Moacir Santos

[romualdo]

Trying to find more info on this Brazilian composer/educator - not much circulating

what were his three Blue Notes like (Carnival Of The Spirits, Maestro & Saudade) - like a lot of the early 70's BN's??

[Jason Drake]

I can't speak for the 3 x BN's - but waiting to order them in the next re-issues planned this Nov/Dec/Jan. The disc that I really like is "Coisas" from the mid 60's. It's difficult to find now. Some find it too easy and lacking in bite, oomph or soloing space, but I find it beguiling. The songs were remade on a couple of 90's disc's which are available and are quite faithful, but there's nothing like the originals....

[JohnS]

I had the first two Blue Notes, Attractive jazzy latin but not keepers imo, and yes fairly typical of period. Both went from my collection quite quickly. The first one (Carnival of the Spirits?) was the better of the two.

[Noj]

Just an aside, but a man came into my father's store to rent a wheelchair who shared the same name. He was delightedly shocked when I asked if he was related to the famous musician. He's Moacir's son.

[Justin V]

There's a nice version of his song 'Kathy' on Horace Silver's In Pursuit of the 27th Man.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I love the first one - Maestro. For me it's a definite keeper. Considering the other 2 BN reissues from Japan, but they're expensive. Are they as good as the first?

MG

[JohnS]

Thanks MG, Maestro was the first BN album. My memory's failed me again. Definitely the best of the bunch but despite an interesting looking lineup not too much happens jazz wise. Not a keeper for me I'm afraid.

[romualdo]

all 3 are being released over the next 3 months in the Japanese 999 Yen BNLA EMI reissue series

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

His singing voice is lovely; so are his songs. I wouldn't argue with you, John, that the jazz is very much background.

MG

[Tom in RI]

I can't speak for the 3 x BN's - but waiting to order them in the next re-issues planned this Nov/Dec/Jan. The disc that I really like is "Coisas" from the mid 60's. It's difficult to find now. Some find it too easy and lacking in bite, oomph or soloing space, but I find it beguiling. The songs were remade on a couple of 90's disc's which are available and are quite faithful, but there's nothing like the originals....

Would the reissue be from Ouro Negro on Adventure Music? I have that 2 cd set and enjoy it quite a bit.

[Jason Drake]

Yes it would

[seeline]

Coisas, Ouro Negro and Choros e Alegrias (the latter two on Adventure Music) are the discs to get.

There admittedly isn't much in English, but I'm wondering if you've checked Chris McGowan & Ricardo Pessanha's book The Brazilian Sound? I think that's one of the best English-language sources - brief, but succinct, too.

Moacir had a big influence in Brazil as both a composer and arranger, and my hunch is that there are bari sax players down there who took up the instrument because of him. Per McGowan and Pessanha, more than a few N. American arrangers were informally tutored by him.

Edited December 6, 2012 by seeline

[Teasing the Korean]

I have one of the Blue Notes, the one with the black cover. It has that decadent 70s international sound, which makes it a keeper.

[seeline]

Re. Ouro Negro - It's all Moacir's compositions, but he did not play on any of the tracks (also true of Choros & Alegrias). It's a tribute album, and (from what a friend told me) was accompanied by a terrific live gig, with Moacir and his wife in attendance.

I'm very glad that he got at least some of the recognition he deserved before he died.

As for the title, Ouro Negro (black gold) is something of a play on words. A lot of large corporations in Brazil sponsor recordings and concert series, and in this case, the sponsor was Petrobras. (Big Brazilian oil/gas company.) And since Moacir was black and drew on a lot of Afro-Brazilian musical forms in his own work, the title refers to that as well.

I have one of the Blue Notes, the one with the black cover. It has that decadent 70s international sound, which makes it a keeper.

I think his Blue Note albums are good, but not anything like as good as the Brazilian recordings he made. The musicians there didn't have to work to "get" the rhythms and overall feel, for one...

Edited December 6, 2012 by seeline

[Pete C]

One other thing about the title Ouro Negro. In Portuguese the word for the color black is preto (I was just in the town of Ouro Preto last week). Negro, which in Spanish is the color black, in Brazil is used as a racial term only as far as I know, people may call them self negro or negra, so it's even more of a play on words. There's a DVD of a performance of the music with some of the guest singers, but I haven't seen it.

[seeline]

Yes, but for whatever reason(s) - probably something I know nothing about - they chose "negro" for that title. I would have thought "preto" as well, since that's used to refer to skin color, or, at least, to black people.

Will have to see if i can get some more info. from friends.

Edited to add: I think "negro" is probably a regionalism and/or reference to where Moacir came from (Pernambuco state, in NE Brazil) ... oil was 1st discovered in Alagoas (next door to Pernambuco), as you can see in this synopsis for a film about its discovery in Brazil, titled Ouro Negro ( http://www.ouronegrofilme.com.br/sinopse.php )

I did a quick Google search and have a sneaking feeling that it might also be the name of a river up in the NE.

Edited December 8, 2012 by seeline

[Pete C]

I figured Negro was a deliberate choice to make a connection to black music. Brazilians even adopted the word "black" (pronounced blackie) during the black power movement. There's a great Brazilian funk band, Banda Black Rio, and when I was just in Brazil I saw that certain dark beers are called black on the label.

[seeline]

Well, there's also suinge (swing, though pronounced more like "swing-e"); musicians who are really, really good are sometimes referred to as craque(s) (pronounced "crack-ee"), which comes from the English word "crack," as in "crack shot" (at futebol).

And there are lots more words like these... though there will never (I'm convinced) be a way to render balanço (Braz. Portuguese word for the kind of "swing" found in samba and other Afro-Brazilian music) into English.

Banda Black Rio: I like them a lot!

fwiw, I've asked a Brazilian friend - someone who's very interested in both music and language - to see if they can find out why the word "negro" is used in "ouro negro" (black gold/oil). It's an interesting question, and one that might be somewhat difficult to answer, I'm thinking...

Edited to add: sure, the "negro" in the disc title is a reference to black Brazilian music and culture, but it's a pun on the term for oil, since Petrobras (Brazilian Petroleum) paid for the recording sessions, concert, etc.

There are a lot of great recordings made in Brazil via corporate commissions that aren't, sadly, available to the general public, though occasionally they get reissued (albeit usually in bits and pieces). Corporations give copies to clients, etc.

Edited December 23, 2012 by seeline

[Pete C]

Seeline, you can find some tracks from this album on YouTube. http://www.discosdobrasil.com.br/discosdobrasil/consulta/detalhe.php?Id_Disco=DI04108

[Teasing the Korean]

I think his Blue Note albums are good, but not anything like as good as the Brazilian recordings he made. The musicians there didn't have to work to "get" the rhythms and overall feel, for one...

Well, that's where I differentiate between Brazilian albums and international jet set albums. To achieve the latter, you really need participants from more than one continent to achieve those beautiful cultural disconnects that make the music so compelling. I can't imagine a world without bossa from France, Germany, or Italy.

[seeline]

I guess I don't view Moacir's US albums as having much of anything to do with "international jet set" music. To me, that's more of a yé-yé girl-type thing, or Claudine Longet, or...