Marcos Valle: Jazz Is Dead 3

Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge debuted their Jazz Is Dead recordings series in March, 2020 as an extension of their Los Angeles Lodge Room performances. In addition to their own EP (JID001), they cut a wonderful session with Roy Ayers (Roy Ayers JID002). This third volume is a collab with legendary Brazilian composer, singer, and producer Marcos Valle. He lived in L.A. during the 1970s, working as an engineer, producer, sideman, and songwriter, composing with Chicagos Robert Lamm and R&B maestro Leon Ware, but he never recorded his own music. (Valles last American recording was Samba 68, arranged by Eumir Deodato.) Muhammad and Younge did a deep dive into Valles catalog for musical guidance and creative inspiration, then invited him to Linear Labs Studio. Known for intense focus, Valle listened intently to his collaborators ideas and embellished them, often in the moment. The musicians cut eight sparkling, airy new songs in less than a week. While the spontaneity in these sessions references various musical projects Valle has engaged over the decades, the approach is modern, organic, and warmly visceral. Check out the lithe opener Queira Bem. Valles signature vocal phrasing caresses the lyric just above a shimmering Rhodes piano, jazzy guitar, and slightly funky bass lines. A flute slips around the sung lines as percussion and snare breaks fill out the mix. Valles spouse, vocalist Patricia Alvi, adds harmony vocals to several tracks, but her featured duet on Viajando Por Ai is the sets finest entry. Samba rhythms and syncopated jazz horn charts, which meet in-the-cut funky bass and electric piano and organ, introduce a sexy soul bossa delivered flawlessly by the singers. The sets final two tracks, Our Train and A Gente Volta Amanha, directly reference Fly Cruzeiro, a 1972 electric jazz-samba session Valle cut with Azymuth, which was recently reissued by Far Out. (Interestingly, the fusion trio are the subjects of the upcoming JID004.) The former track is an instrumental samba. Its stacked organs, vamping guitars, and simmering percussion are filtered through a syncopated, percussive Rhodes piano, zigzagging synths, and punchy -- if gently restrained -- brass extensions in the coda. The latter is a vocal tune that juxtaposes swirling psychedelic pop, jazz, and bossa. The breezy instrumental arrangement centers on a flute, framed by reeds and brass. Underneath are a heavily reverbed wah-wah guitar, bumping synths, a Hammond B-3, and an electric piano that dart around abundant polyrhythms. Valles slightly weathered voice shows faint traces of age but rises to his accompaniment; though it almost gets swallowed, the sultry flute rescues him with a restatement of the theme. The only nick against Marcos Valle JID003 is -- at less than 30 minutes -- its brevity. That said, what these musicians accomplished in less than a week is remarkable, so much so that it leaves the listener wanting much more. Heres hoping for a sequel. ~ Thom Jurek

エイドリアン・ヤング&アリ・シャヒード・ムハマドによるレア・グルーヴ偉人とのコラボ・シリーズ第2弾。前作の『Roy Ayers』に続くのは、トム・ミッシュとの遠隔セッション動画も話題になっていたブラジル音楽の巨匠、マルコス・ヴァーリだ。ミッドナイト・アワーならではの気の利いたアレンジを隅々まで行き渡らせつつ、繊細にして野性味のある御大ならではの歌声が、ゆったり風が吹き抜けるような全体の情緒も相まって心地良い。
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