Azymuth: Águia Não Come Mosca [MR. BONGO]

Why you'll love it

Mr Bongo's reissue replicates the original Brazilian Atlantic sleeve and labels. It's golden-era Azymuth from two years before "Jazz Carnival," and Mr Bongo's first ever Azymuth reissue.

This edition

• Original Atlantic sleeve replica
• Replica original labels

About the album

Long before the remixers and sample-hunters found them, Azymuth were three Rio session players who had backed Marcos Valle and named themselves after one of his songs. Their second album, issued on Atlantic in Brazil in 1977, is where their homemade style really comes into focus: they called it samba doido, or crazy samba, a blend of jazz, funk, fusion and Brazilian rhythm.

José Roberto Bertrami's synthesizers write most of the melodies, gliding over Alex Malheiros's elastic bass and Ivan "Mamão" Conti's restless drums. "Vôo Sobre O Horizonte" takes off on a cloud of keys, "Tarde" drifts with the gentle, wistful grace of Milton Nascimento's work with Wayne Shorter, and the title track grooves hard. Side two runs from the percussion feature "Tamborim, Cuíca, Ganzá, Berimbau" to the frantic, 160bpm closer "Águia Negra X Dragão Negro." Guti Carvalho produced it, and it's the trio sounding loose, inventive and completely sure of themselves.

Azymuth went on to a long run on Milestone and later Far Out Recordings, with Malheiros still leading the band today. The title translates roughly as "the eagle doesn't eat flies," which we've quietly adopted as shop policy on small talk.

Also at Kops: more Azymuth on vinyl · browse World

Tracklist

Listen

On Atlantic / Mr Bongo (cat# MRBLP209), a reissue of the 1977 album.