HutchFan

You might considering emptying your cookie cache. Might help.

Yes sir!

I don't know how de Souza got hooked up with Sonny. Maybe because they were both on Milestone? That's just a guess on my part. The George Duke connection is easier. Duke played on several of Flora's records, beginning with the first, Butterfly Dreams. Airto, Flora, and Cannonball were all friends and hung out together. I've been reading a book about Brazilian music, and there's a really cool picture of Cannonball, Flora, and Airto. Flora's chatting with Cannon, and Airto's flexing his muscles behind them, mugging for the camera.

I forgot to mention him! That was Airto too! Airto produced Colors for Milestone. And that record is really, really good, especially the cuts with Arthur Blythe. I should have included it in my 70s jazz survey. Yep. It's been a gas digging into all this stuff for my 80s Jazz project. I've been an Airto & Flora fan for a long time -- but their influence was much bigger than I'd realized. EDIT: I also forgot to mention that it was Airto who hooked Hermeto Pascoal up with Miles. Hermeto and Airto had played together in Brazil (in the Sambrasa Trio and Quarteto Novo), so when Hermeto came to the U.S. circa 1970, Airto introduced Hermeto to Miles. That's how Hermeto got to play on Live Evil. Another ripple in the pond prompted by Airto.

From what I can gather, it was Flora and Airto hooking Brazilian jazz musicians up with Milestone. Presumably since Flora already had a relationship with the label. Plus, I'm sure that Airto's and Flora's success in the U.S. market inspired many Brazilian jazz musicians to come north to the U.S. Think about it: Opa (mostly guys from Airto's "Fingers" band; although they were mostly from Uruguay, not Brazil). Azymuth (and the solo records by Azymuth band members: Jose Roberto Bertrami, Ivan Conti & Alex Malheiros). Claudio Roditi. Some really good musicians there. I don't think Keepnews had anything to do with these later Brazilian records, post-Flora. The LPs by musician I've listed above were not licensing deals -- but Milestone did license some guitar records by Baden Powell and Túlio Mourão (and maybe some others) from indie Brazilian labels. And the Roberthino Silva record with Wayne was licensed from CBS Brazil. I suppose that's how Silva got Wayne to play on the one cut. Viva Brasil, bebê! By the way, I think there's a book waiting to be written on the interaction between Brazilian music and jazz, beginning with Airto and Flora (circa 1970 or so) and up 'til the present. The whole bossa thing has been covered. I'm not talking about that. Here's why I think a book makes sense: I believe you could easily make an argument that Airto's and Flora's impact on jazz has been WAY overlooked. Think about it: Aside from Airto, NO ONE ELSE performed with Miles, Weather Report, AND Return to Forever. And, while Airto & Flora's impact may have waned a bit in the second half of the 70s, they again began exerting influence as Brazilian/jazz fusion(s) became a thing again in the 1980s. Along with the stuff above, think about the impact of George Duke's Brazilian Love Affair. Airto and Flora were right there, and that launched even more Brazilian Jazz fusions. ... So I think there's an interesting book in there somewhere, even though no one has picked up on it yet.

John Scofield - Bar Talk (Novus, 1980) An early Sco' trio date with Steve Swallow & Adam Nussbaum

Can't stay away! A few more favorites: Jerry Gonzalez & the Fort Apache Band - Pensativo (Milestone) Paquito D'Rivera - Tropicana Nights (Chesky) Alexis Cuadrado - A Lorca Soundscape (Sunnyside) Eddie Palmieri - Vortex (TropiJazz) The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project - Simpático (Holistic MusicWorks) BTW, I'm not posting any faves from the 1980s. Saving those for my upcoming blog project.

NP: José Roberto Bertrami - Blue Wave (Milestone, 1983)

Just about! He had to wear that scrawny little mustache and smoke those stogies to prove that he wasn't a baby!

hbbfam, I haven't had that experience. No problems on my end.

No doubt. ... And how old was Tony when he made that record? 19?!?! That's effing RIDICULOUS.

The term "Latin Jazz" isn't perfect, and -- as many have remarked -- the term "Jazz" isn't either! There are all sorts of problems with both terms. And that's a good reason not to get too "wrapped around the axle" with either of them. I just try to use them for what for what they're good for -- like this thread, this discussion -- and ignore the rest!

No disagreement on anything you say, Jim. I don't mean to oversimplify or imply that all the various Latin American jazz variants are the same. No way. You are absolutely right to point out that the linguistic differences between Spanish and Portuguese alone have huge implications -- especially in terms of rhythm. All I was saying was that Brazilian jazz -- in my mind -- falls under the same big "Latin Jazz" umbrella as the more familiar manifestations like Afro-Cuban jazz. And Latin Jazz itself falls under the even bigger umbrella of "Jazz." In other words, from my point of view, "Latin Jazz" is "Jazz." Of course, all of this is just semantics, generalizations that help us understand the particulars. And that's where the real action is, right? For example, Airto rocks my world, but Nana Vasconcelos doesn't (for the most part). They're both Brazilian percussionists. But, to your point, "Brazilian percussionist" is just a category. The real interest happens when we get to the level of artists practicing the particulars of their artistry. Sure, the context helps us understand where Airto and Nana are coming from. But it ain't the thing itself. *********** One last thought that reinforces the "off-to-the-side-ness" of Brazilian jazz compared to other Latin American jazz forms like Afro-Cuban jazz. I was reading an interview with someone -- one of the musicians in the Puerto Rican band Batacumbele -- and he was working with the Smithsonian to put together a compilation of "Latin Jazz." He said that the committee was having a difficult time with Brazilian forms -- precisely because the rhythms were so different. The clave rhythm that is so central to Afro-Cuban and many (most?) other Latin Jazz forms is not a thing in Brazilian jazz. As a result, they were going to include the Brazilian jazz on a separate disc. I don't want to make too much of this. Because, again, it's just categorization. But, to me, this "difficulty" that he was describing only reinforces the point that Brazilian Jazz is Latin Jazz -- but it's also something different. Yes!!! This is one of those instances where an "All Star" assemblage actually WORKS.

In my mind, the term "Latin Jazz" includes Brazilian jazz as a sub-category -- forms like samba jazz & bossa nova. That's because Brazilian musical forms are yet another musical derivation of the African diaspora resulting from slavery. It's just a different manifestation of the same root. That said, most people associate "Latin Jazz" with Afro-Cuban traditions. Probably because of Cuba's proximity to the U.S. -- and because the earliest Latin Jazz "fusions" were Afro-Cuban music with African-American jazz; i.e., Dizzy and Chano Pozo. But Afro-Cuban jazz is just one of the many jazz manifestations in Latin America.

All of these feature the amazing Brazilian drummer Duduka Da Fonseca: Trio da Paz - Partido Out (Malandro) Brazilian Trio - Constelação (Motema) Duduka Da Fonseca - Samba Jazz Fantasia (Anzic)

This again:

Duduka Da Fonseca Trio - Plays Dom Salvador (Sunnyside)

Edward Simon - Latin American Songbook (Sunnyside)

A few more: Ray Barretto - My Summertime (Owl/Blue Note) Ray Mantilla & the New Space Station - Man-Ti-Ya (Savant) Bill O'Connell + The Latin Jazz All-Stars - Zócalo (Savant) Mark Weinstein - Latin Jazz Underground (Zoho)

A desert-island disc.

Great idea for a thread, Rab! A few of my faves: Bobby Sanabria Big Band - Afro-Cuban Dream ... Live & In Clave!!! (Arabesque) Chico O'Farrill - Carambola (Milestone) Arturo O'Farrill and the Chico O'Farrill Afro Cuban Jazz Band - Final Night at Birdland (Zoho) Michael Philip Mossman - The Orisha Suite (Connector Music)

Toninho Horta E Orquestra Fantasma - Terra Dos Pássaros (EMI/Universal, 1980) Horta's backing band is practically a "Fingers" reunion with Airto Moreira, Hugo Fattoruso, and Ringo Thielmann -- plus there are more Brazilian heavyweights like Raul De Souza, Zé Eduardo Nazario, et al.

Yes! Both tremendous.