Hyldon JID023＜限定盤/Yellow Vinyl＞

ブラジルで尊敬を集めるヴォーカリスト、ミュージシャン、プロデューサーのHyldonがAdrian Youngeと共にサイケデリック・ソウルのニュー・アルバム『HYLDON JID023』を制作。60年代と70年代のHyldonの代表作に強くインスパイアされこの時代のスピリットを再訪しながら制作した作品。Hyldonの長年のコラボレーターであり友人でもあったAzymuthのドラマーである故 Ivan "Mamao" Conti をフィーチャーした最後のレコーディングのひとつです。

Fans of Brazilian music will immediately recognize singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Hyldon De Santos Silva -- one of the innovators who melded Brazilian soul, Tropicalia, and MPB in the 1970s; further, he was a core participant in the Black Rio movement. Hyldon: JID 023 pairs him with producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Adrian Younge of the Jazz Is Dead team, as well as Azymuth drummer Ivan "Mamao" Conti in one of his final sessions. Azymuth (who recorded JID 004 with Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad) backed Hyldon for many years, on a host of albums -- including his iconic 1975 debut, Na Rua, Na Chuva, Na Fazenda -- and live. In 2022, Younge, a longtime admirer of Hyldons music, was personally introduced to him by Azymuth. It led Younge to visit the singer at home in Rio, a meeting that was the catalyst for Hyldons first-ever performance in Los Angeles, alongside Azymuth and Marcos Valle. The pair also brought a four-voice backing chorus into the studio. With JID 023, Younge and Hyldon aspire to match their best work. In so doing, they reclaim the elusive terrain where historic psychedelic Brazilian soul and MPB were filtered through Tropicalia, and in the process becomes something all their own. "Viajante de Planeta Azul" is a blissed-out case in point. Set to a processional pace, Contis kit guides a Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes piano, sitar, wah-wah guitars, horns, and plenty of pillowy reverb. Hyldon remains in excellent voice; his grainy high baritone floats, hovers, and accents the progression. In "Cacador de Estrelas," the duo seamlessly juxtapose MPB and jazzy Philly International-style soul. "Jenipapo Robot" is a hard-grooving, dirty collision of future funk and vintage soul adorned by chanted call-and-response vocals, simultaneously recalling the Temptations and early War. Its followed by the rumbling tom-toms and organic percussion intro to "Favela de Rio de Janeiro." The ritual sound of the rhythm tracks opens onto an elegant samba space featuring glorious vocal interplay between Hyldon and a chorus above a sophisticated, intricate melody articulated by electric piano and Hammond B-3. "Verao in California" ("Summertime in California") leans heavily on pop-soul as Tropicalia production textures, lithe rhythms, and swelling horns paint the backdrop for the singers as Younges saxophones alternately outline the vocals, which are in turn painted by drum kit, bass, and elusive, hooky keyboards. "Um Lugar Legal" introduces itself as a funk jam but quickly detours into soft, Tropicalia-psychedelic soul thanks to Hyldons poignantly emotional singing. Set-closer "Nhanderuvucu (The Creator God)" is a funky, driving Tropical rock stomp that marries the intensity of Santanas "Soul Sacrifice" to the sweeping jazz-funk of Banda Black Rios signature keyboard production, with sitars, staggered chorus vocals, triple-timed drumming, and percussion, as Hyldon exhorts his singers to dig into a Carnaval-esque round while Younges B-3 swirls around them. Hyldon: JID 023 is an exceptional creation. It not only elevates the still-astonishing vocal, compositional, and arranging genius of Hyldon in the 21st century, but reveals a JID music and production aesthetic that extends the reach of each musical style and tradition it encounters without relying on simple nostalgia. Wonderful. ~ Thom Jurek