The series of recordings the veteran Brazilian star Marcos Valle has made for the London-based label Far Out has been a reliable repository of quality Rio jazz-funk with a distinctive authorial signature since the debut recording ’Nova Bossa Nova’ in 1998. Typically mixing old-school bossa and samba rhythms with up to the minute production touches helmed by producers/arrangers/programmers Roc Hunter or Daniel Maunick, they satisfy the need for foot-tapping grooves combined with intelligently understated exoticism and Brazilian flavours. The deceptively smooth rhythmic surface ripples with an almost infinite variety of percussive patterning.
It helps that Valle, who turned 81 two weeks ago, is one of the premier songwriters of the whole worldwide bossa nova craze, whose ’So Nice (Summer Samba)’ is a staple of the genre recorded by Frank Sinatra and hundreds of others, after he made his name in the USA touring with Sergio Mendes. This means that his tunes make for memorable, hook-laden material while his considerable instrumental chops on keyboards and guitar added to the choice of superior sidemen such as Azymuth’s slap-bass king Alex Malheiros keep the musical backings impressively supple. That his distinctive laid-back vocals (sung in Portuguese) combine expert wordless scatting with functional yet thoughtful lyrics, offers another strong-suit.
The latest album, released last Friday 20 September (Marcos Vale turned 81 a few days earlier), continues in a similar vein to its predecessors, and is produced and arranged by Daniel Maunick, a frequent collaborator. Recorded in Rio and mixed by Maunick at the Sugar Shack, in Carluke, Scotland, with mastering by Caspar Sutton Jones at Gearbox Records, Túnel Acústico sounds great, and well up to the standard of its predecessors. The unique selling point is probably the inclusion of the track ‘Feels So Good’, which Valle co-wrote years ago with the late great soul writer and performer Leon Ware (co-creator of Marvin Gaye’s ‘I Want You’, and much else), with whom he worked on Leon’s album ‘Rocking You Eternally’ from 1981. Ware’s recaptured presence on the track is limited to little more than a line of the vocal chorus, but it’s the key moment in a massively funky ear-worm that demands repeated plays.
The rest of the album moves between similarly funky work-outs like the excellent Side 1 opener, ‘Assim Nao Da’, jazzy scat-vehicles such as the ’Take Five’-referencing ’Nao Si’ and a few slower ballads, including a lovely dedication to Burt Bacharach featuring mournful trumpet by Jesse Sadoc. The lyrics are by Valle himself, plus label-mate Joyce Moreno and Moreno Veloso, and regular partner Patricia Alvi adds guest vocals. This being a Marcos Valle record, some of the keyboard voicings can sometimes sound a little cheesy, but that is part of the old school charm.
