Azymuth bassist and guitarist
Alex Malheiros records solo all too infrequently. Though he is an active session player, producer, and writer/arranger with hundreds of credits to his name, he has released only six previous solo outings since 1985's classic Atlantic Forest. That said, all are of consistently high quality.
Malheiros may be stepping up his game, though, as this is his second release in as many years. It follows the digital-only release Teatro dos Sons from 2020, which was recorded completely solo. Unlike that criminally underheard offering,
Tempos Futuros is performed by a band and guests. Cut in
Malheiros' hometown of Niterói near Rio de Janeiro, overlooking sandy beaches and the sea, the set was produced with
Daniel Maunick (who also mixed and plays keyboards). Its 12 tracks move across and combine, jazz-funk, post-disco, R&B, MPB, samba, and even batucada and frevo rhythms.
Opener "The Razor's Edge" weds layered basslines across a breezy, funky vamp threaded with bountiful yet unintrusive keyboards, guitars, clattering beats, and loops. Its sunny groove is appended by subtle lyric lines and cascading harmonies as
Malheiros solos, then stacks his underrated guitar playing above the bass notes. "Telegramas Para Arp" stitches together funky jazz, disco, and samba. It lurches forward before marching; layered synth and other keys paint the backdrop with bright colors and edgy bass, drum, and horn fills. London-based saxophonist
Sean Khan plays on the smooth, fusion-centric "Retrato," adding modal lyricism atop choogling Rhodes piano, organ, and a synth that apes a harpsichord. The shuffling, funky trap kits and organic percussion build a foundation for
Malheiros to drive the tune. Daughter
Sabrina Malheiros appears on "Prece" introduced by swelling organ, guitars, and whistles before the song's loopy, crazy samba feel establishes the melody. She duets with her father amid swooping Rhodes piano, and interlocking, carnivalesque percussion nudges the singers forward into the swirling maelstrom. The tune, while rooted firmly in
Malheiros's brand of Afro-Brazilian futurism recalls (in feel) a space-age take on
Sergio Mendes' read of
Jorge Ben's "Mas Que Nada."
Sabrina also sings on the pumping, discofied, loopy samba of "Alto Verão." "Nikiti"'s use of crisp loops, angular, syncopated disco synth, and basslines feels and sounds like
Kraftwerk jamming in tandem with
Azymuth and
Weather Report. The title track is drawn from an incomplete 1995
Azymuth demo.
Malheiros is at his most lyrical, riding the disco groove out like a falling wave. He kept late bandmate
José Roberto Bertrami's original Fender Rhodes parts, framing his fills, accents, and solos in layers of riffing horns, pastoral vocals, and his wrangling, meaty bassline. It would be worth the purchase price all by itself if the rest of
Tempos Futuros weren't so soulful and uplifting as well.
Malheiros embraces the musical past as a way of anchoring and introducing the future. This sophisticated album resonates with joy, tenderness, sensual elegance, and good vibes via the bassist's particular brand of rhythm and groove. ~ Thom Jurek