Search - Nicola Conte :: Viagem 2

Another Dive Into the Vaults, Another Stellar Compilation

bordersj2 | Boston | 01/22/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first Viagem from Nicola Conte was great. It featured gems from the 60's and maybe a 70's or two snuck in that were perhaps forgotten in music transitions (vinyl-cassette-CD-Mp3's, etc.). He picked up right where he left off for Viagem 2 with more musical treasures from 1960's Brasil. Isn't Far Out Records class? 2009, they brought back a fantastic older release of Joyce's that had almost been forgotten, they have Gilles Peterson put together their latest Brazilika mixed set and here they continue with another great series by having Nicola Conte, easily one of the best in the business at spotting and collecting vintage classics.



The format is the same, so on to the songs. The album opens up terrifically with "Sambinha", as performed by Vera. Gentle album highlighted by her very rich voice. Following up is Claudia with "Deixa O Morro Cantar". What a strong voice she's got and always a big-band that manages to sound so distinctly Brazilian. Janinha's rendition of "Amanha" is also fantastic, though I loved the older version because of the beautiful piano intro. Another song with a sound that will truly take you back to 1960's Brasil (for better and worse, prefer the better) is As meninas with "Redondo Sambao" (Big, Round Samba). Beautiful, voices of course take you to Quarteto Em Cy with their near flawless harmonizing that makes the song sound wonderfully simple and playful. Other top tracks to me were "Miss Bikini", "Bossa So" and I also enjoyed hearing "Ninguem Na Rua" again. It was interesting that for good measure, another version of "Balanco Do Mar" was featured here. There's a magic that Nicola managed to keep together in the sound of the old records & I enjoyed every title on the disc.



This is recommended to anyone that's a fan of old Brazilian classics. It's not just Bossa nova or MPB, it's a healthy dosage of jazz as well. If you want some songs that weren't the most popular but still show the musical diversity and quality of Brazilian music; and maybe more simply if you enjoyed the first Viagem, you should hear this one as it lives up to the first and is perhaps even more original somehow. There was an old vinyl called "Velha Bossa Nova" that to this day I still love & that one had Maysa, Flora Purim, Jonny Alf and many others. This comes the closest to mimmicking that sound - over 30 years after that album was released! Another thing I loved is that you can literally play both of these albums back-to-back. Wonderful consistency.



Oh - a nice touch was also the creative artwork, front and back. Looking even closer at the drawing on the cover you can see Nicola holding Joyce's 'New Old' album, re-released on Far Out Records that same year."