Music Club

Azymuth – Light As A Feather – 1978

Track list:

1. Jazz Carnival
2. Partido Alto
3. Avenida das Mangueiras
4. Light as a Feather
5. Fly over the Horizon (Vôo Sobre O Horizonte)
6. Amazonia
7. Young Embrace (Um Avraco da Mocidade)
8. Dona Olimpia
9. This Exists (Existe Isto)
10. Montreux

One of Azymuth’s best-remembered albums from their American years on Milestone – a really killer classic that beautifully blends Brazilian and American styles of fusion! There’s a simple, elegant feel to these tunes that takes off nicely from the group’s previous album for Atlantic in Brazil – a pushing forward of the soulful sides of their style, but with just the right blend of quirkier elements as well!

Most tracks are quite spare, and without any too-smooth polishing in production – and titles include the classic “Jazz Carnival”, a funky fusion classic if there ever was one – plus “Light As A Feather”, “Avenida Das Manguerias”, “This Exists”, “Partido Alto”, “Dona Olimpia”, “Amazonia”, and “Young Embrace”.

Azymuth is a three-piece electric funk jazz group from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Formed in 1972, the members are Jose Roberto Bertrami (keyboards), Alex Malheiros (bass, guitars), and Ivan Conti (drums, percussion).

They call their music “Samba Doido”, which means “Crazy Samba”.

Light As A Feather is a superb introduction to the many talents of the Brazilian band which accompanied Flora Purim on her critically acclaimed 1978 American tour. It was Purim’s assertion that Azymuth was the best group in Brazil today that gained United States exposure for the group in their own right. A textural delight, Light As A Feather features a seemingly endless variety of exotic percussion devices tastefully blended together with the uniquely spiced outpourings of Bertrami’s synthesizers. The Flora Purim/Stanley Clarke title track is an ethereal standout, while the Azymuth original Jazz Carnival offers an extended jaunt through electrifying solos and heated percussion licks against a throbbing dance beat. In fact, it was this cut which propelled Light As A Feather to the top 10 in jazz charts worldwide.

Tags: Brasil, Funk, Jazz, Samba Doido