Although perhaps not a household name like Sergio Mendes, Marcos Valle or Flora Purim, Bororó is considered to be one of the most important and talented Brazilian musicians of his time. Taking his moniker from the indigenous people of his country, who live in the state of Mato Grosso, Bororó steadily built his career for well over a quarter of a century, along the way performing live and in the studio with such legends as Gal Costa, Milton Nascimento and Caetano Veloso. More

Notes on a Journey reissue this 7" by Cláudio Bocca originally released in 1985. Limited to 300 copies

Antônio Cláudio Silva Cardoso – Cláudio Bocca grew up in a family of three siblings in North Rio. His father was a commercial businessman and his mother was a housewife and amateur pianist and singer.

Claudio Bocca’s first contact with the instrument that would determine his future came via thedaughter of one of the employees of his father’s company who was also a serenader. His first professional gig was at the Ponteio Bar, where he was backed by his now-bandmates Augusto and Márcio. It was at around this time, at one of the budding power trio’s gigs, that Cláudio’s parents decided to invite a few friends and see their youngest son’s band perform for the first time. To the amazement of the couple and the surprise of their friends, they realized for the first time that their son could really sing and had the confirmation that this was what he wanted to do in life. At Mr. Cardoso’s company there was another employee by the name of Gil Figueira, a singer-songwriter who had just recorded his one and only single with the backing of Gaúcho do Luar, founder of the Farroupilha label.

At the first meeting between producer Gaúcho do Luar, Cláudio and Gil Figueira, a handshake agreement was reached wherein Cláudio’s dad would pay the stipulated amount for the production and pressing of the single that we just reissued. Cláudio would then take the finished tape to the Polygram pressing plant and then later receive the 1000 copies made. The studio became known in the 80s for recording independent projects, and its engineers were acclaimed veterans Toninho Barbosa (the Brazilian Rudy Van Gelder) and Everson Dias. More

Even those of you who are already familiar with our label's concept of rediscovering music which has unjustifiably been lost, overlooked or forgotten will be surprised by the reissue of the six-track-record 'Bruchstuecke' LP by Free-Jazz artists Phrydderichs Phaelda. This band was a short living school band project of the Gymnasium Voerde Mitte (West-Germany) led by pianist and music teacher Friedrich Schepers joined by other teachers and students (Hans Klimek on bass, Lutz Leonhardt on drums, Wolfgang Kulawik on guitar). In 1975 they went to the studio to record 6 instrumental tracks in a style that could be best described as jazz / fusion with hints of r'n'b and rock, which are brimming with crisp snare drums played in polyrhythmic and ever-changing patterns and tempos. Alongside that the astounded listener gets to enjoy thrilling electric guitar lines and breathtaking electric piano excursions together with ultrawarm and elaborate bass guitar parts. All this is held together by the four musicians great overview and ability to improvise and react spontaneously to their fellows. This creates a kind of magic which is rare to hear in music these days. Stefan Leisering and Juergen von Knoblauch, the two record digging members of Jazzanova have immediately understood the unique quality of 'Bruchstuecke' and decided to re-release this overlooked masterpiece. In the course of the original release of this album in the early 1980s only a small amount has been pressed. Now with this reissue on Notes On A Journey is the chance to make this gem available to a larger audience - to people who share a great interest in the remarkable development of underground Jazz in Germany during those exciting years. More

With the fifth release and the first 7inch on the quality imprint, Notes On A Journey turns its attention to Brazil. Finally, one might think, since it's an open secret that the guys behind the label all have a soft spot for music from the leading coffee exporter in the world. So, when Brazilian DJ, record collector and digger extraordinaire Junior Santos brought this Celso Rubinstein 7-inch EP (called "Compacto" in Brazil) to the Berlin label's attention he hadn't to do a lot of persuading to have NOAJ reintroduce this beautiful piece of music to fans around the world some 36 years after its first appearance. Born in Brazil to a family of Holocaust survivors, Celso Rubinstein's career as a singer allowed him to take residency in several countries including Spain, Portugal, Israel and Britain. He performed as an artist in numerous clubs and supported other artists as backing vocalist. In 1982 he booked studio time at Chico Batera's studio in Rio De Janeiro to record two songs for an intentional debut album. On "Enquanto Houver", written by Paulinho Mendonça and Gerson Conrad, Rubinstein tried to infuse some rap flavor. Marina Lima and Antonio Cicero contributed "È A Vida Que Diz", a song as marvelously written as much as performed sophisticatedly by Rubinstein with his star-studded studio crew. Amongst them: Oberdan Magalhães and Claudio Stevenson from Banda Black Rio, Rique Pantoja, keyboard player, arranger and conductor Reinaldo Arias, as well as American session musician Don Harris. Celso Rubinstein wanted to create a unique atmosphere for the recording sessions, inviting numerous people to the control room to amplify the spontaneous live feeling even more (the control room was filled with people like Ney Matogrosso, As Frenéticas, Claudia Telles, Fátima Guedes.) You definitely can hear this vitality on the record originally published in 1982 by Rubinstein himself. Since there was a massive vinyl shortage at the time in Brazil, no label had any spare material to waste on newcomers. Only the label Tapecar, which had its own pressing plant, helped Rubinstein out and used the left over material from the manufacture of Gal Costa's latest album ("Minha Voz") to have his 7" privately pressed. Needless to say that it missed any recognition back then. But now, 36 years later, thanks to Junior Santos and Notes On A Journey a broad audience has the joy to finally embrace this beautiful music wholeheartedly. More