Melodia Ensemble Part II

Melodia Ensemble - The Works Of Duke Ellington Melodia C60-09261-2 (1978)

More hip Russian big band nuttiness for you - and one that may well have The Duke spinning in his grave! A first rate LP of funky and progressive arrangements of evergreens with real stings in their tails - a real surprising play throughout. All killer... etc.

I'll keep it short and sweet and let the music do the talking.

1) Take The 'A' Train
2) In A Sentimental Mood
3) It Don't Mean A Thing
4) Daydream
5) Cotton Tail

Melodia Ensemble

Melodia Ensemble - Concert In Bombay Melodia C60-14933-34 (1980)

Russian State label Jazzers in India - whatever next!

A killer LP of funky big band grooves. As is so often the case with Eastern European releases in the 70s & 80s, musical trends tended to lag behind their western equivalents, both technologically and stylistically and this release is no different - so don't let the year fool you.

The Jazz Festival in Bombay is one of the most exotic in the world. Unusual combinations of musical cultures from Africa, America, Asia and Europe, the presence of many distinguished masters of jazz and a sensitive and sympathetic audience - all of which made the festival "Jazz Yatra-80" an extremely happy and colourful one.

The brochure issued by the organizers of the festival - National Jazz Committee of India, Secretary General Committee Narayan Dzhaverm quotes Mahatma Gandhi and has become the motto of the festival: "I want the windows and doors of my house to be wide open. I give the cultures of all countries free entry into my house". Bulgaria, Germany, England, Sweden, Poland, USA, Yugoslavia, Finland, the Soviet Union - this is far from a complete list of participating countries in the festival.

So, back to the album... Original compositions, funky basslines, tight jazzy horns and plenty of Moog. Completely delicious and further proof, should you need any, that exceptional music can have the most unusual origins.

1) Holiday
2) Opus N° 2
3) The Old Fort
4) Whirlpool
5) Remembering A Friend
6) Birds In The Window

Cross Dressers!

Rolando & Luiz Antonio - Meu Coração É Um Pandeiro Ou... RCA Victor FPL-1 0117 (Fra) (1976)

Luiz Antonio was born in Tatui in the state of São Paulo and was in such bands as Pigalle, Som Okey 5 and Biriba Boys. Most notably, in 1972, he left for Barcelona and cut the immortal 'Brasil Aquarius y Luiz Antonio' LP. It was there in 1974, he met Rio born singer Rolando Faria, at that time in the group 'Ronie & Central do Brasil' (already posted on this blog).

France became their home and together they toured as Les Étoiles, adopting transvestite personas on stage as they brought Brasilian music to European concert-goers. From the 3 studio albums they recorded in France - this is their debut and what a belter.

Lots of great party-driven samba inflected tunes - the funky 'Chica-Chica-Boom-Chic' and 'Alô, Alô' were lifted for the single and amply demonstrate this. Other highlights for me include their beautiful harmonising on 'Você' and a killer rendition of Joyce's 'Nacional Kid'.

1) Chica-Chica-Boom-Chic
2) Você
3) Viola-Violar
4) Côco Verde
5) Estão Batendo
6) Antes Que Eu Volte A Ser Nada
7) Sol Negro
8) Nacional Kid Ou Brasileiro
9) Jeanne, La Française
10) Alô, Alô

Eliana Pittman

Eliana Pittman - Estrela É Lua Nova RGE XRLP-5.334 (1969)

Born Eliana Leite da Silva in Rio, 1945 and step-daughter to the great Saxophonist Booker Pittman. Eliana Pittman was not only a great beauty in her day but singer, actress and dancer who had an extraordinary rapport with her audiences, compared with the likes of Josephine Baker, Lena Horn and Carmen Miranda. She even hosted her own TV specials such as 'Eliana em Tom Maior', 'Positivamente Eliana' & 'Eliana Cravo e Canela'.

In 1969, Booker Pittman dies and Eliana starts to sing alone, the result is this cracking album produced by Joao Araujo, the highlight for me being a majestic cover and sublime arrangement of Tiempo de Verano (Summertime) and the incendiary Se Você Pensa. The rest of the album is varied combination of swinging Sambas, groovy Bossas and slow burning ballads.

1) Olelê... Cheguei Agora-Enxuga A Tristeza Do Olhar-Peixe Vivo-Bahia De Todos Os Deuses-Pra Que Dinheiro
2) Que Maravilha
3) Tiempo De Verano
4) Estrela É Lua Nova
5) Fim De Tarde
6) Viva A Vida!
7) Na Baixa Do Sapateiro
8) Se Você Pensa
9) Vou Morrer De Rir
10) E Você Nem Viu
11) Iá Ia Do Cais Dourado

The self-titled Argentine Fermata release of this LP the following year featured an additional track 'El Globo Rojo' or 'The Red Balloon'.

Fabiano Orchestra

Fabiano Orchestra - Butterfly Island Franck R Records 8.8002 (1979)

Cracking jazz fusion by the Jean-François Fabiano Orchestra out of Guadeloupe on a French only pressing. Deep spacey keyboard noodling and Rhodes solos courtesy Dominique Bérose, lively melodic horn lines, lyrical guitar licks and worldless females interspersed with tracks of a more West Indian bent. Top draw..!

1) Half Moon Bay
2) Fo Ça Changé
3) Créole
4) Rastaman Rock
5) West Indian Meditation
6) Butterfly Island
7) Fusion (Manahattan Pulse)
8) Pointe Des Chateaux

Doug Lucas

Doug Lucas - Niara RKM 97036 (1975)

Spiritual funky fusion from Brussels, Belgium by trumpeter Doug Lucas in a 'Placebo' fashion. All tracks penned by Lucas with a band featuring Yvan DeSouter (Bass) and Frank Wuyts (Keyboards). The album was reissued in the same year on Shadybrook Records in the States and was produced by Bruno Castellucci who can be heard on percussion duties.

1) Niara
2) Home Won't Know Me
3) Kinshasa Chant
4) One For You
5) When It Be The Morning
6) As If We Knew

Diane Tell

Diane Tell Pleiade 2424 165 (1977)

Singer, songwriter, guitarist, b Quebec City, to a Canadian father and US mother, 24 Dec 1957. Her childhood was spent between Paris, Montreal and Val-d'Or, Que. She studied violin and classical guitar at the CMM, and jazz guitar at Saint-Laurent College.

She hosted radio shows on Montreal station CKOI and, when she began singing, opened for Rick Derringer, Chris de Burgh and Leo Sayer. She sang in bars of Montreal's West End prior to recording her first album. Her romantic lyrics coupled with melodies inspired by jazz and South American music charmed critics immediately. Following a one-year stay in New York, she launched her second LP featuring the hit 'Gilberto'.

'Gone are the wooden clogs and prehistoric skirts, gone are the homespun recordings where spontaneity covered up for lack of technique, gone is the musical macrame and the political guilt feelings: Diane Tell heralds the era of technocrats and professionals, image-makers and career-builders,' Nathalie Petrowski wrote in Le Devoir (Montreal).

For her debut release, Diane Tell's beautiful Brasilian tinged pop-jazz album is sung entirely in French against a sophisticated selection of melodies.

1) Les Cinémas-Bars
2) Un Verre d'Amour
3) Bien
4) En Pleurer Ou En Rire
5) La Valse
6) Je N'En Peux Plus
7) Rendez-Vous
8) Mon Métier
9) La Vieille Mort
10) Un Nuage De Mots
11) La Vallée De La Mort