Wanderley's second album during Creed Taylor's A&M residency opens with a bang, a fantastic rendition of the old Northern Brazilian standard "Asa Branca" that evokes the exhilaration of a street carnival. Midway through, the tempo kicks up, the band settles into a two-chord vamp, and the performance lifts into orbit; even the normally mild-mannered
Wanderley dances wildly on organ and electric harpsichord. Nothing else here, even the provocatively titled "Proton, Electron, Neutron," approaches "Asa Branca"'s energy. Yet on the whole, this is a somewhat better album than its predecessor on A&M; the sound is more open and less confined. The selection remains predominantly Brazilian, with an occasional American ringer like "Soulful Strut" and another
Jimmy Webb tune, "5:30 Plane." The female voices (one of whom is
Flora Purim) return on a few tracks; so do
Hubert Laws and Romeo Penque on flutes.
Eumir Deodato is in charge of the mauve-colored charts for flutes, trumpets and violas, and
Airto Moreira makes an early impression pumping up the percussion section. ~ Richard S. Ginell