Tunel Acustico＜Orange Vinyl＞

Brazilian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Marcos Valle continues to mine the seemingly bottomless well of his creativity. At 81, he continues composing, performing, and recording a trademark meld of samba, bossa nova, funk, disco, pop, psychedelia, and orchestral music. His infectious melodies are expertly interwoven with groove, rich harmony, and rhythmic invention. Further, his singing voice remains supple and expressive, and he sounds like a man two or three decades his junior. T​u​nel Acu​stico is Valles 23rd studio album. He recorded it with co-producer/arranger Daniel Maunick and a band composed of two-thirds of Azymuth (bassist Alex Malheiros and drummer Renato Massa) and percussionist Ian Moreira, guitarist Paulinho Guitarra, and trumpeter Jesse Sadoc. T​u​nel Ac​u​stico continues in the vein of his excellent 20-year run of releases on Englands Far Out Recordings label, combining breezy samba with funky MPB, jazz, and R&B. These 11 songs contain two composed during his 1975-1980 sojourn in Los Angeles, as well as their instrumental versions. Valle collaborates with several lyricists including Joyce Moreno, Ceu, Moreno Veloso, and brother Paul Sergio Valle. The sets first single, "Feels So Good," was reconstructed with Maunick from an unfinished demo co-written and recorded with Leon Ware. Valle found it in a closet, then added and recorded Portuguese lyrics alongside Wares vocal and laid in extra keyboards and percussion. The smooth, two-step soul jam resonates with Wares iconic sound amid layered grooves and Valles breezy vocal and lush instrumental foundation. The other, "Life Is What It Is," was composed with Brazilian-born percussionist Laudir de Oliveira, a member of Chicago. The original version appeared on Chicago 13 with lyrics by Robert Lamm. Here its a relentless jazz-funk samba with interplay from the rhythm section and a killer guitar break from Guitarra. Other highlights include the elegant Brazilian soul and jazzy club samba of "Nao Sei" composed with Ceu, and "Palavras Tao Gentis" with lyrics by Veloso that melds Rhodes piano, nylon-string guitars, and lithe percussion inside progressive bossa. Of the five tracks Valle wrote alone, opener "Todo Dia Santo" offers a fingerpopping groove with layered percussion sounds -- drums, congas, bells, sticks, etc. -- with Malheiros smooth bassline, Massas kit, piano, and organ under a lovely melody. The title track is an instrumental that expertly, seamlessly weaves jazz and Afro-Latin rhythms with Brazilian MPB. Set-closer "Burt (For Bacharach)" is a duet with Sadocs overdubbed trumpet. Valle slips in some of Bacharachs key horn hooks for a lithe pop ballad. On T​u​nel Acustico, Valle shows no signs of slowing down or compromising, and wonderfully articulates where hes been and where he may wish to go. ~ Thom Jurek

ブラジルのレジェンドによる5年ぶりの新作は、引き続きダニエル・モーニックのプロデュースでAOR～ブギー的な磐石の作風を披露。79年録音のデモを元にリオン・ウェアと共作/共演した"Feels So Good"は目玉だろうが、かつて共作したシカゴ"Life Is What It Is"のセルフ・カヴァー、バカラックに捧ぐ"Thank You Burt(For Bacharach)"などトピックも多彩だ。
bounce (C)轟ひろみ