This 1974 recording by Brazil's famed
Tamba Trio was revolutionary for its fusion of their trademark new bossa sound with electronic, jazz, and new music elements in their mix. Composed of 14 tracks by such notable composers as
Joao Bosco,
Ivan Lins, Anibal Silva,
Ary Barroso,
Marcos Valle, and a host of originals, the
Tambas utilized electronic textures, prepared pianos, and mutating rhythmic structures to offer a waiting public perhaps, at the time, their most confusing recording. The Brazilians are generally more open than other cultures to change and mutation, but this set was even a little outside for them. A stunning example of the new direction the band was traveling in was
Luiz Eça's "Reflexos," with its wash of electronic keyboards and open chord played from the inside of the piano. This is followed by
Bebeto's gorgeously psychedelic and trippy "Gazela," in which a soft bossa vocal is treated to layers of electronic flutes playing chamber style in the background. This is segued into the trio's composition/improvisation "Mestre Bimba," a samba in which layered woodwinds, keyboards, and echoplex are placed in direct counterpoint to the percussion as a piano plays an angular melody to both the percussion and a bank of electronics and the rhythm pushes both deeper. This is a sharp change in direction for the
Tambas, but it is also their
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band moment. By tossing out the window all notions about how to create music except for musicality itself, they made a timeless classic of futuristic Brazilian pop. ~ Thom Jurek