Azymuth & Marcos Valle (Second Show)

Duke Street Block Party, Northside Records & Crown Ruler proudly presents… 

AZYMUTH & MARCOS VALLE 

Two of the most iconic and influential archetypes of modern Brazilian music. Legacies that have proliferated and pushed since the 1960s, remaining just as relevant nearly six decades later. 

Given their significance, it’s mind boggling to think Azymuth will only now make their Australian debut while Marcos Valle makes his return for the first time since 2007. This isn’t a tokenistic nostalgia trip, rolling out relics from the past for a sing-a-long. On Thurday, March 17th within the intimate setting of The Night Cat, get ready for a very special show by musical mavericks who continue to prove they’re on top of their game - as perceptive and inspired as they were fifty years ago. Duke Street Block Party is warming up with a show worthy of its own stand-alone experience. 

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Valle and Azymuth’s enduring influence on funk, soul, samba, jazz, pop and even rock of the world, cannot be underestimated; an adventurous brand of fusion which continues to be an inspiration for artists everywhere. A who's who of contemporary iconoclasts have sampled, remixed, repurposed or collaborated with the giants - Madlib, Roni Size, MF Doom, IG Culture, Flying Lotus, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammed, Mark Pritchard, Theo Parrish, 4Hero and so on; Such is the lasting legacy of these genre-bending radicals who continue to create genuinely pertinent music to this day. 

A more than complimentary double header, the occasional collaborators both define not only the story of Rio’s bursting bossa-nova and samba scenes of the 60s/70s but also the forward-thinking imagination to take those traditions to expansive new territories, helping explore modern music’s potential.

It was in fact Marcos who invited Azymuth, then an emerging session rhythm section, to record on a soundtrack LP O Fabuloso Fittipaldi. After the success of the record, the trio asked Marcos permission to use the name of one of the tracks ‘Azimuth’ as their name, and the rest is history. 

On parallel journeys, each have continuously evolved and found new generations of fans, occasionally crossing paths on recordings or live performances to this day. The two combine once more for a bonafide flex of their repertoire and improvisational mastery. A showcase of some of the most defining Brazilian music made and its lasting impact on the world. 

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Warming up the floor will be Naarm’s own cinematic soul journeymen, Surprise Chef alongside Northside Records' counter intelligence, Sophie McAlister.

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AZYMUTH

Azymuth modernized the sound and style of Brazilian jazz with their electronic instruments, angular arrangements and ingenious synthesis of jazz, funk and samba. As session musicians the trio’s telepathic tightness elevated Erasmo Carlos’ classic Sonhos E Memórias and helped Valle deliver possibly his finest album, Previsão Do Tempo. Their self-titled debut instantly broke out in Brazil and featured ‘Manha’ (A later London club classic). Then came an enviable run of ten LPs on American label Milestone through the late 70s and 80s. A much lauded period full of boundary pushing arrangements and discovery. Within this catalogue would be the ‘79 album ‘Light As A Feather’ and it’s crossover disco-fusion hit ‘Jazz Carnival’ - a tipping point, selling over half a million copies worldwide and dominating both clubs and the Billboard charts. 

Even while recording as a self-contained trio, they continued to contribute to the recordings of others. Azymuth provided the backdrop to an astounding number of classic records during the apex of Brazilian popular music. Their contributions to the discography of Jorge Ben, Tim Maia, Flora Purim, Erasmo Carlos, Milton Nascimento, Rita Lee, and Brazilophile Mark Murphy, are just the tip of the iceberg. Continuously playing around the world including the Monterrey and Montreux jazz festivals at their peak, the band has worked with legendary musicians from Chick Corea, Eddie Palmieri, Joe Henderson, George Duke and even Stevie Wonder. 

A rebirth in the 90s would give the trio a new context as both the acid jazz and hip hop movements would rediscover their future-leaning work. DJs / record collectors like Gilles Peterson, Kev Beadle, Kirk Degiorgio and Far Out Recording’s Joe Davis brought Azymuth back to dance floors of the UK’s burgeoning club culture, the latter who would sign the group to a new club-fused run of recordings on his essential label. In America it was camps like Stones Throw and Mochilla that would begin to instigate new encounters and audiences. A collaboration between Madlib and Azymuth drummer Ivan ‘Mamao’ Conti on Jackson Conti, or Azymuth’s cover of J Dilla’s Rico Suave Bossa Nova, or the recent Jazz Is Dead project with Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammed’s prove the groups continuous relevance. The list of those who have remixed their work is endless from Jazzanova to Bugz In The Attic to Kenny Dope while the sample credits include Will.I.Am, Flying Lotus and MF Doom. 

Always pushing forward, the band's latest album Fenix was released in 2016 to critical acclaim, with the late Jose Roberto Bertrami’s replacement on keys and piano Kiko Continentino. One of the tightest outfits on the planet, take in a superlative fusion of texture, melody and modern sounds with Brazilian flavour. 

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MARCOS VALLE

Marcos Valle is the Renaissance man of Brazilian pop, a singer / songwriter / producer who has straddled the country's music world from the early days of the bossa nova craze, well into the fusion-soaked sound of '80s MPB and into the 21st century. His legacy is simply immense. Valle has contributed to some of the most important recordings by artists including Sarah Vaughan, Frank Sinatra, Sergio Mendes, Leon Ware, Chicago and Airto Moreira. 

Valle’s 1965 album O Compositor e o Cantor, is widely considered among the era's most important. Its hit single, Samba de Verão otherwise known as So Nice (Summer Samba) is one of the most covered songs in Brazilian music history, and next to Girl From Impanema, possibly the most recognised bossa nova tune ever made. After breaking through to the US with a purposely Americanized sound fusing popular soul and pop of the time, including work with powerhouses Verve Records and Sergio Mendes, Marcos would move on to more experimental records in the 70s; his most probing and compelling material. Consisting of an ambitious string of early 1970s landmark studio sessions (sympathetic in spirit to Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye’s game changing work from the same era), Marcos Valle, Garra, Vento Sul, and Previsao do Tempo brought bossa nova into a post-jazz context and annexed it with Baroque pop, sophisticated soul, and psychedelia. Through the 80s came new collaborations and the sound of US West Coast funk as Marcos regularly joined forces with the likes of soft rock icons Chicago, Brazilian super boogie producer Lincoln Olivetti, and r&b journeyman Leon Ware (to whom he contributed tracks to Ware’s certified classic ‘Rockin’ You Eternally’). From this period came boogie-funk-samba anthem Estrelar, a monster hit that has found a resurgence forty years on in clubs around the world (recently re-issued by Mr Bongo). Sampled by giants like Jay Z and Kanye West and still regularly played by leading DJs across the world, his unique sound remains omnipresent on the music landscape. Valle’s most recent releases Sempre (2019) on London’s respected Far Out Recordings and a collaborative album on Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammed’s Jazz Is Dead series demonstrates he still has the magic touch. His trademark percussive and melodic style, a distinctly Brazilian take on vocalese remains just as alluring. 

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This event will take place on the lands of the Wurrundjeri People of the Kulin Nation. Crown Ruler and Strictly Vinyl acknowledge their Elders past and present, and pay their respect to all First Nations people. Always Was, Always Will Be.

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