys, Jean-Claude Petit, Serge Gainsbourg...

Lawrence Hayward knew that he wanted to be a pop star as a teen, and he devised a plan to release ten albums and ten singles over ten years to make that dream come true. A particular and determined individual, he would only be known as Lawrence from that day forward. His hopes for stardom would be pinned on his newly formed band, the succinctly named Felt. Soon signed to Cherry Red Records, Lawrence’s achingly cool vocals and the group’s way with walking melodies were evident on their debut for the label, “Something Sends Me To Sleep.” This compilation collects material from Felt’s Cherry Red period of 1981 to 1985, kicking off with that confident start, assembling numerous high points, and closing with their biggest hit, “Primitive Painters.”

This phase of the band is defined by the songwriting partnership and unique interplay of Lawrence and guitarist Maurice Deebank, with Deebank’s stylish and confident playing the envy of many of their counterparts. He delivers a constant string of shimmering hooks that wrap themselves around and over top of Lawrence’s more traditional beat combo song structures, as if trying to fit four songs worth of ideas into a pre-set radio friendly cutoff time. It works wonderfully as Lawrence always counters with a solid bedrock.

In one of many brushes with the brass ring, in 1984 Felt recorded versions of “Dismantled King Is Off The Throne” and “Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow,” for the newly formed and Warners-backed label Blanco y Negro, in hopes that the band would follow their A+R man Mike Alway to the executive suite. Despite putting forward two of their finest songs, it was not to be. While major label dreams had to remain on the shelf, fans were delighted to be able to hear these beautifully stripped down and more direct versions when this compilation was released a few years later.

By 1985 the Felt roller coaster was something Maurice Deebank was constantly getting on and off of. As Gary Ainge always kept the beat, and Lawrence never lost focus, they were joined by local teen prodigy Martin Duffy on keyboards, filling out the arrangements, and following Deebank’s racing six-string cascades in “The Day The Rain Came Down” you can even hear a tiny hint of the next phase of the band in Duffy’s organ before Maurice swoops to the finish. The newly expanded Felt would then put everything they had into making one of the defining releases of the 80s: “Primitive Painters.”

Lawrence Hayward knew that he wanted to be a pop star as a teen, and he devised a plan to release ten albums and ten singles over ten years to make that dream come true. A particular and determined individual, he would only be known as Lawrence from that day forward. His hopes for stardom would be pinned on his newly formed band, the succinctly named Felt. Soon signed to Cherry Red Records, Lawrence’s achingly cool vocals and the group’s way with walking melodies were evident on their debut for the label, “Something Sends Me To Sleep.” This compilation collects material from Felt’s Cherry Red period of 1981 to 1985, kicking off with that confident start, assembling numerous high points, and closing with their biggest hit, “Primitive Painters.”

This phase of the band is defined by the songwriting partnership and unique interplay of Lawrence and guitarist Maurice Deebank, with Deebank’s stylish and confident playing the envy of many of their counterparts. He delivers a constant string of shimmering hooks that wrap themselves around and over top of Lawrence’s more traditional beat combo song structures, as if trying to fit four songs worth of ideas into a pre-set radio friendly cutoff time. It works wonderfully as Lawrence always counters with a solid bedrock.

In one of many brushes with the brass ring, in 1984 Felt recorded versions of “Dismantled King Is Off The Throne” and “Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow,” for the newly formed and Warners-backed label Blanco y Negro, in hopes that the band would follow their A+R man Mike Alway to the executive suite. Despite putting forward two of their finest songs, it was not to be. While major label dreams had to remain on the shelf, fans were delighted to be able to hear these beautifully stripped down and more direct versions when this compilation was released a few years later.

By 1985 the Felt roller coaster was something Maurice Deebank was constantly getting on and off of. As Gary Ainge always kept the beat, and Lawrence never lost focus, they were joined by local teen prodigy Martin Duffy on keyboards, filling out the arrangements, and following Deebank’s racing six-string cascades in “The Day The Rain Came Down” you can even hear a tiny hint of the next phase of the band in Duffy’s organ before Maurice swoops to the finish. The newly expanded Felt would then put everything they had into making one of the defining releases of the 80s: “Primitive Painters.”

After more than 45 years forgotten in the personal archives of Jean Schwarz, Transversales Disques is very happy to release this previously unpublished recording which brings together the great Don Cherry and his friend, composer Jean Schwarz, pioneer in electro-acoustic music and member of G.R.M.
This concert was recorded in 1977 at the Paris MIX festival (Théatre Récamier) organised by G.R.M and hosted by director François Bayle. An elegant mix of spiritual jazz and electronic sounds around this astounding quintet made up of JF Jenny Clark, Nana Vasconcelos and Michel Portal.
Remastered from the original master tapes. Exclusive pictures and liner notes

I'm talkin' about Beatmasters, but not the late 80s crew that saw collaborations with the Cookie Crew etc, I'm talking about the legendary Bristol beatmaster Boca 45 who has mastered, honed and polished his creative techniques and his distillation of beat making over the last 25+ years. Born out of hip hop and rooted firmly in the Bristol scene of Massive, Wild Bunch, and Portishead, Boca 45 aka Scott Hendy has successfully navigated an ever changing musical landscape with an unwavering connection and honest adherence to those very roots and ethics. It's what makes Bristol such a special place for art of all forms in the city, a DIY, earthy and passionate sound and vision that runs through all the artists that call Bristol home.
And so it continues with Boca's only 45 release this year in ‘22. It’s strictly Limited to 300 copies on High Quality Yellow wax with each copy stamped & numbered.
On this Bomb Donut he teams up with NYC Native Tongue OG Bam of The Jungle Brothers on hype vocals duties for 2 dancefloor burners.
The A side '(Do It) Fluid' goes straight for the jugular with an immediate phat rubbery bassline that precedes a beat that charges and swings between 4 to the floor and wild breaks. Everything else within the track is supporting that drum & bass, heaping bucket loads of flavour into the mix. And to make it even more tasty, the arrangement is a clear 'DJs Choice', eminently cut-able, mixable, and double up-able! The intention of this (and the flip) is most definitely to stick 'nasty faces' on everyone on the dancefloor.
So if you weren't already bleeding from a torn jugular from the A side, then the B side is going to do some serious damage to what is left of your vascular system. Picking up the tempo with a heavy-duty breakbeat that drives ever forward, 'Another Dimension' is peppered with fuzzed up riffs, Bam's hype vocals, and spacy flourishes. The result is a blistering dancefloor nugget heavily laden with urgency and vigour that DJs, dancers and breakdancers alike will be seriously wigging and poppin' out to. Ultimately these are classic Boca productions, full of the energy and verve we all know and love, honest, funky, raw, they have it all.
Both tracks are a step up from cut-and-paste, yet that ethic is loud and proud throughout (and has been a trademark of Boca's beats over the years).
It's perfectly reasonable to predict that this 45 will be going straight into the play crates of DJs across the world. And you can quote me on that.

Desumanos' fresh mixture of guitar driven melodies is as evocative as it is playful. This instrumental project is made up of a dream-team of Brazilian producers and musicians. Kassin, on bass, was member of The +2's band and co-produced Gilles Peterson's Brazilian project Sonzeira, featuring legendary artists such as Elza Soares, Naná Vasconcelos, Wilson Das Neves_ While Liminha, on guitar, is a former member of Os Mutantes. His signature sound is heavily influenced by classic instrumental surf music, but tropical rhythms are also dropped in the mix. The band is completed with Felipe and Manoel Cordeiro (on guitar), one of the lambada originators, and Stephane San Juan (drums), currently playing with David Byrne. Across the tracklist of this Desumanos debut album we can find a unique combination of musical styles that are all filtered through the sieve of instrumental surf music without losing their roots anchored in tropical sounds such as cumbia, African rhythms and, of course, popular genres from Brazil such as forró or lambada. Ten original songs in which the guitar is the undisputed protagonist and the tropical atmosphere emanates through each note.

REPRESS!

Returning for 2019 with our first 12-inch release, Made in Green Records concludes Rooteo & Mahura’s opening salvo, with reinterpretations from the artists themselves and the label head putting their marks on already-outstanding material. Leading off the release, we find the original ‘Caxixi’ from their debut LP, Mettā, with its tablas and vocals rubbing against billowing clouds of bass and dubwise effects; Made in Green boss Vasco Ispirian turns in the first rework, a thickly layered, relaxed tempo dub techno trip. Barely- recognizable remnants of the original’s percussion and vocal lines occasionally surface out of the subaquatic haze before surging kick drums push them back beneath the surface. Appearing here under his recently-birthed 4NYØN3 project, Rooteo, best known as Marcos In Dub, closes the release with a pounding techno remake that utterly transforms his own & Mahura’s work. Squashing the original’s ambient sonics into unstable delay traps that reappear prominently in the breakdowns, he grafts this into stringent techno, adroitly wrought and with details to spare, the scrambled fragments of sound emerging between heavy drums and contributing to the dark and downcast mood that pervades the piece.

Note price increase and cat number change from last time around. In the late 1960s, the American trumpet player and free jazz pioneer Don Cherry (1936-1995) and the Swedish visual artist and designer Moki Cherry (1943-2009) began a collaboration that imagined an alternative space for creative music, most succinctly expressed in Moki's aphorism "the stage is home and home is a stage." By 1972, they had given name to a concept that united Don's music, Moki's art, and their family life in rural Tagårp, Sweden into one holistic entity: Organic Music Theatre. Captured here is the historic first Organic Music Theatre performance from the 1972 Festival de jazz de Chateauvallon in the South of France, mastered from tapes recorded during its original live broadcast on public TV. A life-affirming, multicultural patchwork of borrowed tunes suffused with the hallowed aura of Don's extensive global travels, the performance documents the moment he publicly jettisoned his identity as a jazz musician, and represents the start of his communal "mystical" period, later crystallized in recordings such as Organic Music Society, Relativity Suite, Brown Rice, and the soundtrack for Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain. The musicians in Don Cherry's New Researches, hailing from Brazil, Sweden, France, and the US, converged on Chateauvallon from all over Europe. The five-person band Don and Moki Cherry, Christer Bothén, Gérard "Doudou" Gouirand, and Naná Vasconcelos performed in an outdoor amphitheater and were joined onstage by a dozen adults and children, including Swedish friends who tagged along for the trip and Det Lilla Circus (The Little Circus), a Danish puppet troupe based in Christiania, Copenhagen. The platform was lined with Moki's carpets and her handmade, brightly colored tapestries, depicting Indian scales and bearing the words Organic Music Theatre, dressed the stage. As the musicians played, members of Det Lilla, led by Annie Hedvard, danced, sang, and mounted an improvised puppet show on poles high up in the air. The music in the Chateauvallon concert aspired to a universal language that would bring people together through song. In a fairly unprecedented move, Don abandoned his signature pocket trumpet for the piano and harmonium, thereby liberating his voice as an instrument for shamanic guidance. The show opens with him beckoning the audience to clap their hands and sing the Indian theta "Dha Dhin Na, Dha Tin Na," and the set cycles through uplifting and sacred tunes of Malian, South African, Brazilian, and Native American provenance including pieces that would later appear on Don's albums Organic Music Society and Home Boy (Sister Out) all punctuated by outbursts of possessed glossolalia from the puppeteers. "Relativity Suite, Part 1" notably spotlights Bothén on donso ngoni, a Malian hunter's guitar, prior to Vasconcelos taking an extended solo on berimbau. A vortex of wah-like microtonal rattling, Vasconcelos's masterful demonstration of this single-stringed Brazilian instrument is a harbinger of his work to come as a member, with Don, of the acclaimed group Codona. The sounds of children playing on the ensemble's achingly tender rendition of Jim Pepper's oft-covered beacon of spiritual optimism, "Witchi Tai To," lends the proceedings an especially intimate, domestic glow. Given the context of the star-studded international jazz festival, the concert's laid back, communal vibe feels like an attempt by the Cherrys to show Don's jazz audience that he was moving on. At the same time, however, Don was extending a warmhearted invitation for them to come along for the ride. With liner notes by Magnus Nygren. Track list: 1. Intro: Dha Dhin Na, Dha Tin Na 2. Butterfly Friend 3. Elixir 4. Amazwe 5. Interlude with Puppets 6. Ganesh 7. Elixir Reprise / Witchi Tai To 8. Resa 9. Relativity Suite, Part 1 10. Berimbau Solo 11. Interlude / North Brazilian Ceremonial Hymn 12. Elixir Reprise / Ganesh 13. Ntsikana's Bell / Traditional Melody

Repress incoming...

Far Out Recordings proudly presents Milton Nascimento's Maria Maria. Recorded in 1974 and unreleased until almost thirty years later, the album was written as the soundtrack to a ballet which dealt with the legacy of slavery in Brazil. Raw, atmospheric and emotionally charged, Maria Maria reveals one of Brazil's greatest ever songwriters at his creative peak. Featuring an all-star cast of fellow Brazilian legends including Nana Vasconcelos, Joao Donato, Paulinho Jobim, and members of Som Imaginario, Maria Maria holds what Milton considers to be the definitive versions of some of his classic songs, including 'Os Escravos De Jó' and 'Maria Maria'.

Originally released in 2003 as a double CD package, with Milton Nascimento's 1984 follow up ballet soundtrack Ultimo Trem, Maria Maria will be available on vinyl for the very first time from December 2019, with Ultimo Trem set for vinyl release early 2020.

Milton Nascimento possesses one of the most immediately recognizable voices in Brazilian music: high and sweet and as breathtakingly sublime as that of any soul singer. It was this voice that the legendary Brazilian singer Elis Regina fell in love with back in 1964, having heard Milton perform his song 'Canção do Sal (Sultry Song)' at a private party in Sao Paulo. Ellis went on to record the song in 1967 -giving Milton his first hit in Brazil and beginning a career that has spanned over 50 years.

Born in Rio on the 26th October 1942, Milton moved with his adoptive parents at the age of 18 months to Tres Pontas, a rural town in the state of Minas Gerais, 500 miles north of Rio. He began his musical career as a young teenager, singing in a crooner style he learnt from listening to Brazilian singers and US groups such as The Platters on the radio. Hungry for more opportunities to perform, Milton moved to Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais, at the age of twenty. By the beginning of the 60s Milton had made a name for himself both as an accomplished singer and guitarist.

Milton became part of a local network of musicians, film makers, dancers, theatre directors and writers that included the journalist and song writer Fernando Brant as well as lyricist Marcio Borges and his younger brother Lo Borges. Together these four wrote and produced what would become Milton's milestone album, 'Clube da Esquina (Club on the Corner)'. The originality of 'Club da Esquina' shaped the local scene, and it reflects the essence of 'the Nascimento Sound'. Milton's religious upbringing as an Afro-Brazilian Catholic saw him exposed to church choral music from an early age. His love of this genre of music is apparent in both his celestial falsetto and vocal choral arrangements. This collection also displays his early fascination with evocative, non-verbal, scat-style singing, spare, harmonic guitar work and local folk music, jazz and rock.

In 1976, Milton and Fernando Brant teamed up with a new contemporary dance company called Grupo Corpo, whose Argentinian choreographer Oscar Araiz, would become a collaborator with the two musicians. Together, they conceived a show based on the composite life story of the daughter of a black slave called Maria. Nascimento wrote music to Brant's lyrics and "Maria Maria" was premiered in the main theatre of the Belo Horizonte Palacio das Artes that year. "Fernando wrote the lyrics for the ballet, but there were originally no lyrics for the theme song, "Maria Maria'". Milton and Fernando worked on the lyrics together, basing them on folk stories about black women of the countryside. Adds Milton "These memories are mostly things that we witnessed – Fernando and I – rather than what we experienced ourselves.

Milton's music is impressionistic, emotional and romantic. Relying on songs without lyrics as well as evocative vocalizing and choruses, Milton experimented heavily with Afro-Brazilian percussion and taped jungle sounds. His composing method for these recordings was highly unconventional: "I wrote the music for 'Maria Maria' in a tiny Rio apartment with friends and their kids running around and having fun! I love to be in noisy places, surrounded by people", he says.
The music on 'Maria Maria' was performed by an impressive group of young musicians who are today household names in Brazilian music, including Naná Vasconcelos (percussion and effects), Toninho Horta (guitars) and Paulo Moura (sax). Several vocalist including Naná Caymmi, Fafá de Belém, Beto Guedes, and Milton himself, had hits in years to come with reworkings of these songs.

Milton says his compositions follow his visions "like a movie", and he believes that reflects his long love affair with cinema. "I only began composing because of enjoying the movies so much," he says. "I wrote my first song "Peace for the Coming Love" after seeing 'Jules et Jim' (the cult 60s French film directed by François Truffaut), with my friend Marcio Borges. We went early in the morning and watched it four or five times in a row, then went to Márcio's home and wrote the song."

The songs also include solo spoken passages set to music, clearly influenced by this style of French art cinema. On the title track, Maria's story is narrated and translated to music through the use of African Percussion, drums and metal signifying the field slave tools of the day. 'Trabalhos (Works)' runs to work rhythms and whipcracks: no words, just pain. 'Lília' documents the beating of the slave woman. After 'A Chamada (The call)' and the triumphant 'Era Rei e Sou Escravo (I was a king now I am a slave' things begin to turn and Milton employs tropical jungle cries to symbolize freedom. 'Santos Catholicos x Candomble (Catholic Saints vs Candomble)' represents the battle between African and European religions through the music of both sides. Milton's heavenly falsetto pours into 'Francisco' and 'Pai Grande (Great Father)' and the outstanding 'Eu Sou Uma Preta Velha Aqui Sentada no Sol (I'm an old black lady, sitting under the sun)' conjures images of an old woman sitting deep in the forest, her memories painted in drums, piano and voices.

"This fabled 11 minute+ version of Brazilian icon Joyce's groundbreaking "Feminina" was recorded at Columbia Studios, New York in 1977, for the as yet unreleased Natureza album. Produced, arranged and conducted by the great Claus Ogerman (Frank Sinatra, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Billie Holiday... the list goes on), Natureza would have ostensibly been Joyce's big break to international stardom, but mysteriously it was never released. With Joyce came fellow Brazilian icons Mauricio Maestro, Nana Vasconcelos and Tutty Moreno, and Ogerman employed North American jazz legends Joe Farrell, Michael Brecker, Buster Williams and Mike Manieri. In anticipation of the monumental forthcoming Natureza album release via Far Out Recordings, this astonishing version of a true classic gets it's first proper 12" release for Record Store Day 2022. In the spirit of making the release special for RSD, rather than make it a single sided 12", Far Out boss called up Joyce to talk about the recording, recorded the conversation, and pressed it to vinyl on the B side."