Brazilian Dorian Dream

German-Brazilian composer, producer, keyboardist, and arranger Manfredo Fest issued more than a dozen albums during his lifetime. 1976s pioneering fusion work Brazilian Dorian Dream along with 1978s jazz-funk dancefloor classic Manifestations are widely considered classics. Fest emigrated to the U.S. in the late 60s to work with Sergio Mendes. Under the twin spells of MPB and jazz, Fest issued a half-dozen bossa nova and jazz trio dates before relocating; beginning with 1969s Bossa Rio, his first American recording session as a leader, he began entertaining the use of electric piano in a meld of Latin and American jazz. By 1976, when he cut Brazilian Dorian Dream, Fest was already a pioneer of synthesizers, early sequencers, clavinet, and the Fender Rhodes electric piano. The sets title reflects Fests obsession: To build on the principle of modal diatonic scales in Dorian mode through Brazilian rhythms, electric jazz, emergent funk, and the lyric influences of European Baroque and Romantic music. Combining with vision and a technical command of electric keyboards and effects units, he delivered a startling, privately released slab of global musical futurism. Whereas other Brazilian jazzmen, among them Airto Moreira and Hermeto Pascoal, had previously delivered assorted melds of indigenous and improvised music, MPB, and jazz, Fest created an inclusive musical manifesto you could dance to. Accompanied by electric bassist Thomas Kini, drummer Alejo Poveda, and American vocalist Roberta Davis, Fest delivers a kaleidoscopic exercise in groove as he weaves banks of keyboards through a modal samba structure. Davis wordlessly expands the melodic idea with triple-time percussion and a lanky bass line, shifting its breezy feel toward a tight, glossy samba. Had Jungle Cat been released as a 12 single, it would have been a dancefloor smash in Europe (and almost was when pirated copies began surfacing in the 80s). The distorted synths roil and burn before the bass line kicks in. Povedas hi-hat and snare breaks propel Davis scatting over the top. Fests piano solo comes right from modal blues and careens across hard bop, samba, and soul, while his meaty vamps and spiky ostinati circle one another in the choruses. A cover of Richard Rodgers Slaughter on Tenth Avenue juxtaposes all of Fests concepts in a single arrangement. Its complex harmonics, head-nodding rhythms, and layered sequencers fuel zigzagging crescendos amid locked-down bass and clavinet interplay. The nine-minute closer, Braziliana No. 1, juxtaposes Baroque and jazz harmonies. Fests knotty solo synth and Rhodes interludes -- complete with dazzling arpeggios -- meet punchy vamps, sweeping Brasil 66-esque vocals, rubbery bass, and skittering breaks. Its a jam aimed squarely at the dancefloor -- at least until a bit later when it gradually boils down into burning Latin jazz. Few records live up to the holy grail hype, but Brazilian Dorian Dream does as a fusion classic that belongs in a category of its own. ~ Thom Jurek