Latin | Brazil Vinyl 384 Items

You know that long hot days are fast approaching when it is Brazilian music that you crave. Thankfully the Scruniversal has got us covered with a second release that is as scorching as the first. It pairs MPB, samba and Latin flair with hard-edged hip-hop and funk stylings across a pair of tunes from Scruscru, each one a different collaboration. The first is alongside Tony Lavrutz and has gorgeous vocals and organic percussion paired with cut-up beats and jazzy keys that will ignite any floor on 'Rave Du Brazil.' It is Los Protos's jazz funk groover 'Primavera' that gets the good vibes going on the flip.

Argentinian artist Chancha Via Circuito (aka Pedro Canale) makes his return to Wonderwheel Recordings with his fifth full length: “La Estrella.” Cutting his teeth early at Buenos Aires’s legendary ZZK digital cumbia parties, the Chancha moniker became known worldwide as the originator of the cumbia-inspired electronic music that takes cues from environmental sounds and South American folkloric traditions. Pedro’s musical progeny include names such as Nicola Cruz, El Búho, Dengue Dengue Dengue, King Coya and many more.

Texturally rich and highly emotive, the album spans 11 songs that meander between lush instrumental soundscapes and upbeat vocal numbers, all tied together by Chancha’s signature production style. “La Estrella” - meaning “the star” in Spanish - opens with “Dandeleon,” which plays like a meditation of fluttering vocalesque pads and sonorous bass; while Pedro is joined by the acclaimed Argentinian trio Fémina on “Cometa,” where his refined beat offers an ideal space for the three singers’ voices to inhabit. “Cometa” (“comet”) also furthers the album’s celestial themes, which also touch on spirituality, love, ephemerality, and nature. Frequent collaborator, (Polaris Prize-winning / Grammy-nominated) Lido Pimienta offers her vocal chops on “Amor en silencio,” which showcases the Colombian-Canadian’s harmonizing prowess over an instrumental of panning percussion and syncopated xylophone chords. Additional features come by way of artists such as the Meridian Brothers (recently acclaimed in a longform New York Times piece) on “El pavo real”, as well as Las Añez (“Ese peso”), Federico Estévez (Moninja) "El árbol y el hacha", Manu Ranks (“Ouh Lord ouh Dios”), and María José Montijo (“Aguacero”), whose various nationalities, backgrounds, and styles help give the album a pan-Latin feel as refracted through Pedro’s mystical, multi-colored lens.

Pedro Canale has been working on Chancha Vía Circuito, a musical project that has allowed him to travel the world and put his mark on what is now known as Latin American electronic music, since 2005. Beginning his explorations in digital cumbia, but soon moving into electro-acoustic experiments inspired by his travels and encounters with Indigineous traditions of the Andes and beyond, the “Chancha sound” has transformed into a notable reference for an entire new generation of artists, in turn birthing a new sound that spans the globe. To date, he’s released 5 albums (including “La Estrella”) which have expanded far outside of Latin America and can be heard playing at the top festivals in Europe and the U.S. such as MUTEK, Roskilde, and Vive Latino. The general public will recognize Chancha’s sound thanks to one of their remixes, “Quimey Neuquén,” being used in an unforgettable scene in “Breaking Bad”.

This new 7-inch by S-tone Inc., that includes two brand new tracks, confirms Stefano Tirone’s 20-year old collaboration with Brazilian songwriter Toco. “Try My Love” is a fluid, relaxed and dreamy funk song that blends soul jazz with a ‘70s downtempo drumming groove. “Odoya”, featuring Toco on vocals, is a bit more faster composition, that would perfectly fit as a soundtrack of a typical Italian police movie from the same decade! Simply fantastic!

Stefano Tirone is an eclectic artist, open to a wide range of different music genres. This new 7-inch, that includes two brand new tracks, confirms his 20-year old collaboration with Brazilian songwriter Toco. Working on these songs for Stefano was like going back to the years when he used to listen to Acid Jazz music, especially to the records produced by the Mizell brothers. Their influence here is obvious from the first notes: the funk in “Try My Love” is not as high-fueled as in James Brown’s songs but, as the legendary brothers taught us, by blending a hint of soul jazz with the ‘70s downtempo drumming groove, we get a fluid brew, relaxed and dreamy. This is exactly what “Try My Love” is about. “Odoya”, featuring Toco on vocals, is a bit more faster composition, that would perfectly fit as a soundtrack of a typical Italian police movie from the same decade! Simply fantastic! - - - Stefano Tirone è un artista eclettico e aperto a una vasta gamma di generi musicali. Questo suo nuovo 45 giri, che contiene due nuove tracce, conferma la sua ventennale collaborazione con il cantautore brasiliano Toco. Lavorare a queste canzoni è stato per Stefano come volgere lo sguardo agli anni in cui era solito ascoltare dischi della scena Acid Jazz, specialmente quelli prodotti dai fratelli Mizell. La loro influenza è evidente sin dalle prime note: il funk di “Try My Love” non è carico di energia come quello di James Brown ma, come i leggendari fratelli ci hanno insegnato, dall’unione di un pizzico di soul jazz con il groove di batteria ‘downtempo’ tipico degli anni ‘70 otteniamo una miscela fluida, rilassata e sognante. Esattamente ciò che si respira in “Try My Love”. “Odoya”, brano che vede la partecipazione di Toco alla voce, è una composizione dal ritmo leggermente più sostenuto, perfetta come colonna sonora di un tipico ‘poliziottesco’ italiano! Eccezionale!

The Tropicália art movement of the late 1960s, with flourishes in visual art, poetry, theatre and music, is one of Brazil’s most adored cultural concoctions. It was a movement which began out of necessity, shortly after a repressive military dictatorship seized power after 20 years of peaceful democracy. The term Tropicália first came from the mind of Brazilian visual artist Hélio Oiticica, whose eponymous piece consisted of a sandy maze bordered by tropical Brazilian flora and, at the end, a television set.

Through satirizing symbols of their homeland and rejecting a pre-established national culture, the Tropicalists constructed a new form of “aggressive nationalism” outside of an innately anti-imperialist Left and an unthinkingly patriotic Right. By refusing to accept underdevelopment as their identity and excitedly “devouring” disparate culture (low and high brow, domestic and foreign, etc.), the Tropicalists carved out a unifying creative space, a universal sound, different from the older, bourgeois bossa nova movement and the newer, undiscerning rock movement.

Caetano Veloso’s self-titled debut solo album is one of the most important and influential Brazilian (and, dare we say, South American) albums of all time. With the release of this seminal album, Veloso would become the leading voice of Tropicália.

The songs on this album immediately connected with people. Alegria, Algeria was his breakout hit that gained traction as a hymn for liberty advocates, juxtaposing images of Coca Cola, guerrilla groups, bombs and Brigitte Bardot as part of the everyday experience. The album’s first song Tropicália was an anthem for the whole movement; it’s a fragmented allegory, a structure borrowed from friends

in the concrete poetry scene, touching on divergent cultural symbols, events, allusions and idioms, nimbly representing and critiquing the many contradictions in the new Brazilian dictatorship.

Superbacana (translated as “Supergroovy”) follows a hyperbolic superhero’s use of technology to fight a gang of cowboys led by the money-hungry Uncle Scrooge, serving as allusions to American imperialism and greed felt in their country, all in the rapid-fire structure of a comic book. The subtext in all these songs, which the dictatorship would not immediately catch, were that these repressed but glaring contradictions, not the bountiful sunny paradise that the military regime was pushing, were the true national identity.

Unfortunately, these cleverly veiled jabs in Veloso and his contemporaries’ bodies of work gained greater and greater exposure as the movement became more and more popular, leading to the arrest, imprisonment and forced exile of Veloso and many of his cohort. Despite these difficulties, the Tropicalists continued creating in exile, strongly influencing artists both at home and abroad.

This is the first authorized North American vinyl issue of Caetano Veloso. Whether you’re a longtime fan or first-time listener, Third Man Records could not be more proud to spread the compelling story of this album, this artist and the Tropicália movement.

Moar is back with his Badlibs, this time covering a track composed by legendary producer Jay Dee aka J Dilla. This time the Badlibs are joined by pianist Floriant Pélissier, who covers the main theme on piano, accompanied by Elisabeth Jutel (Double Françoise) on backing vocals and Jean-Louis Potin on saxophone. Moar is behind the MPC to produce and arrange the track, while he entrusts his long-time friend King Most (SF / Usa) with the task of remixing it for an explosive Samba version. The artwork is by the young and talented Arthur Zupashaf, and the logo by friend Eno Kruger.

Marketed as “workout music" at the time, ‘Estrelar’ was his best-selling record with a total of around 90,000 sales.
‘Alleluia’ is a mid tempo groover, with rich horns, guitar, synth and vocal lines. An end of the night jam if ever there was one.

The first Latin soul collection featuring a mix of chart-topping hits and deeper cuts from the crown jewel of the mambo era Tico Records, celebrating the iconic imprint’s 75th Anniversary. The 2-lp set includes 26 tracks from trailblazers Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Joe Cuba, Celia Cruz, Eddie Palmieri, La Lupe, Willie Bobo and more. New liner notes by DJ Dean Rudland that tell the story of the New York City label that launched the careers of some of the most revered names in Latin music.

The musician Roberto Enrique "Tito" Chicoma forged one of the most solid and constant career paths in Peruvian music. Self-taught, he started playing tenor saxophone in his father's orchestra, also playing the trumpet, piano or trombone when the occasion arose.In 1959, at the age of 23, Tito moved to Lima, where he soon joined ensembles such as the Koki Palacios and Armando Boza orchestras, which took him abroad for the first time on tour. A recognized musician in his own right, Tito would later decide to form his own orchestra, which was soon hired by América Televisión, starring on programs such as "El Show de Juan Silva", where he accompanied international artists that visited Lima.In 1966, Tito made his first record under his own name on the MAG label, performing two cumbias by the Colombian group Los Teen Agers. The praise the single received led to the recording of his first LP, "El ritmo de moda", where he continued to compile Colombian songs.At the end of 1967, he dedicated his new LP project to recording two fashionable rhythms at the time: cumbias y boogaloos. The Colombian cumbia became popular in Peru from 1964 onwards, when local orchestras like those of Andrés de Colbert, Mario Cavagnaro, Eulogio Molina and Lucho Macedo recorded cumbia hits, then the genre soared when groups like Los Pacharacos and Los Demonios del Mantaro mixed it with Andean music. Boogaloo in Peru was popularized chiefly by the record label MAG, which kept its listeners up to date with developments in tropical music in New York, releasing and distributing records by Alegre Records and recording versions of hit songs such as 'El pito' and 'Mamblues' with local musicians.The recording sessions for "Cumbias y boogaloos" began in December 1967, when Tito released one of his first compositions: 'Dale U'. He also recorded the instrumental track 'La cigüeña' and 'Plaza de toros', two compositions by the Venezuelan artist Hugo Blanco.At the beginning of 1968, Tito and his band traveled to Buenos Aires, hir...

El Palmas Music to release a new compilation of songs by the famous Venezuelan singer and percussionist Tabaco.

Tabaco Quintana is, without a doubt, one of the great masters of Venezuelan salsa. Born in Caracas in 1943, he was tall and very skinny, which earned him the nickname ‘Tabaco’. A shoeshine boy and street hawker, at the age of 18 he fell in love with the Caracas nightlife and spent his days listening to the rehearsals of a musical group that he ended up joining, thanks to the intervention of his friend Elio Pacheco. That group was called Sexteto Juventud.

Tabaco passed through almost every musical position within the band until he became a singer. It was the resemblance of his voice to Ismael Rivera and his skills as an interpreter that earned him a permanent position in the band.

After leaving the group in 1973, he created his own sextet, Tabaco y Su Sexteto, and later formed Tabaco y sus Metales, two groups that achieved international recognition, and became staples of the Venezuelan music scene ‘til the mid-80s. Throughout, and despite his fame, Tabaco was always clear that music had a social role to play, and would often sing in Venezuelan prisons. Sadly, he died young, on May 30, 1995, due to a lung condition. The public overflowed the streets to accompany him to his last dance.

This compilation of Tabaco’s songs, simply titled Tabaco and compiled by El Dragón Criollo and El Palmas, is an attempt to shine a light on this musical icon, and to show his versatility, vocal ability and unparalleled knowledge of musical rhythms.

Primarily known for his voice - which isn’t surprising considering his vocal nuances and the different registers he is able to reach - it can be said that he was also no slouch when it came to mixing up the rhythms. On this compilation there is a strong influence of African music (“San Juan Guarincongo”, “Imolle”) and jazz - just listen to the unforgettable beginning of “Arrollando”.

Percussion, piano and wind instruments are high in the mix, but it’s the masterful voice of Tabaco that adapts effortlessly to the requirements of the melody and the lyrics, riding each groove masterfully. The lyrics also show the great social sensitivity of the Venezuelan maestro: “Una Sola Bandera” and “Cuando Llora el Indio” are two great examples of salsa’s power in denouncing social injustice, and Tabaco’s commitment to that ethos.

Tabaco is unmissable, a heady journey into the essence of salsa and the rhythms of the Caribbean.

In 1975, under the oppressive air of military dictatorship in Brazil, brothers Lelo and Zé Eduardo Nazario invited bassist Zeca Assumpção to join their musical experiments in a basement under Sao Paulo’s Teodoro Sampaio Street. As teenagers, the trio had already been playing together in Hermeto Pascoal’s Grupo, alongside guitarist Toninho Horta and saxophonist Nivaldo Ornelas, and it was while working together under Hermeto’s direction that the Paulista rhythm section (as they were then known) began to realise their own potential.

With many nightclubs and venues closed in the mid-70s and government censors dictating the output of radio, TV and art galleries, many Brazilian artists fled during the years of dictatorship. But underground, Grupo Um were fusing avant garde ideals with contemporary jazz and Afro Brazilian rhythm; making phenomenally free and expressive music - in stark contrast to the sterile, conservative conditions being imposed above ground.

Just like Hermeto Pascoal’s Viajando Com O Som from the following year, Starting Point was recorded over two days at Vice-Versa Studios, by revered engineer Renato Viola. The studio was one of the best in Sao Paulo and musicians communicated with engineers through cameras and a monitor, allowing the group complete immersion in the process. They also made use of the studio’s hemispherical tiled room, which served as an acoustic reverberation chamber.

The album begins with Zé Eduardo Nazario’s thunderous drum solo on “Porão da Teodoro”, before clearing the clouds with the lone Berimbau which opens “Onze Por Oito”. Built around a hypnotic electric bass line, heady Fender Rhodes improvisations, and more rip-roaring drums, it’s a rapturous, electrifying freak-jam in 11/8.

Like some invertebrate deep-sea curiosity, the free-form “Organica” is made up of Lelo Nazario’s playfully eerie prepared piano, with Zé Eduardo’s percussion flurries darting around Assumpçao’s double bass. The equally non-conformist, percussion-only piece “Jardim Candida” features many of Zé Eduardo’s home-made instruments, including a long saw blade played with vibraphone sticks and violin bow. While working with Hermeto, Zé Eduardo famously built his own all-in-one percussion set-up known as the “Barraca de Percussão” (Percussion Tent) - the first of its kind in Brazil, which he would also use on Hermeto Pascoal’s Viajando Com O Som and throughout his career.

“Suite Orquidea Negra'' (Black Orchid Suite) was written by Lelo Nazario as the score for an imaginary movie - the story of a rare, black orchid which produced a substance meant to cure all diseases, but which had mysteriously disappeared from the laboratory… “As a screenplay it’s not very good” reflects Lelo in jest, “but the music ended up being very interesting, the way its parts are chained to one another carries a little of the mystery I imagined for the movie.”

The album closes with the triumphant “Cortejo dos Reis Negros” (Procession of Black Kings) - a groovy variation on the Maracatu rhythm, with a two-note bassline underpinning piano improvisations, exultant wordless vocals, cuicas, slide-whistles and a very special guest appearance from Zé’s dog Bolinha.

Starting Point was to mark the inception of one of Brazil’s most daring instrumental groups. Their debut now sits in the lofty echelon of otherworldly 70s Brazilian music, alongside the likes of Marcos Resende & Index’s self-titled debut, Cesar Mariano & Cia’s Sao Paulo Brasil, Azymuth’s debut and indeed Hermeto Pascoal’s Viajando Com O Som. But just like all of those titles, which were either shelved or largely ignored at the time, Grupo Um - so radically ahead of their time - struggled to find a label to release their debut album. So Lelo kept the tapes safe in his archives, which is where they sat for almost half a century. Finally, almost fifty years later, this mesmerising piece of history is here, and it was only the beginning...

Limited to 1000 copies.

A download code is included. This is a 180g Vinyl LP. Updating Marcos Valle’s seminal boogie-era sound, Sempre spans ecstatic disco, cosmic samba, and late-night jazz-funk, drawing obvious comparisons to some of Valle’s late-seventies and early-eighties output.

The city of Belém, in the Northern state of Pará in Brazil, has long been a hotbed of culture and musical innovation. Enveloped by the mystical wonder of the Amazonian forest and overlooking the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean, Belém consists of a diverse culture as vibrant and broad as the Amazon itself. Amerindians, Europeans, Africans - and the myriad combinations between these people - would mingle, and ingeniously pioneer musical genres such as Carimbó, Samba-De-Cacete, Siriá, Bois-Bumbás and bambiá. Although left in the margins of history, these exotic and mysteriously different sounds would thrive in a parallel universe of their own.

I didn’t even know of the existence of that universe until an Australian DJ and producer by the name of Carlo Xavier dragged me deep into this whole new musical world. Ant it all began in Belém do Pará. Perched on a peninsula between the Bay of Guajará and the Guamá river, sculpted by water into ports, small deltas and peripheral areas, Belém had connected city dwellers with those deeper within the forest providing fertile ground for the development of a popular culture mirroring the mighty waters surrounding it. Through the continuous flow of culture, language and tradition, various rhythms were gathered here and transformed into new musical forms that were simultaneously traditional and modern.

Historically marginalized African religions like Umbanda, Candomblé and the Tambor de Mina, which had reached this side of the Atlantic through slaves from West Africa – especially from the Kingdom of Dahomey, currently the Republic of Benin – left an indelible stamp on the identity of Pará´s music. They would give birth to Lundun, Banguê and Carimbó, styles later modernised by Verequete, Orlando Pereira, Mestre Cupijó and Pinduca to great effect. The success of these pioneers would create a solid foundation for a myriad of modern bands in urban areas.

Known as the “Caribbean Port,” Belem had been receiving signal from radio stations from Colombia, Surinam, Guyana and the Caribbean islands - notably Cuba and the Dominican republic - since the 1940s. By the early 1960s, Disc jockeys breathlessly exchanged Caribbean records to add these frenetic, island sounds to liven up revelers. The competition was fierce as to who would be the first to bring unheard hits from these countries. The craze eventually reached local bands’ repertoires, and Belém’s suburbs got overtaken by merengue, leading to the creation of modern sounds such as Lambada and Guitarrada.

To reach a larger audience, the music needed to be broadcast. Radios began targeting the taste of mainstream audiences and played music known as “music for masses.” As the demand for this music grew, it led to the establishment of recording companies. Belém’s infant recording industry began when Rauland Belém Som Ltd was founded in the 1970s. It boosted a radio station, a recording studio, a music label and had a deep roster of popular artists across the carimbó, siriá, bolero and Brega genres.

Another important aspect in understanding how the musical tradition spread in Belém, are the aparelhagem sonora: the sound system culture of Pará. Beginning as simple gramophones connected to loudspeakers tied to light posts or trees, these sound systems livened up neighbourhood parties and family gatherings. The equipment evolved from amateur models into sophisticated versions, perfected over time through the wisdom of handymen. Today’s aparelhagens draw immense crowds, packing clubs with thousands of revelers in Belém’s peripheral neighbourhoods or inland towns in Pará.

The history of "Jambú e Os Míticos Sons Da Amazônia" is the history of an entire city in its full glory. With bustling night clubs providing the best sound systems and erotic live shows, gossip about the whereabouts of legendary bands, singers turned into movie stars, supreme craftiness, and the creativity of a class of musicians that didn’t hesitate to take a gamble, Jambú is an exhilarating, cinematic ride into the beauty and heart of what makes Pará’s little corner of the Amazon tick. The hip swaying, frantic percussion and big band brass of the mixture of carimbó with siriá, the mystical melodies of Amazonian drums, the hypnotizing cadence of the choirs, and the deep, musical reverence to Afro-Brazilian religions, provided the soundtrack for sweltering nights in the city’s club district.

The music and tales found in Jambú are stories of resilience, triumph against all odds, and, most importantly, of a city in the borders of the Amazon who has always known how to throw a damn good party.

“Jambú is a plant widely used in Amazonian and Paraense cuisine. Known for having an appetitestimulating effect, it is added to various dishes and salads but is most famously one of the main ingredients in Tucupi and Tacacá, two delicacies that have been immortalized in countless Carimbó songs. Chewing the leaves of the Jambú plant will leave a strong sensation of tingling on the tongue and lips. Indigenous communities have relied upon its anaesthetic qualities for centuries as an effective remedy against toothaches and as a cure for mouth and throat infections. A decade ago, a distillery from Belém discovered the euphoric effects of the Jambú plant when combined with distilled sugarcane based spirit - known as cachaça - and created the now legendary “Cachaça de Jambú“.

This release comes on heavy-weight 180g vinyl. With all the cosmic energy and masterful musicianship you'd expect from the three-man orchestra, Azymuth rise from the ashes.

Renowned Italian spiritual jazz lover, DJ, producer, guitarist, and bandleader Nicola Conte proudly presents his new album Umoja via London based label Far Out Recordings.

A joyous exultation across ten tracks, Umoja taps into the abundant well of knowledge Conte has amassed over his career as connoisseuring compiler and archivist of deep jazz, latin, afrofuturist, bossa-nova and soul music from around the world. Expressing unity, oneness and harmony in Swahili, Umoja coalesces universal feelings through the multifaceted global music Conte has spent his life studying and researching.

Having released music with Blue Note, Impulse! and Schema records, Nicola Conte’s relationship with Far Out began over a shared love of hard-edged bossa-nova and swinging samba-jazz. Between 2009-2013 Nicola Conte compiled five volumes of forgotten 60s Brazilian music for his Viagem series. He then released his critically acclaimed Natural album: a collaboration with vocalist Steffania Dippiero, featuring jazz standards alongside covers of lesser known Brazilian gems.

The music of Umoja draws on the deep-dug 70's independent spiritual and free jazz sounds, private-press soul records, and African and Afro Caribbean rhythms in Conte’s collection. But he equally recognises his debt to many of the decade’s more celebrated musical icons, such as North American cosmic jazz masters Lonnie Liston Smith and Gary Bartz, and Afrobeat originators Fela Kuti and Tony Allen.

Since founding the Bari-based bohemian cultural movement and club night Fez at the dawn of the nineties, Conte has proven to be a pillar of the contemporary, international soul-jazz scene. Composed alongside his long time friend, guitarist Alberto Parmegiani, Conte brings together a dazzling host of guests from around the world, including award winning British vocalist Zara Mcfarlane, acclaimed Finnish saxophonist Timo Lassy, french vibes player Simon Mullier, US vocalist Myles Sanko, rising South African drummer Fernando Damon, former Roy Hargrove bassist Ameen Saleem and Serbian flute sensation Milena Jancuric.

A joyous exultation across ten tracks, Umoja taps into the abundant well of knowledge Conte has amassed over his career as connoisseuring compiler and archivist of deep jazz, latin, afrofuturist, bossa-nova and soul music from around the world. Expressing unity, oneness and harmony in Swahili, Umoja coalesces universal feelings through the multifaceted global music Conte has spent his life studying and researching.

Having released music with Blue Note, Impulse! and Schema records, Nicola Conte’s relationship with Far Out began over a shared love of hard-edged bossa-nova and swinging samba-jazz. Between 2009-2013 Nicola Conte compiled five volumes of forgotten 60s Brazilian music for his Viagem series. He then released his critically acclaimed Natural album: a collaboration with vocalist Steffania Dippiero, featuring jazz standards alongside covers of lesser known Brazilian gems.

The music of Umoja draws on the deep-dug 70's independent spiritual and free jazz sounds, private-press soul records, and African and Afro Caribbean rhythms in Conte’s collection. But he equally recognises his debt to many of the decade’s more celebrated musical icons, such as North American cosmic jazz masters Lonnie Liston Smith and Gary Bartz, and Afrobeat originators Fela Kuti and Tony Allen.

Since founding the Bari-based bohemian cultural movement and club night Fez at the dawn of the nineties, Conte has proven to be a pillar of the contemporary, international soul-jazz scene. Composed alongside his long time friend, guitarist Alberto Parmegiani, Conte brings together a dazzling host of guests from around the world, including award winning British vocalist Zara Mcfarlane, acclaimed Finnish saxophonist Timo Lassy, french vibes player Simon Mullier, US vocalist Myles Sanko, rising South African drummer Fernando Damon, former Roy Hargrove bassist Ameen Saleem and Serbian flute sensation Milena Jancuric.

Careful, “Let’s not get angry” suggests Spartaco Sax, the famed song accompanying French daily paper FRANCE-SOIR’s campaign against road violence: music isn’t that serious, often times really not. In any case, it is with this not so serious ear that one should listen to this selection of chachacha, mambo and other genres to twist and madison to, as music-lovers pinch their noses and block their ears. And yet, these breezy and light songs under their false airs of effortlessness draw out an astonishing analysis of late 1950s France with its partying baby boomers. Put on your dancing shoes, everyone on the dancefloor, let’s go baby.
The record starts out with an esoteric organ, a guitar straight out of a western, a vibey rhythm section, a speeding saxophone, a glamorous voice, a curious keyboard, a slightly panicky tempo… “Please Mr Hitchock!” calls out a voice from the unknown, on an arrangement that’s about to lose control.
The tone is set. Eins Zwei Drei, cries out Spartaco Andreoli, creator of the Chachacha for tunas, lyrics that are absurd accompanying music that isn’t so much so. And this is just the beginning. I can already see those making fun of it, and yes, I admit it does sound a bit comically-tragic, but more often than not, a persistent riff or melody will get stuck in your head, a chorus that you’ll start unintentionally humming, your foot that starts beating unbeknownst to you. “C’est bon ça dis donc !” (This is pretty good), suggest the Los Goragueros, at the start of their Mambo Miam Miam (Yum Yum). A smooth sax, a double bass that sways and shattering percussions, this song anonymously written by Alain Goraguer (there is often an “os” (bone), added to the band name for a little authenticity, i.e Los Chiquitos and Los Albinos) is actually quite tasty. This arranger and pianist who went on to write the indispensable Planète Sauvage (Wild Planet) is not the only one to have advanced half-masked in these tropical times. Just as Michel Legrand devoted himself to rock music, for better or worst.
Tropical music and France go way back. Indeed, this tropism for exotic music, not without the mannerisms that go with it, has been around. Just think of the period between both world wars, when the Paris of the roaring twenties fluttered to the sound of Latin-American orchestras. The influential Brazilian musician Pixinguinha came through in 1922, the charismatic Cuban singer Rita Montaner triumphed a few years later at the famed Palace and the brilliant clarinettist Stellio from Martinique had everyone dancing through the night to the beguine (a dance style from Martinique)… Seedy cabarets and fishy clubs mixing up different peoples and music until the early hours. From Montparnasse to Montmartre, dancing clubs bloomed throughout the capital while the World Exhibition sold a rather uncertain idea of the other tropics: a discounted and fantasized exotic dream of island life. It’s in bars like Jimmy’s, by La Coupole, or the Melody’s nestled in the heights of Pigalle, where Don Marino Barreto’s (Cuban pianist and singer who emigrated to Paris in the 1920s) orchestra made the heyday of a surreal and carefree Paris. Parisian Ray Ventura and his band Les Collégiens, quite the breeding ground for funny songs, at times almost delirious, were always a big part of the party.
And after the Second World War, it started all over again. Rico’s Creole Band was one of the great Creole orchestras to sway all of Paris, the Blomet Ball brought together the Afro-Caribbean communities, L’Escale became an essential dancing ground for lovers of Latin music, the pianist Eddie Warner was one of these pillars, accompanied by his “rhythms”, a “witty orchestra with 85% of French musicians, only the percussionists were South American”. Another jazzman, Henri Rossotti, also navigated in the warm waters of these gentle tropical shores. They covered sambas and mambos, adapting Benny Moré and Pérez Prado. Hot, like the hard-hitting Benny Bennett and his orchestra of Latin American music, which ended up being the training grounds of many apprentice improvisers. On the menu: calypso, merengue… and of course chachacha. Shortly after, the Los Machucambos, a South American band created in the Latin Quarter performed music between guajira and flamenco and its song Pepito marked the start of the trio’s success.
At the time, Latin-style combos were all the rage in France such as the chachacha which was officially invented in the early 1950s by Enrique Jorrin, soon followed by the pachanga, becoming a staple of black-and-white films. In the long run, this music has become a sort of French standard, adapted by many: Boris Vian oftentimes, Bourvil, Bob Azzam, Gainsbourg, Carlos (jokingly), Louis Chedid, Vanessa Paradis… Taking it a little far, you could even detect the beginnings of the french touch. This Chachacha affair is emblematic of the atypical history of popular music, that of back-alleys, far from the paths and furrows of glory. Music, raised from the grave and dusted off by the Born Bad record label. In terms of latin music, these records that were patiently found in flea markets are becoming a rarity, even if most are worth three euros and six cents: this low cost hobby is underestimated by licensed collectors, who run like lunatics towards triple-zero rarities.
Chachacha Transistor, predicted the unlikely Jacky Ary, known for his less digestible Mange des tomates (Eat tomatoes). With the approach of the 1960s, typical music styles were found all over the country, from the northern plains to the southern sea. Never failing to cheer up dances, nor to whet the appetite of a burgeoning industry, which often seized it by opportunism, not without a tinge of cynicism. After all, one must sell records to the desolate youth, at all costs and any price. These 7-inch vinyl records were therefore recorded at Barclay, Vogue and co. Low-consumption products intended to supply the shelves of budding suburban supermarkets. The idea was to convert a North-American trend in the studio, by summoning old geezers (Paul Mauriat under the pseudonym of Eduardo Ruo, at the top of the list…) who would play young and interpret these rhythms with a distorted vision. All for just one season and all this before summer hits were a thing. It was already the same idea though, but in more of a D.I.Y fashion. A quick fix, just enough time for the producers to get some juicy revenue, the same ones who recruited teams to perform these “inferior” works. Most were flops, but a few made it big such as Jean Yanne answering to Henri Salvador for Allo Brigitte, a classic of the “comic-musical” genre. It’s author Norma Maine went on to write quite a few of these quirky songs.
Most had improbable dialogue, as well as senseless adaptations such as the Marchand de melons (The Melon Merchant) distorting Herbie Hancock’s Watermelon Man, a result of automatic writing in order to come up with ridiculous lyrics. What can be said about Tarte à la nana (Girl Pie), and how about Ça c’est du poulet ? (This is Chicken?) Or the terrible Soukou Soukou, on the limit of bad taste, words of a colonist… When it comes to reappropriating foreign know-how, the results can turn out strange like a surreal shock of cultures. Improbable mixes, like chacha bebop, latino tempo and scat jazz… It all definitely swings and is sometimes even quite impressive. Because magical loose moments are to be found in these records made to order, records that were just trying to recreate a successful pre-existing North American formula. They recorded them on the line, in the original spirit, or inconspicuously modified them, not only for fun, but also for the pleasure of adding on a chorus which would take the song a little further, or a well adjusted rhyme that would denote a touch of derision, a French tradition that was to be repeated in rock as in punk, and even bossa nova. The key often being explosive arrangements, occasionally beautiful choruses, radiant mishaps, confusing mistakes, not necessarily off-topic, all in all some sweet musical trips that always have an effect on the dancefloor when it’s time to boogie. Try it out, you’ll see, it works every time, if you don’t abuse of it. Moderation is recommended for this music that should be served either at cocktail hour or after midnight…

Guyana folk music reinterpreted and infused with Afroroots and culture, reissued on vinyl for the first time. A year after their debut album ‘Ojinga’s Own’, the Yoruba Singers from Guyana released the singles ‘Black Pepper’ and ‘Basa Bongo’. These two songs were recorded in Barbados and released on the Green Shrimp label and became extremely popular throughout the Caribbean and South America. The music also became an integral part of the very beginnings of what was later to become the Champeta Criolla sound in the Caribbean coast of Colombia.

We are celebrating the 100th release in the Brazil45 series with a massive track. The enticing and exotic samba 'Redondo Sambão' is pure Brazilian fire. With beautiful female vocal-group arrangements, floating flutes and vibrating rhythms, this song oozes charm. Its only downside being that it is over far too soon. Originally released in 1967 on a compact 7" on the Som Maior imprint, to our knowledge, the group sadly only had a couple of releases.

'Brasileiro' is taken from Jorginho Telles' self-titled 1971 album and also featured on a 7", both released on Copacabana Records. The track switches between a hoarse male vocal crooner and a rough and raw psych-guitar, RnB dancer: totally magic!

Deluxe Gatefold Vinyl 2LP, 12 page booklet with liner notes, lyrics in Spanish / English, and rare photographs from that era). This compilation brings together 24 iconic songs from that era, with a focus on the theme of love songs (A + B side) as well as social political songs (C + D side), highlighting the emotions that this music brought to the popular working classes of Lima, nationwide and the diaspora. More than 30 years later, these songs continue to resonate like the mirror of a country that was reborn but this time is looking at itself and its own identity.

From the mid-1960s onwards, there was a unique moment of fusions in Peruvian culture brought about by Andean migration from the countryside to the city which gave rise to adaptations and intercultural mixing. The culture and music they brought created the powerful genre of Andean tropical cumbia, via electric instruments and arrangements along with modern, popular pop sounds, creating a legacy that is alive to this day. Musical revolutions are often born from the people. Peruvian “chicha” cumbia is the music born in the "barrios bajos” (slums), alleys, hills and the peripheries of Lima on the coast and cities on the edge of the Andes mountains in the late 70’s and 80’s. The true new Peruvian sound was not played with folk instruments but with guitars and timbales. In the 60’s and 70’s Peruvian tropical music was characterized by psychedelic hybridity and instrumentals for mass delight, by the mid-70s the appearance of a "class consciousness" and therefore a subaltern narrative. “Chicha” is perhaps the genre that has most emphasized its pride in being proletariat, itinerant, provincial and hardworking.

Founded in Lima by Juan Campos Muñoz, a businessman, dreamer, and also a lover of music, Discos Horóscopo was a label company on the margins of the official Peruvian music industry. Learning the ins and outs of capitalism in the 80’s was hard because it was the decade where the wildest neoliberal policies and the most extreme Maoist sendero luminosa revolt began simultaneously. On Juan Campos’s end, it was the moment to initiate this new venture of Chicha music, which would allow Chicha to emerge symbolically (and then economically) to a new social class composed mostly of migrants, landless peasants, and proletarians without a factory.

Between 1977 and 1987, the Discos Horóscopo label produced the largest wave of Andean tropical cumbia in the world; Chicha, a reference to the fermented alcoholic drink from the Andes. The label was filled with contemporary icons such as Chacalón y La Nueva Crema, Los Shapis, Pintura Roja, Los Ovnis, Grupo Alegría and other groups which today still have a cult status in Peru and beyond. Together they created a unique style with the capacity to talk about both love and uprooting, unemployment, struggle of classes, internal violence and impossible loves.

High Quality pressing in vintage silk screen sleeve. Fiestas is an ultra catchy foxtrot by the Colombian clarinet player and ar-ranger Ricaurte Arias.This American-style swing spiced up with a layer of Colombian sauce is an irresistible ear worm that takes the concept of smoothness to another level. Definitely the foxiest of all foxes.

The release comes on 180g vinyl. 3 of Brazil's most important artists of the past 10 years team up in this Tribalistas project – a genre-blurring set of tracks that recalls similar efforts of the Tropicalista generation,updated to reflect the styles of the 3 artists involved, with some nice complicated production touches from Monte herself. Titles include "Carnavalia", "La De Longe", "O Amor E Feio", "Passe Em Casa", "Velha Infancia", and "Ja Sei Namorar".

Limited to 500 copies.

Deep', also known as 'Oh Poor Me' is a mid-tempo latin soul/boogaloo from singer Quetchy Alma aka La Lloroncita. Taken from the very rare LP ‘El Sol Brilla Para Todos’ on Tico.

'Identify Yourself' is a stone cold Nu Yorican funk/soul hit. Drum heavy, huge horns and punchy Rhodes lines. Taken from their self-titled LP on Vaya, released in 1974.