Album of the Week // 28 September — 2 October
Luiz Eça y La Familia Sagrada — La Nueva Onda del Brasil [Vinilisssimo]
Tamba Trio (Helcio Milito, Bebeto Castilho and Luiz Eça) released their first LP in 1962 and quickly became one of the most popular bossa nova/jazz combos out of Brazil. By the mid ’60s the band would expand becoming Tamba 4 and Luiz Eça would record his first albums as a bandleader.
Trained as a classical pianist, Eça’s style began as a mix of jazz and MPB, then blended into bossa resulting in a fresh and unique sound that evolved over the years. La Nueva Onda del Brasil was recorded in 1970 by Luiz Eça accompanied here by La Familia Sagrada, a large group of Brazilian musicians including Joyce, Nana Vasconcelos, Zeca do Trombone, Mauricio Maestro, Claudio Roditi. Wilson Simonal joins on Jorge Ben’s ‘Pais Tropical’.
The album was released years later on the tiny Mexican label RVV, run by Rogelio Villareal, also home to the very rare LPs by Primo Quinteto or Rozana in a similar vein. Villareal was the owner of the Camino Real hotels group and the RVV records were exclusively available for sale at the hotel premises, as souvenirs for visitors. The band spent some periods of time touring Mexico, performing at different Camino Real locations. The album distribution was very limited and never got a local release in their native Brazil (or anywhere else) making this LP a very sought-after record that has reached cult status among Brazilian music collectors Worldwide.
La Nueva Onda del Brasil includes both standards and originals, all performed in a very free style, an outstanding mix of energetic arrangements and delicate vocal harmonies, a sort of very late and evolved bossa mixed with jazz, emphasising the rhythmic elements with a samba twist. A samba jazz masterpiece.
Find out more about this 180g vinyl reissue of a mega rare Mexican-only release, from 1970 in facsimile artwork and remastered sound, every weekday on Morning Mari*.
