Customer Reviews

The Beat Of Brazil

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Forget Brasil '66 and all those awful Beatles covers. This disk holds Sergio's two best albums with instrumental cuts melding bossa nova with straight ahead bop. "Swinger" is a mostly pensive set with great sidemen such as Art Farmer, Hubert Laws, and Phil Woods. For "Beat" Sergio assembles a powerful sextet and lets things rip. Ela e Carioca is like nothing you've heard, and here's the all-time best arrangement of Desafinado (except possibly for Herbie Mann at Newport '65). Only downside is the pathetic edit of Corcovado, but you'll be bothered only if you've heard the orignal vinyl cut.

This compilation set features the talents of Sergio's Bossa Rio Sextet recorded in Brazil. To borrow a phrase from a Brazilian journalist I highly respect, this group "is tight and swinging" from the first opening bars to the last.

Unfortunately, this group only recorded a few albums in Brazil ("The Beat of Brazil" LP actually is a U.S. reissue of the Philips Brasil "Sergio Mendes and Bossa Rio" LP). We deserved to hear more from these great jazzmen, all of them.

Antonio Carlos Jobim himself did the arrangement for "Ele e Carioca" on the "Beat of Brazil" LP!

If you are a jazz fan and want to hear good solid arrangements and first class jazz piano playing by Sergio, be sure to pick up this compilation, it will not disappoint.

Based on the musical quality and added value of receiving two albums on one cd I would give this a 5 star rating. Where the quality is lacking is in the poor cd re-mastering which is prevalent on most of the re-issues released by this record label. They have a dry, brittle character which sounds artificial. Although The Swinger... boasts jazz heavyweights Art Farmer, Phil Woods, Hubert Laws, and Brazilian master A.C. Jobim himself on guitar, I prefer The Beat Of Brazil. The warm soulful sound of trombones and tenor sax combined with the upbeat arrangements is hard to beat.

This is Sergio before Brasil 65/66 and I would consider them two different sounds. I would describe it simply as Latin Jazz, very good Latin Jazz. Lots of recognizable tunes here. Segio is an icon and should be in everybody's collection. Recommended if you are buying it for the Jazz and not recommended if you think you are getting more Brasil 65/66.

Sergio Mendes is one of those rare Brazilian artists who plays very well on both shores. This CD contains 2 albums from his Brazilian output. You should know that the album here contained "The Beat of Brazil" was originally entiled "Você Ainda Não Ouviu Nada". Furthermore, you should know this is considered the best of all Mendes' output by Brazilian serious reviewers and musicians. Here @ Amazon, you'll also find Sergio Mendes samba (not jazzy) from his Brazil'66 efforts and I would not keep myself on a radical point-of-view of discarding them: it is very good samba too, though not jazzy. If I had to choose, I'd pick'em all. This CD is essential to serious Bossa Nova collectors. All stars.