Previsao Do Tempo

While Garra had seen all of Marcos Valle's talented parts -- songwriting, production, singing, and performing -- coalesce into the most beautiful whole ever seen in Brazilian music, Previsao do Tempo represented a slight pulling back from those lofty heights. Easygoing and relaxed where Garra had been nearly giddy with joy, the album still didn't lack for career-topping moments -- most of them due to the sunny groove produced by Valle with his backing band (soon to break away and form the boundary-pushing Azymuth). With Valle on Fender Rhodes and Jose Roberto Bertrami on Mini-Moog and ARP, the album is more electronic than electric, but with soloists as talented as these, and a lifetime of musical instincts to draw on, the results are absolutely pristine. (Only Stevie Wonder was capable of coaxing the same type of warm, fluid grooves from his coterie of synthesizers, and integrating them so flawlessly into his productions.) As could be expected, narrative songwriting takes a backseat. In its place are loose, aqueous, funk-filled jams with synth and electric bass leading the way. Garra is still the peak of Marcos Valle's '70s output, but Previsao do Tempo is its own masterpiece, one where a listener plays connect-the-dots to hear the beauty inside. ~ John Bush|