Sergio Mendes & Brasil '65 - 1965 - In Person At El Matador

Sergio Mendes & Brasil '65

1965 

In Person At El Matador

01. Reza 4:54

02. O Morro 2:32

03. Samba Do Astronauta 2:57

04. Tem Do De Mim 2:34

05. Jodel 3:34

06. Samba De Jose 1:52

07. Noa Noa 2:56

Black Orpheus Medley 6:13

        08. Manha De Carnaval

        09. Batuque De Orfeu

        10. Samba De Orfeu

        11. A Felicidade

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12. Arrastao 3:52

13. Vai De Vez 2:56

14. Caminho De Casa 2:46

Bass – Sebastiao Neto

Drums – Chico Batera

Guitar – Rosinha De Valenca (tracks: 3, 6, 10)

Lead Vocals – Wanda De Sah (tracks: 2, 4, 9)

Percussion – Paulinho Magalhaes

Piano – Sérgio Mendes

Presenter [Introduction] – Leonard Feather

Producer – Nesuhi Ertegun

Recorded live at the nightclub 'El Matador' in San Francisco Bay area, California, US.

Comes in mini LP replica with OBI & Japanese insert.

A great little live set from Sergio Mendes and his Brasil 65 group – a pre-Brasil 66 combo that features Wanda De Sah on vocals and Rosinha De Valenca on guitar! The style here is more traditionally Brazilian bossa than Sergio's later work on A&M – a fluidly jazzy groove captured with a good sense of intimacy despite the live setting – and issued by Atlantic as a nice antidote to some of the more watered-down bossa work on the US market! The vocals are wonderful – often spare and a bit more fragile than the two-voiced sound of A&M

The best, authentic live bossa nova record from the classic era. Way more interesting than Getz a Go Go. This is the Mendes band before Brazil ‘66, the label change to A&M and the addition of vocalist Lani Hall. This is the band we are most familiar with—which found international popularity—and whose recordings still dominate the genre.

Nevertheless, this record with Wanda de Sah on vocals had a lot going for it. The group recorded for both Capitol and Atlantic—with very consistent and exciting results. Purists might prefer it to the later iterations of Mendes’ musical path.

Recorded at the once legendary El Matador nightclub in San Francisco, this set consists mostly of Mendes-penned tunes, laid back, played in a style without string arrangements and other pop trappings that came later. A few tunes like “Caminho de Casa” veer pleasantly in the direction of west coast jazz. The tempi are similar and the intense, beautiful playing. There is a very Vince Guaraldi-like vibe on several songs, especially “Jodel”.

As bossa nova pianists go, Mendes set the mark for most listeners north of Rio. His instrument is at the front of the mix along with the rhythm and occasionally de Sah’s very pleasant vocals. Rosinha de Valenca adds terrific guitar parts to several tracks, elevating the entire program.

Taken together, this record has everything to recommend it and might easily become your favorite live bossa nova record all time. It is mine.