Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge debuted their Jazz Is Dead recordings series in March, 2020 as an extension of their Los Angeles Lodge Room performances. In addition to their own EP (JID001), they cut a wonderful session with Roy Ayers (Roy Ayers JID002). This third volume is a collab with legendary Brazilian composer, singer, and producer Marcos Valle. He lived in L.A. during the 1970s, working as an engineer, producer, sideman, and songwriter, composing with Chicago's Robert Lamm and R&B maestro Leon Ware, but he never recorded his own music. (Valle's last American recording was Samba '68, arranged by Eumir Deodato.) Muhammad and Younge did a deep dive into Valle's catalog for musical guidance and creative inspiration, then invited him to Linear Labs Studio.
Known for intense focus, Valle listened intently to his collaborator's ideas and embellished them, often in the moment. The musicians cut eight sparkling, airy new songs in less than a week. While the spontaneity in these sessions references various musical projects Valle has engaged over the decades, the approach is modern, organic, and warmly visceral. Check out the lithe opener "Queira Bem." Valle's signature vocal phrasing caresses the lyric just above a shimmering Rhodes piano, jazzy guitar, and slightly funky bass lines. A flute slips around the sung lines as percussion and snare breaks fill out the mix. Valle's spouse, vocalist Patricia Alvi, adds harmony vocals to several tracks, but her featured duet on "Viajando Por Aí" is the set's finest entry. Samba rhythms and syncopated jazz horn charts, which meet in-the-cut funky bass and electric piano and organ, introduce a sexy soul bossa delivered flawlessly by the singers. The set's final two tracks, "Our Train" and "A Gente Volta Amanhã," directly reference Fly Cruzeiro, a 1972 electric jazz-samba session Valle cut with Azymuth, which was recently reissued by Far Out. (Interestingly, the fusion trio are the subjects of the upcoming JID004.) The former track is an instrumental samba. Its stacked organs, vamping guitars, and simmering percussion are filtered through a syncopated, percussive Rhodes piano, zigzagging synths, and punchy -- if gently restrained -- brass extensions in the coda. The latter is a vocal tune that juxtaposes swirling psychedelic pop, jazz, and bossa. The breezy instrumental arrangement centers on a flute, framed by reeds and brass. Underneath are a heavily reverbed wah-wah guitar, bumping synths, a Hammond B-3, and an electric piano that dart around abundant polyrhythms. Valle's slightly weathered voice shows faint traces of age but rises to his accompaniment; though it almost gets swallowed, the sultry flute rescues him with a restatement of the theme. The only nick against Marcos Valle JID003 is -- at less than 30 minutes -- its brevity. That said, what these musicians accomplished in less than a week is remarkable, so much so that it leaves the listener wanting much more. Here's hoping for a sequel.