When it comes to the underground of electronic music, there's not much Kirk Degiorgio hasn't seen or done. 30+ years in the game, Degiorgio has more than made his mark on the scene’s landscape, both as an esteemed DJ and also as an acclaimed producer with releases on the likes of Versatile Records, Ubiquity and B12.

Cyphon Recordings draft in this true master of the craft for a three-track journey showcasing exactly why he's sustained the level he has for so long. A melodic richness and tactile makeup, whereby Kirk’s tracks more than move your limbs, but rather meld directly to your heart.

First up, a slice of soul-struck, deep house in the form of ‘All About U’. Poised yet powerful, iridescent arps layer upon sweeping pads and a bassline that locks you in from the off. Degiorgio holds the vocal refrain in the back pocket, letting it loose once he’s wrapped you up in the groove.

'Cidade Do Futuro' follows, a cosmic carnival, enticing dancers from the deep. Dynamic snare rolls marry with rising synths in mystical fashion, as Latin percussion moulds around an acid-tinged bass. Together they create a tension that builds and breaks, rising to its next summit before descending once again into outer space.

Closing out the EP, ‘Frayed Edge’. Sitting at the intersection between prog-leaning breakbeat and Detroit-flavoured techno this grooved-laden, lunar transmission is one for late-night dancefloor lovers.

In a sea of sterile, over produced new music, the Living On The Frayed Edge EP stands out as a beacon of dynamism and versatility, showcasing Degiorgio’s inherent knack in being able to craft songs that speak of something deeper than simply dancing.

DJ Feedback:

JKRIV/ RAZOR-N-TAPE: This is a very nice one. Really dig the electro Brazilian vibes of Cidade do Futuro.

GARETH SOMMERVILLE/ ATHENS OF THE NORTH: Kirk Degiorgio showing why he is held in such high regard with these three tracks.

HOT TODDY / CRAZY P: More great stuff from Cyphon, wonderfully warm, soulful, beautifully produced.

BILL BREWSTER/ NTS: Really nice EP, esp. the lead track. More

Like a long-lost Holy Grail album from the mid-seventies, Kirk Degiorgio’s latest project explores both Modal Jazz and Seventies Jazz Fusion in the Library album format. Side One swings with a vengeance with its tight arrangements built around acoustic bass, electric piano and glorious analogue synth leads and side 2 takes us on a journey of funk fuelled, percussive workouts and heavy breaks. The contribution of renowned session drummer Chris Whitten adds to the authenticity of the album as does the use of vintage, analog synths.

The Library album was predominant in TV and film studios in Italy and France with composers creating background, incidental and scene music for use in TV and movie production. In recreating the sound library format Kirk Degiorgio has revelled in both the creative freedom and the test of melodic capability that the short form of the Library album allows. As Kirk says, ‘the skill with this kind of composing is to be able to express your ideas and thoughts in a maximum of two minutes at a time.’

Kirk Degiorgio is a DJ, composer and music lover whose influences, from family and then going out to clubs from under-18 discos to attending the Belvedere Arms and ‘Shoom’ and working in Reckless Records, cover all genres of Black music. From Soul, Jazz-Funk, Funk and then House and Detroit Techno Kirk has a love and an appreciation for how all these sounds work together and evolve from each other. More

British techno stalwart Kirk Degiorgio steps up for the next SUARA release with three heavy hitting originals alongside a stomping remix from Mark Broom.

‘Arc Mode’ is drenched in 303 acid lines, pounding kicks and resonating cymbals, it’s ready-made for big rooms and dark dancefloors as surges of synths pulse through. Another ‘90s powerhouse Mark Broom takes to remixing ‘Arc Mode’ dialling down the acid in place of full-frontal stabs, squelching bass synths and dizzying hats.

On the flip, Degiorgio unleashes ‘Redeemer’ an amalgamation of swirling, siren-like synthlines, rising percussion and the kind of urgency that will raise fists over heads wherever it’s heard. Closing out the EP ‘Astral Cell’ is a bleepy, space searching cut to get lost in that’s both immersive and stirring in equal measure.
More

It's taken over two-decades - legendary UK Techno label Ferox enter their 24th year with a 4 trackerAfrom fellow Brit KIRK DEGIORGIO. Beholden looks both to the future with influences from Kirk's seminal MACHINE events which he hosts with Ben Sims, and the illustrious past of deep melodic UK Techno which he shares with Ferox owner Russ Gabriel. It continues a resurgence of lush, harmonic techno that once dominated the electronic music scene and which is now findingAa fresh, young audience. Expansive chords, delicate melodies and intricate grooves are once again on the cutting edge agenda.
More

Two years after his 'Ripple Effect' release on Rush Hour, Kirk Degiorgio returns to the label with a new single, entitled 'Divine Logic'. The legendary UK techno producer Kirk Degiorgio is known as a purveyor of techno soul in its finest form. He was at the root of the UK techno movement in the early 90's, soon after the Detroit sound went global. He has recorded many now classic releases under guises as Future/Past, As One and Elegy for labels such as Planet E, R&S and Mo' Wax as well as his own ART label. With 'Divine Logic' he keeps true to his own tradition by delivering a timeless piece of techno music. A string-laden track that evolves around an arpeggiated synth line. A classy joint that shows that the heritage of Detroit techno still lives on. More

1990 was the decade Kirk established healthy roots with the network trio of Detroit producers: Derrick May, Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson. In preparation for Kirks most influential journey to the US, he collaborated demos with Ed Handley and Andy Turner under the collective The Black Dog. During his inspirational visit to Detroit Kirk took noticed of the affordable studio setups he observed at Transmat, Metroplex and KMS. Consequently Kirk sold his entire record collection upon his return to London and invested in an Atari, Akai S950 sampler, a broken TB303 and a Roland R8 drum machine. To complete his Detroit inspired studio the last pieces were actually loaned from Derrick - including a Kawai K3 and the infamous DX100. Fast forwarding to the more present time, Kirk has released purist techno EP's for an EMI subsidiary 'New Religion'. For the same label he has collaborated with Dan Keeling under the name 'Critical Phase' and together with Alex Bond has also co-ordinated the joint ART-New Religion compilation 'The Electric Institute'. On this compilation Kirk shocked purists with the techno breaks track 'Whatever Happened To the Cosmic Kid' which was co-written with Dan Keeling and Chris Martin of Coldplay. Kirk?s revolutionary pulse has been recognized and is credited with being the first known professional DJ to use Ableton Live alongside vinyl for his DJ sets. A tour of Japan 2002 saw him use Live exclusively which he has now done ever since in venues worldwide. Kirk paved the way for the current popularity of laptop DJing. More

Som Imaginário announce previously unreleased 1976 live album

TRACKLIST
A1. Rádio Guarany (Paulinho Braga, Nivaldo Ornelas) - 3:42
A2. Xá-Mate (Nivaldo Ornelas) - 1:57
A3. A Igreja Majestosa (Wagner Tiso, Nivaldo Ornelas) - 5:26
A4. Os Cafezais sem Fim (Wagner Tiso) - 7:53
A5. Armina (Wagner Tiso) - 5:39

B1. Banda da Capital (Wagner Tiso, Nivaldo Ornelas) - 11:21
B2. Sábado (Fredera) - 4:35
B3. Imaginados (Jamil Joanes) - 6:19


INFO
Som Imaginário are the stuff of MPB mythos. Integral to Brazil’s Clube Da Esquina movement in the early 1970s, a heady blend of progressive rock, folk, psychedelia, jazz and traditional Brazilian rhythm flows through the three studio albums the band recorded between ‘70 and ‘73. Flying the countercultural freak-flag amid the context of military dictatorship, the Brazilian prog lords shared much of the sense of experimentation and bountiful fuzz bequeathed by their tropicalismo forbearers. But armed with genius composers, arrangers and stupendously high-level musicianship, Som Imaginário introduced a potent harmonic complexity to Brazilian popular music, which would inspire generations of artists to come.

On 4th October 1976, having finished a spell of recording and touring with Milton Nascimento, Som Imaginário performed a concert in celebration of Nature Day in Brasília. The recordings of the show would become “Banda Da Capital”, which, for the past half century, has laid dormant, waiting for its mystical power to be untapped.

In the band that day were original members Wagner Tiso and Fredera, joined by Nivaldo Ornelas, Paulinho Braga and Jamil Joanes. Operating within such a hugely creative and free-spirited scene meant line-up fluctuations were inevitable and former Som Imaginário members also include Laudir de Oliveira (who left to join Chicago), Nana Vasconcelos (who also moved to work in the US), Zé Rodrix, Robertinho Silva, Novelli and Toninho Horta.

Titled after the Belo Horizonte radio station where they would practice during their youth, the show opens with “Rádio Guarany”, an improvisation led by Paulinho Braga and Nivaldo Ornelas. The track morphs into Nivaldo Ornelas’ composition “Xa Mate”, which also opens Milton Nascimento’s Milagre dos Peixes ao Vivo album, featuring Som Imaginário and a 32 piece orchestra.

Having grown up together in Minas Gerais, composer, arranger and keyboard player Wagner Tiso had been another close musical partner of Milton Nascimento’s. Some of their work together includes many of Bituca’s most beloved albums, including Clube Da Esquina, Milton Nascimento (1970) and Maria Maria / Ultimo Trem, as well as Native Dancer: Nascimento’s album with Wayne Shorter.

Explaining the inspiration behind two of the tracks on Banda Da Capital “Igreja Majestosa” (written with Nivaldo Ornelas) and “Os Cafezais sem fim”, Tiso remincies:

“On Sundays I used to watch the coffee plantation workers entering the church. I´d see them working all week, in their humble, dirty clothes. But I was always enchanted by their immaculate dress on Sundays. Taken from a line in a poem by my father, which became the hymn of the city of Três Pontas, the song “the majestic church and the endless coffee plantations ” became sacred for me, because it came from something joyful, from the workers.”

One of the album's most tender moments is a beautiful rendition of the post-tropicalista folk-rock classic “Sabado”, written by Fredera for Som Imaginiaro’s debut album. The lyrics are typical of the “desbunde”: those on the Brazilian left whose response to authoritarianism was a politics of pacifist, often psychedelic, non-conformity (similar to that of “dropping out” in the US)...

“Eu quero o céu e vou com guizos nos sapatos / Minha roupa em farrapos coloridos vou rasgar / E vou dançar entre os cristais azuis do tempo e esquecer”

“I want the sky and will go with bells on my shoes / I will tear my clothes into colourful rags / And I will dance among the blue crystals of time to forget”.

Jamil Joanes, best known as a member of Banda Black Rio, is another Minas Gerais native. His composition for the album is “Imaginados”, a stunning unplugged guitar and vocal performance, highlighting Som Imaginário’s south-eastern home state’s influence on their sound.



The CD and digital release of Banda Da Capital feature two bonus tracks from a separate concert at Museu de Arte Moderna, in Rio de Janeiro, on October 6th 1975. These are another arrangement of “Armina” and Toninho Horta’s stunning performance of his composition “Manuel o Audaz”, which he would later record with Pat Metheny and Lo Borges.



The recordings were taken direct from the sound desk at the show and have been restored and mastered by Frank Merritt @ The Carvery, London.



Banda Da Capital will be released on vinyl LP, CD and digitally on 2nd June 2023 via Far Out Recordings. More

(Standard Vinyl LP) Full length remixed and re-mastered version of this classic lp featuring top 20 classic jazz carnival!

TRACKLIST

A1. Partido Alto
A2. Avenida Das Mangueiras
A3. Light As A Feather
A4. Fly Over The Horizon (Voo Sobre O Horizonte)
A5. Amazonia
B1. Jazz Carnival
B2. Young Embrace (Um Abraco Da Mocidade)
B3. Dona Olimpia
B4. This Exists (Existe Isto)

INFO

Four decades on and Azymuth has reached legendary status amongst fans worldwide and across the music industry thanks to the trio's pioneering blend of traditional Brazilian jazz and proto funk fusion from the early 70's right through to the present day.
In 1979 the band's first Milestone Records release, 'Light As A Feather' quickly became one of the best-selling LPs of the year. Featuring the worldwide disco/fusion hit single 'Jazz Carnival' and going on to sell more than half a million copies internationally, the album stayed in the UK Top 20 for eight straight weeks.

An incredibly well thought out album both in pace, song selection and musicality, 'Light As A Feather' marked a maturing of the band as they began to rightfully utilise the studio as an instrument itself, embracing numerous mixing and recording techniques not yet common for the time as well as pioneering the use of the Big Muff and Dolby System to great effect. The end result is an album that endures to this day as a samba/jazz-funk masterpiece.

‘Futuristic, compelling and always swinging, that’d be Azymuth then.’ Jazzwise

‘Their reputation is global and their music speaks volumes’. Mixmag


INFO

Azymuth's career-defining LP Light As A Feather returns. Home to their worldwide disco/fusion hit single ‘Jazz Carnival’, the samba-doido staple 'Partido Alto', and the proto-deep house masterpiece ‘Avenida Das Mangueiras’, this album typifies the trio’s tireless innovation in the fields of jazz, funk, samba and cosmic music perhaps more so than any of their other ground-breaking records from its era.

Their first release on Milestone Records in 1979, it quickly became one of the best-selling LPs of the year, staying in the UK Top 20 for eight straight weeks with more than half a million copies sold. An incredibly well thought out album both in pace, song selection and musicality, ‘Light As A Feather’ marked a maturing of the band as they began to rightfully utilise the studio as an instrument itself, embracing numerous mixing and recording techniques not yet common for the time as well as pioneering the use of the Big Muff and Dolby System to great effect. The result is an album that endures to this day as a samba/jazz-funk masterpiece.

First reissued in 2012, the Far Out edition of this seminal recording was remixed and re-mastered from the original 16-track tapes, which were given to Joe Davis by Azymuth. This latest version is the first ever issue to be complete with a download card that that gives access to previously unreleased tracks, including the incredible full length version of 'Jazz Carnival', as well as remixes from house stalwarts Theo Parrish, Ashley Beedle, and Mark E. More

Limited Edition RSD Reissue (+Poster!). Far Out Recordings proudly presents laid back Brazilian groove maestro Joao Donato's synth-heavy collaboration with his son Donatinho. Sintetizamor sees the father-son duo jovially hurtle through space and time across ten tracks of sparkling pop, Brazilian boogie and club friendly disco-funk.

TRACK LISTING
A1 De Toda Maneira
A2 Surreal
A3 Quem É Quem
A4 Interstellar
A5 Lei Do Amor

B1 Clima de Poquera
B2 Luz Negra
B3 Vamos Sair Á Francesa
B4 Ilusão de Nós
B5 Hao Chi



INFO
Far Out Recordings proudly presents laid back Brazilian groove maestro Joao Donato’s synth-heavy collaboration with his son Donatinho. Sintetizamor sees the father-son duo jovially hurtle through space and time across ten tracks of sparkling pop, Brazilian boogie and club friendly disco-funk.

Joao Donato has been a hugely influential figure in the development of Brazilian music since the mid-1950’s. He’s played and recorded with virtually every one of his fellow Brazilian masters. Many of his own albums (of which he’s recorded over three-dozen) are regarded with such adulation that ‘cult-favourites’ doesn’t quite cut it.

Aged 82 at the time, Donato’s collaboration with his prodigious, synth obsessed son Donatinho - whose keyboard talents have been called on by the likes of the late Gal Costa, Djavan and Donatinho’s contemporaries such as Diogo Strausz - was originally released back in 2017, as a limited Brazil-only release.

For Record Store Day 2023, Sintetizamor will be available on vinyl (for the first time outside of Brazil) from participating stores. More

LIMITED CLEAR VINYL RSD REISSUE. With vinyl copies increasingly scarce and hard to find, Far Out Recordings is bringing back this cult-classic for Record Store Day 2023 on limited edition clear vinyl.

TRACK LISTING:
A1. Banana
A2. Clareana
A3. Metralhadeira
A4. Nacional Kid
A5. Tudo Bonito

B1. Suite: part 1-Memorias Do Porvir
Suite: part 2. Visoes Do Amanhecer (Visions of Dawn)
B2. Suite: part 3: Carnavalzinho (Little Carnaval)
B3. Jardim Dos Deuses
B4. Chegada



INFO:
LIMITED CLEAR VINYL RSD REISSUE



Recorded in Paris, in 1976, Visions of Dawn is the stunning ‘lost’ Brazilian acid-folk album by Joyce, Nana Vasconcelos and Mauricio Maestro.



First uncovered and released in 2009, the record transfixed Brazilian music lovers and fans of otherworldly psych-folk alike. Led by the sharp lyrics and gorgeous voice of a young Joyce, the trio is completed by the late great Brazilian percussion legend Nana Vasconcelos, and master arranger, producer and bassist Mauricio Maestro.



These beautiful, hazy and understated recordings offer a unique opportunity to sit in on the original sessions of tracks that would later become Brazilian cult-classics, such as uplifting samba-jazz opener 'Banana' and 'Clareana', a lullaby named after Joyce's daughters Clara and Ana. The trippiest moments come from 'Jardim Dos Deuces' (one of Frank Ocean's favourite tracks of all time) and the orgasmic album closer 'Chegeda'.



With vinyl copies increasingly scarce and hard to find, Far Out Recordings is bringing back this cult-classic for Record Store Day 2023 on limited edition clear vinyl. More

Remastered from the original tapes, Encore features 11 original compositions from Arthur with guest musicians including Azymuth, Ivan Lins and a nine-piece string section. The highly anticipated follow up to Arthur’s eponymous debut album from 1972, Encore saw Arthur joining the dots over 35 years to create a modern classic of Brazilian music that, like his debut, combined Brazilian influences with his take on American soul and cinematic experimentation, and shows Arthur’s sound is as poignant now as it ever was.In the mid-2000’s, following on from Marcos Valle, Joyce and of course Azymuth, Arthur Verocai joined the long-line of Brazilian musicians whose music was to be introduced to a whole new legion of fans by Far Out. The story of ‘Encore’ of course begins with Joe Davis, Far Out’s head honcho who stumbled upon Arthur’s debut in a dusty record store in downtown Rio in the late 80s. At the time of its release in 1972 critics panned Arthur’s debut and both the album and artist subsequently vanished into obscurity. Fast forward to winter 2004 and Joe’s at the studio of Far Out Recording artists Harmonic 313 – aka production duo Mark ‘Troubleman’ Pritchard and Dave Brinkworth – playing them some of his favourite Brazilian albums. Dave recalls the moment Joe put on Arthur’s debut, “As soon as the needle hit the record and we heard the fantastic arrangements, songs and sounds, Arthur completely blew our minds”.Three months later and Dave was in Brazil with Arthur Verocai, and the plans for what was to become ‘Encore’ were being laid down. Produced by Dave, ‘Encore’ sees Arthur on incredible form, the 35 plus years between the recording of his debut and this the follow-up just melting away as Arthur picked up the (conductor’s) baton once again to create 11 epic tracks of stirring samba-soul and experimental cinematic movements that sees him creating a record to rival his debut.Born in Rio de Janeiro on 17 June 1945, Arthur Verocai began his professional music career in 1969 and over the next few years he was responsible for the orchestration of albums by Ivan Lins, Jorge Benjor, Elizeth Cardoso, Gal Costa, Quarteto em Cy, MPB 4 and Marcos Valle, among others. In the 1970s he was hired by Brazil’s biggest TV station, TV Globo, as musical director and wrote the arrangements for many of the stations biggest shows. In 1972, following the success Arthur had with the production of Ivan Lins 1971 album "Agora", Arthur recorded his self-titled debut album on Continental Records. ‘Arthur Verocai’ challenged the musical conventions of the day, combining Brazilian influences with folksy soul and lo-fi electronic experimentations of American artists like Shuggie Otis or the orchestration of producer Charles Stepney. More

Far Out Recordings proudly presents Hermeto Pascoal's remarkable self-titled debut album. Recorded in 1970 at A&R studios in New York, the album features certified North American titans including Ron Carter, Hubert Laws, Joe Farrel and Googie Coppola, and Brazilian stars Airto Moreira and Flora Purim (who also produced the album).



TRACKLIST

A1. Coalhada (Yogurt)
A2. Hermeto
A3. Guizos (Bells)
A4. Flor do Amor
B1. Alicate (Pliers)
B2. Velório (Mourning)
B3. As Marianas (The Marianas)
B4. Fabiola

INFO

Far Out Recordings proudly presents Hermeto Pascoal’s remarkable self-titled debut album. Recorded in 1970 at A&R studios in New York, the album features certified North American titans including Ron Carter, Hubert Laws, Joe Farrel and Googie Coppola, and Brazilian stars Airto Moreira and Flora Purim (who also produced the album).

While it was Hermeto’s first album released under his own name, he had spent the decade or so prior making a name for himself in Brazil and internationally as a composer, arranger and instrumentalist with groups including Sambrassa Trio, Quarteto Novo and Brazilian Octopus, before going on to work with (amongst countless others) Edu Lobo, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Donald Byrd, Airto Moreira and Miles Davis, who allegedly called Hermeto “one of the most important musicians on the planet”.

With Hermeto’s otherworldly orchestral arrangements, ghostly vocal performances from Flora Purim and Googie Coppola, and the inimitable drumming and percussion stylings of Airto Moreira, Hermeto easily rivals some of the oft-celebrated MPB albums of the early 1970s, sitting somewhere between the string-heavy magic of Arthur Verocai’s 1972 debut and the unplacable early experimentalism of Pedro Santos’ 1968 album Krishnanda.

With his phenomenal natural musical genius and a ceaseless sense of creative freedom, Hermeto is widely known for using unconventional objects to make music. In the album’s sleeve notes, Airto highlights the track “Velório (Mourning)” explaining how Heremto filled 36 apple juice bottles with different amounts of water and tuned them to precise pitches in order to create the beguiling harmonies heard.

The reissue of Hermeto Pascoal’s Hermeto, follow’s Far Out’s recent unveiling of a previously unheard Hermeto Pascoal live concert Planetario da Gavea from 1981, and 2017’s release of Hermeto Pascoal’s lost 1976 studio album: Viajando Com O Som.

Hermeto will be available on vinyl LP and CD from the 20th May 2022 via Far Out Recordings. More

(Record Store Day Exclusive) (Sky Blue Coloured Vinyl) The Brazilian jazz-funk giants present their era-defining masterpiece on limited edition Sky Blue vinyl. Featuring 'Jazz Carnival' and 'Partido Alto'



TRACKLIST

A1. Partido Alto
A2. Avenida Das Mangueiras
A3. Light As A Feather
A4. Fly Over The Horizon = Vôo Sobre O Horizonte
A5. Amazonia
B1. Jazz Carnival
B2. Young Embrace = Um Abraço Da Mocidade
B3. Dona Olimpia
B4. This Exists = Existe Isto


INFO

"The legendary 'Samba-Doido' innovators: Brazilian trio Azymuth's beloved 1979 classic album on a coloured vinyl for a super-limited, collectors item RSD special! Need we say more?"



FULL LENGTH REMIXED AND RE-MASTERED VERSION OF THIS CLASSIC LP FEATURING TOP 20 CLASSIC JAZZ CARNIVAL!



Four decades on and Azymuth has reached legendary status amongst fans worldwide and across the music industry thanks to the trio’s pioneering blend of traditional Brazilian jazz and proto funk fusion from the early 70’s right through to the present day.



In 1979 the band’s first Milestone Records release, ‘Light As A Feather’ quickly became one of the best-selling LPs of the year. Featuring the worldwide disco/fusion hit single ‘Jazz Carnival’ and going on to sell more than half a million copies internationally, the album stayed in the UK Top 20 for eight straight weeks.



An incredibly well thought out album both in pace, song selection and musicality, ‘Light As A Feather’ marked a maturing of the band as they began to rightfully utilise the studio as an instrument itself, embracing numerous mixing and recording techniques not yet common for the time as well as pioneering the use of the Big Muff and Dolby System to great effect. The end result is an album that endures to this day as a samba/jazz-funk masterpiece.



Now Far Out is pleased to present this seminal recording remixed and re-mastered from the original 16-track tapes, which were given to Joe Davis by Azymuth, lovingly reproduced on heavy weight vinyl and CD. This definitive edition of Azymuth’s breakthrough LP is a must-have for connoisseurs and an invaluable introduction to the Azymuth sound for the uninitiated. More

(Record Store day exclusive) For the first time on vinyl! The fabled extended recording.... from the unreleased 1977 Natureza album produced, arranged, and conducted by Claus Ogerman.



TRACKLIST

A. Feminina (produced, arranged and conducted by Claus Ogerman)*
B. Joyce Interviewed by Joe Davis (November, 2021)

INFO

This fabled 11 minute+ version of Brazilian icon Joyce's groundbreaking "Feminina" was recorded at Columbia Studios, New York in 1977, for the as yet unreleased Natureza album. Produced, arranged and conducted by the great Claus Ogerman (Frank Sinatra, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Billie Holiday... the list goes on), Natureza would have ostensibly been Joyce's big break to international stardom, but mysteriously it was never released. With Joyce came fellow Brazilian icons Mauricio Maestro, Nana Vasconcelos and Tutty Moreno, and Ogerman employed North American jazz legends Joe Farrell, Michael Brecker, Buster Williams and Mike Manieri. In anticipation of the monumental forthcoming Natureza album release via Far Out Recordings, this astonishing version of a true classic gets it's first proper 12" release for Record Store Day 2022. In the spirit of making the release special for RSD, rather than make it a single sided 12", Far Out boss called up Joyce to talk about the recording, recorded the conversation, and pressed it to vinyl on the B side. More

(Record Store Day Exclusive) For the first time on vinyl! One of the world's best bassists with an MPB legend feat. Azymuth drummer Ivan Conti, percussion master Marcos Suzano & Dudu Viana on piano.



TRACKLIST

A. O Ronco Da Cuíca
B. Incompatibilidade De Gênios


INFO

Originally written by João Bosco and Aldir Blanc and released on Bosco's 1976 album Galos De Briga, "O Ronco da Cuica" is a samba/MPB masterpiece. In the song, the cuíca roars: roars in anger, roars from hunger and is told to stop, but it cannot - "it's a man thing" explains Bosco in the lyrics. Personifying the instrument in this way, "O Ronco da Cuica" points to something quite profound about the nature of human suffering and our primitive need for expression. On this brilliant reimagining, renowned bassist Dudu Lima teamed up with Joao Bosco himself, as well as Azymuth drummer Ivan 'Mamão' Conti, pianist Dudu Viana and percussionist Marcos Suzano. Ironically, this version contains no cuíca, instead it takes a more stripped back instrumentation, exploring the deep jazz potential of this roaring samba classic, to stunning effect. On the B-side is a beautiful duet between Dudu Lima and João Bosco: acoustic guitar and vocals, and fretless bass - together they take on "Imcompatibilidade De Gênios", also from Bosco's 1976 Galos De Briga album. More

His sophomore solo album ‘Persistence’ is an exemplary culmination of the momentum Maunick has built since his 2019 debut Macumba Quebrada, which earned support from Moodymann, Benji B, Gilles Peterson, Ron Trent, Palms Trax, Derrick Carter and Moxie to name just a few.

TRACKLIST

A1. Arraia 5.55
A2. Persistence 5.36
A3. Illusions 6.45
B1. The Love Is Gone 7.18
B2. Remnants Of Joy 6.34
B3. Bitter Regret 2.27
C1. Just Deserts 7.12
C2. Shadow Boxer 4.06
C3. Reflections 2.08
D1. Addicted (2 U) 6.36
D2. A Second Chance 6.51
D3 Promessa 2.59


INFO

Between producing landmark albums with the likes of Azymuth, Marcos Valle, and Sabrina Malheiros, recent years have seen Daniel Maunick flourishing as a solo artist with acclaimed releases on Eglo Records, Mother Tongue, Visions, AKO Beatz (under his Dokta Venom alias), and of course, Far Out Recordings. His sophomore solo album Persistence is an exemplary culmination of the momentum Maunick has built since his 2019 debut Macumba Quebrada, which earned support from Moodymann, Benji B, Gilles Peterson, Ron Trent, Palms Trax, Derrick Carter and Moxie to name just a few.

Since collaborating with Shy FX for his first ever release at the age of fifteen (a now impossible to find single sided jungle acetate), Maunick has remained embedded in the fabric of the culture, from early work for the legendary Talkin’ Loud label to notching credits with Terry Caliier, Paul Weller, Ski Oakenfull, Brenda Russell, and his father’s legendary brit-funk outfit Incognito. And for almost two decades he’s served as producer for a long string of classic and future-classic Far Out albums, most recently Alex Malheiros' Tempos Futuros.

As on his previous Far Out opuses (most recently the Musica Encantada EP), Persistence sees Maunick continue to playfully use foundations of traditional afro-brazilian rhythms, heard in the sultry samba swing of 'Arraiá', the pulsating batucada enveloping the bassy synth stabs in “Remnants of Joy”, and spectral cuicas throughout the blissfully bumping ‘Illusions’. But going beyond his trademark nods to Brazil, he reflects on his junglist roots with the emotionally charged ‘Love Is Gone’, and flexes his deep house muscles with the late night magic of ‘Just Deserts’ and ‘Addicted’.

The sheer variety on show is testament to the wide scope of influences and experiences Maunick has accumulated and absorbed in his career to date. It’s also evident that after years spent with jazz funk masters like Azymuth and Incognito, as well as hitmakers like Marcos Valle, Maunick has reached a new calibre with his compositional prowess alongside his astoundingly accomplished studio skills. Persistence is a modern classic by a veteran at the peak of their powers.
More

First time vinyl reissue of Jose Roberto Bertrami's 1966 ‘José Roberto Trio’ via Far Out Recordings. Best known as the keyboardist and bandleader of legendary trio Azymuth, the late José Roberto Bertrami also wrote for, arranged for and performed with Elis Regina, George Duke, Sarah Vaughn, Jorge Ben, Eddie Palmieri, Milton Nascimento, Flora Purim and Erasmo Carlos, among countless others.


TRACKLIST

A1. O Canto De Ossanha (Baden Powell, Vinicius De Morais) 3:05
A2. Da-Me (Adylson Godoy) 3:25
A3. Impulso (Manfredo Fest) 1:47
A4. Dorme Profundo (Pingarrilho, Marcos Valle) 2:30
A5. Lilos Walts (C. H. Bertrami, J. R. Bertrami) 3:10
A6. So Tinha Que Ser Voce (A. C. Jobim) 3:00
B1. Kebar (J. R. Bertrami) 3:20
B2. Chuva (Durval Ferreira) 3:07
B3. Mar Amar (Marcos Valle, Paulo S. Valle) 1:50
B4. Flor De Manha (Adylson Godoy) 4:40
B5. Balansamba (J. L. Namur, R. Morel) 3:07
B6. Taluhama (J. R. Bertrami) 3:00

INFO

Best known as the keyboardist and bandleader of legendary trio Azymuth, the late José Roberto Bertrami also wrote for, arranged for and performed with Elis Regina, George Duke, Sarah Vaughn, Jorge Ben, Eddie Palmieri, Milton Nascimento, Flora Purim and Erasmo Carlos, among countless others. But before all of that, in 1965, at the age of just nineteen, Zé Roberto recorded his first studio album with his group Os Tatuís, and the José Roberto Trio in the following year. These largely slept-on albums of beautiful, expressive samba jazz and bossa nova stand as a testament to the prodigious genius of one of the most important musicians in Brazil’s history.

Born in 1946 in Tatuí - a small city in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, José Roberto was the eldest of seven children, four of whom became musicians. His father Lázaro was a classical violinist and a professor at Tatuí’s public conservatory, the largest music school in Latin America - for which the city is nicknamed "Music City". After two years of piano lessons from the age of seven, Bertrami began losing interest, spending more time playing football and what he himself referred to as “professional vagabondage”. At thirteen, as his mother was despairing that her son was going off the rails, Zé Roberto enrolled at the conservatory. “In my two years there, I did seven years’ work and then I was expelled. The conservatory was almost entirely a classical music situation, and I’d begun to break some rules—like holding a jam session at school.”

Having discovered Bill Evans and Miles Davis in his early teenage years, Betrami began to channel his passion and exceptional musical talent into jazz rather than classical music. The bossa nova sound was also gaining popularity and Bertrami became especially interested in the music of Luiz Eça and Tamba Trio.

In his late teens, and around the same time as he was regularly sneaking off to São Paulo by train to perform in nightclubs, Zé Roberto, alongside his brother Claudio (a successful musician in his own right, who would go on to play on seminal albums by Gal Costa, Tom Zé, Edu Lobo and João Bosco) and other musicians from Tatuí’s emerging jazz and bossa nova scene, recorded the first album under the group name Os Tatuís. The self-titled LP featured Zé Roberto on piano, Claudio on double bass, a horn section and an organist. With compositions by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Roberto Menescal, Carlos Lyra, Durval Ferreira and Adilson Godoy, the album also featured Bertrami’s own composition “A Bossa do Zé Roberto”, a mesmerising piece of bossa jazz, which proved that already - even as a teenager - Bertrami’s compositions could stand alongside those by the bossa greats.

A year later, in 1966, Bertrami went back into the studio, but this time stripping the format back to a trio set up. Again featuring Claudio Henrique Betrami on double bass, and with Jovito Coluna on drums, the José Roberto Trio recorded their one and only album, featuring compositions by Baden Powell, Manfredo Fest, and Marcos Valle. The album also featured three of Betrami’s own compositions: the wistful “Lilos Watts”, the groovy “Kebar” and the dazzling “Talhuama”. In the vein of the pioneering Tamba Trio who had so inspired Bertrami in the few years prior, the José Roberto Trio typified an emerging movement within bossa nova in the mid-sixties, with a distinctively Brazilian reimagining of the piano jazz trio sound conceived by the likes of Nat King Cole, Oscar Peterson and Ahmad Jamal, and further developed by Bill Evans. Following on from Tamba Trio, in Brazil, the mid-sixties saw a number of great Brazilian bossa jazz trios recording around this time, such as Bossa Três, Milton Banana Trio, Tenório Jr, and Bossa Jazz Trio, the latter another group helmed by Betrami.

Both Os Tatuís and José Roberto Trio will be reissued on vinyl, CD and digitally for an 18th March 2022 release via Far Out Recordings. Across both of these historic albums, Bertrami’s stunningly performed compositions are rich with harmonic complexity and rhythmic ingenuity, providing a precursor to some of Bertrami’s futuristic fusion with Azymuth later in his career. More

First time vinyl reissue of Jose Roberto Bertrami's 1965 ‘Os Tatuís’ via Far Out Recordings. Best known as the keyboardist and bandleader of legendary trio Azymuth, the late José Roberto Bertrami also wrote for, arranged for and performed with Elis Regina, George Duke, Sarah Vaughn, Jorge Ben, Eddie Palmieri, Milton Nascimento, Flora Purim and Erasmo Carlos, among countless others.


TRACKLIST

A1. Vivo Sonhando (Antonio Carlos Jobim) 3:00
A2. Nuvens (Durval Ferreira, Mauricio Einhorn) 3:14
A3. Inutil Paisagem (Aloysio De Oliveira, Antonio Carlos Jobim) 1:50
A4. Você (Roberto Menescal, Ronaldo Boscoli) 2:05
A5. A Morte De Um Deus De Sal (Roberto Menescal, Ronaldo Boscoli) 2:25
A6. Insensatez (Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius De Moraes 4:45
B1. A Bossa Do Ze Roberto (José Roberto Bertrami) 2:00
B2. Primavera (Carlos Lyra, Vinicius De Moraes) 4:05
B3. Samba Do Avião (Antonio Carlos Jobim 2:21
B4. Sou Sem Paz (Adilson Godoy) 3:00
B5 Minha Namorada (Carlos Lyra, Vinicius De Moraes) 2:56
B6. O Menino Das Laranjas (Theo De Barros) 2:13

INFO

Best known as the keyboardist and bandleader of legendary trio Azymuth, the late José Roberto Bertrami also wrote for, arranged for and performed with Elis Regina, George Duke, Sarah Vaughn, Jorge Ben, Eddie Palmieri, Milton Nascimento, Flora Purim and Erasmo Carlos, among countless others. But before all of that, in 1965, at the age of just nineteen, Zé Roberto recorded his first studio album with his group Os Tatuís, and the José Roberto Trio in the following year. These largely slept-on albums of beautiful, expressive samba jazz and bossa nova stand as a testament to the prodigious genius of one of the most important musicians in Brazil’s history.

Born in 1946 in Tatuí - a small city in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, José Roberto was the eldest of seven children, four of whom became musicians. His father Lázaro was a classical violinist and a professor at Tatuí’s public conservatory, the largest music school in Latin America - for which the city is nicknamed "Music City". After two years of piano lessons from the age of seven, Bertrami began losing interest, spending more time playing football and what he himself referred to as “professional vagabondage”. At thirteen, as his mother was despairing that her son was going off the rails, Zé Roberto enrolled at the conservatory. “In my two years there, I did seven years’ work and then I was expelled. The conservatory was almost entirely a classical music situation, and I’d begun to break some rules—like holding a jam session at school.”

Having discovered Bill Evans and Miles Davis in his early teenage years, Betrami began to channel his passion and exceptional musical talent into jazz rather than classical music. The bossa nova sound was also gaining popularity and Bertrami became especially interested in the music of Luiz Eça and Tamba Trio.

In his late teens, and around the same time as he was regularly sneaking off to São Paulo by train to perform in nightclubs, Zé Roberto, alongside his brother Claudio (a successful musician in his own right, who would go on to play on seminal albums by Gal Costa, Tom Zé, Edu Lobo and João Bosco) and other musicians from Tatuí’s emerging jazz and bossa nova scene, recorded the first album under the group name Os Tatuís. The self-titled LP featured Zé Roberto on piano, Claudio on double bass, a horn section and an organist. With compositions by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Roberto Menescal, Carlos Lyra, Durval Ferreira and Adilson Godoy, the album also featured Bertrami’s own composition “A Bossa do Zé Roberto”, a mesmerising piece of bossa jazz, which proved that already - even as a teenager - Bertrami’s compositions could stand alongside those by the bossa greats.

A year later, in 1966, Bertrami went back into the studio, but this time stripping the format back to a trio set up. Again featuring Claudio Henrique Betrami on double bass, and with Jovito Coluna on drums, the José Roberto Trio recorded their one and only album, featuring compositions by Baden Powell, Manfredo Fest, and Marcos Valle. The album also featured three of Betrami’s own compositions: the wistful “Lilos Watts”, the groovy “Kebar” and the dazzling “Talhuama”. In the vein of the pioneering Tamba Trio who had so inspired Bertrami in the few years prior, the José Roberto Trio typified an emerging movement within bossa nova in the mid-sixties, with a distinctively Brazilian reimagining of the piano jazz trio sound conceived by the likes of Nat King Cole, Oscar Peterson and Ahmad Jamal, and further developed by Bill Evans. Following on from Tamba Trio, in Brazil, the mid-sixties saw a number of great Brazilian bossa jazz trios recording around this time, such as Bossa Três, Milton Banana Trio, Tenório Jr, and Bossa Jazz Trio, the latter another group helmed by Betrami.

Both Os Tatuís and José Roberto Trio will be reissued on vinyl, CD and digitally for an 18th March 2022 release via Far Out Recordings. Across both of these historic albums, Bertrami’s stunningly performed compositions are rich with harmonic complexity and rhythmic ingenuity, providing a precursor to some of Bertrami’s futuristic fusion with Azymuth later in his career. More

Over forty years since this historic happening, Far Out Recordings is overjoyed to release this magical recording of Hermeto Pascoal e Grupo Live at Planetário Da Gávea, on double vinyl LP, CD and digitally for a February 4th 2022 release.

TRACKLISTING

A1 Samba Do Belaqua - 13:45
A2 Era Pra Ser e Na~o Foi - 12:39
B1 Vou Pra Lá e Pra Cá - 13:53
B2 Bombardino - 9:13

C1 Jegue - 10:34
C2 São Jorge / Ilza na Feijoada - 15:02
C3 Duo de Bateras Part II - 1:21
D1 Homônimo Sintróvio - 24:03
D2 Homônimo Sintróvio Part II - 1:55

INFO

On a balmy Brazilian night in February, 1981, a crowd gathered in Rio de Janeiro's Gávea neighbourhood under the iconic dome of the city's Planetário (Planetarium). Alongside musicians like Helio Delmiro and Milton Nascimento (who were in the audience that night), they were there to see the great "Bruxo" (sorcerer) Hermeto Pascoal live in concert, with his new band formation which would become known simply as "O Grupo" (The Group).

Growing up on a farm in Brazil's northeastern state of Alagoas, Hermeto has always been deeply in tune with, and inspired by nature. In his youth he would make his own flutes to play call and response with the birds and frogs. He would build scrap-metal instruments in his blacksmith grandfather's forge, and sit for hours by the lake listening to the sounds of nature. On the Planetário Da Gávea recordings though, Hermeto is cast as the "sorcerer" or the "cosmic emissary" (as the great Brazilian guitarist Guinga once called him), exhibiting an intuitive sense of harmony and melody beyond that of our own world.

"Tudo e Som" (All is Sound). It's a phrase Hermeto regularly returns to, and it points to the fact that not only can music be made from anything, but also alludes to something much more profound. It's an understanding of the universe as being in a state of constant movement, forever vibrating at the quantum level, like the string of a guitar, or a saxophone's reed. "Tudo e Som" is a declaration of the mystical and spiritual power of sound, as a fundamentally vibrational force.

The series of concerts at the Planetário marked the birth of "O Grupo" which would last with the same line-up (apart from Zé Eduardo Nazário) for the next eleven years. Every member of O Grupo was a phenomenal musician in their own right. It was one of saxophonist/flautist Carlos Malta's first gigs with the group, and the concert unusually featured two drummers, Zé Eduardo Nazário and Marcio Bahia. Nazário, from São Paulo, had played with Hermeto during the mid-70s (as well as with Milton Nascimento, Egberto Gismonti and Toninho Horta, to name a few). Bahia though had just joined the group. Acclaimed keyboard player Jovino Santos Neto was on keyboards, piano and organ, and the great Itiberê Zwarg (who remains in Hermeto's band to this day), played bass. Rounding the group off was the percussionist Pernambuco. During this period (up until the early 90s) the group would rehearse for hours on end, virtually seven days a week, with a total dedication to music and Hermeto's musical vision.

Most of the compositions performed that night at the Planetário had never been recorded before, and many are unique to this album, including the wild 'Homônimo Sintróvio', the exaltant 'Samba Do Belaqua', 'Vou Pra Lá e Pra Cá' and 'Bombardino', which features Hermeto's wonderfully absurd call and response mouthpiece soliloquy. Then there's the stunning 7/4 Samba 'Jegue' which builds with inventive dissonance, before releasing yet another celestially colourful, celebratory refrain. The show also features the first recorded performances of 'Era Pra Ser e Não Foi' and 'Ilza na Feijoada' (inspired by Hermetos' wife Ilza's famed black bean and meat stew), which Hermeto later recorded on his 1984 studio album "Lagoa Da Canoa Município De Arapiraca".

Dubbed by Miles Davis as "one of the most important musicians on the planet", a Hermeto Pascoal live show was (and still is) an experience like no other. Across the recording of the Planetário concert, wild improvisation meets groovy, virtuosic vamping on progressive, extended psychedelic jams. The tracks are generally built around a beautiful, transcendent melody; instantly recognisable as being Hermeto's, and for the most part, the musicians then solo over extended two chord vamps. There's a plethora of powerfully delivered rhythms, wild solos and the performances are punctuated by Hermeto's unpredictable, at times comical sonic antics.

Over forty years since this historic happening, Far Out Recordings is overjoyed to release this magical recording of Hermeto Pascoal e Grupo Live at Planetário Da Gávea, on double vinyl LP, CD and digitally for a February 4th 2022 release. More

Believed to have been recorded in 1983, ‘O Filho Do Homem’ is a newly discovered and previously unreleased single by the late Brazilian composer and keyboardist Ana Mazzotti.

TRACKLIST

A. O Filho Do Homem (Vocal)
B. O Filho Do Homem (Instrumental)

INFO

Believed to have been recorded in 1983, ‘O Filho Do Homem’ is a newly discovered and previously unreleased single by the late Brazilian composer and keyboardist Ana Mazzotti. Though it’s her only known studio recording of the decade, ‘O Filho Do Homem’ is one of several unreleased compositions Mazzotti and her band performed on TV Cultura and Programa MPB during the 80s.*

These performances showed Mazzotti had transitioned towards a harder edged and more daringly experimental sound in this period, while keeping the core components of samba, jazz and funk that characterised her two studio albums from the 1970s, Ninguem Vai Me Segurar (1974) and the self titled Ana Mazzotti (1977). This evolved 80s sound had evidently taken a similar path to that of her contemporaries and mentors, like Azymuth, whose keyboardist José Roberto Bertrami arranged her debut album, and Hermeto Pascoal who described her as “a super musician.”

Following the resurgence in appreciation for Ana’s music that arose from the 2019 reissues of her two studio albums, her son Toni Mazzotti was compelled to re-examine the archive of artefacts he’d inherited from his parents. Amongst the LPs, chord sheets, photos and VHS recordings, Toni stumbled upon a mysterious reel of tape, which he swiftly dispatched to the Far Out office in London. Toni and the Far Out team were delighted to discover the mystery tape was a hazy jazz-funk gem recorded by his mother (and father, drummer Romildo Santos) during the twilight of her short career; Ana Mazzotti sadly passed away in 1988 from lung cancer at the age of just 37. Aside from Ana on keyboards and vocals and Romildo who produced and played drums on all of Ana’s recordings, the line-up for the quartet is unknown.

“O Filho Do Homem” will be released on 7” vinyl and digitally on the 10th December 2021 via Far Out Recordings.



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Stargazing from the sands of the Niterói beach, Tempos Futuros is low-end-led Brazilian futurism from one of Brazil’s most prolific and influential bassmen. As one third of legendary trio Azymuth, Alex Malheiros has pioneered a unique fusion of space-funk, samba and jazz since the early seventies. His playing can be heard on the records of Jorge Ben, Milton Nascimento, Roberto Carlos, Marcos Valle (to name a few), and Mark Murphy (to name a few), and he’s performed and toured with everyone from Stevie Wonder to Chick Corea.

TRACKLIST

A1 The Razor's Edge
A2 Prece (feat. Sabrina Malheiros)
A3 Telegramas Para Arp
A4 Retrato (feat. Sean Khan)
A5 Requiem For A Storm
B1 Alto Verão (feat. Sabrina Malheiros)
B2 O Temporal
B3 Marcinha
B4 Kuarup

INFO

Stargazing from the sands of the Niterói beach, Tempos Futuros is low-end-led Brazilian futurism from one of Brazil’s most prolific and influential bassmen. As one third of legendary trio Azymuth, Alex Malheiros has pioneered a unique fusion of space-funk, samba and jazz since the early seventies. His playing can be heard on the records of Jorge Ben, Milton Nascimento, Roberto Carlos, Marcos Valle, and Mark Murphy (to name a few), and he’s performed and toured with everyone from Stevie Wonder to Chick Corea.

Written and recorded in Niterói, Brazil, overlooking Guanabara and the beaches, mountains and forests of Rio de Janeiro, Tempos Futuros has deep roots in Brazilian soil. The rhythms of Malheiros’ homeland have always permeated his music. But just like the Oscar Niemeyer designed Niterói Contemporary Art Museum which stands spaceship-like over the water, Tempos Futuros - while inspired by terrestrial forms, reaches out, deep into the great unknown.

Produced by acclaimed London-based producer Daniel Maunick, who has worked with Marcos Valle, Azymuth, Terry Callier, and Ivan Conti, the funk comes full circle. Daniel’s father Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick and Alex Malheiros shared a reciprocal stream of influence throughout the 80s, between London and Rio; Azymuth and Incognito; brit-funk and samba-funk. But just as with Azymuth’s music, you can also hear the influence of stateside jazz-funk masters like Roy Ayers, Weather Report, Lonnie Liston Smith, Mtume and Pleasure.

Tempos Futuros features Alex’s daughter, a Brazilian star in her own right, vocalist Sabrina Malheiros, Brazilian percussion master Sidinho Moreira, London based saxophonist Sean Khan, Marcos Valle’s go-to drummer Massa, and Brazilian keyboard player Dudu Viana. Featuring the late Azymuth keyboard maestro Jose Roberto Bertami on Fender Rhodes, the title track “Tempos Futuros” was originally recorded as a demo in 1995. On this finished version, Alex Malheiros used Bertami’s original keyboard take, explaining the posthumous release.Tempos Futuros will be released via Far Out Recordings on vinyl LP, CD and digitally on the 26th November 2021. More

(Two individually sold Vinyl 12"s) Far Out Recordings presents a double bill of two monumental Brit funk classics. 'Keep In Touch' and 'Stay' were the first two 12" singles by the iconic Freeez, both self-funded passion projects of its founding member John Rocca, for his own Pink Rythm imprint.


TRACKLIST
A / Keep In Touch
B / Keep In Touch (Edit)


INFO

Far Out Recordings presents a double bill of two monumental Brit funk classics. Keep In Touch and Stay were the first two 12” singles by the iconic Freeez, both self-funded passion projects of its founding member John Rocca, for his own Pink Rhythm imprint.

It all started over the counter at Derek’s Records on Petticoat Lane, London in the mid-70s. Rocca - at the time a budding teenage percussionist - met the prolific guitarist, composer, producer and all round brit funk fixer Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick (also the father of Far Out producer Daniel Maunick). Best known as the founding member of Light of the World, Incognito, and more recently Str4ta, Bluey’s involvement in the origins of Freeez are lesser known, but no less crucial. Bluey invited Rocca to a weekly jam session in an East London basement, where they would develop their craft, form their first band Freeez and develop the idea for ‘Keep In Touch’: “Back in the basement there was this one particular track we were playing that I really loved. It had a groove that I thought I could sell” Rocca reminisces.

Going against the advice of all the musicians involved, who thought he was mad and set to lose all his money, John decided to go full DIY, hire out a high end studio in the West End to record ‘Keep In Touch’ and release it as a private press, birthing his now famed Pink Rhythm label. Featuring Bluey on guitar, Peter Maas on bass, Paul Morgan on drums, Jason Wright on keyboards, and John Rocca on percussion, Keep In Touch was a surprise underground hit selling over 5000 copies and reaching #49 in the UK, leading Freeez into a record deal with Pye / Calibre.

Still giddy from the experience of having produced and pressed his first record at the age of just 19, John set out to do it all again with ‘Stay’ and ‘Hot Footing It’, enlisting Bluey & co once again. This time Rocca attempted to take things to the next level by adding vocals into the mix. Though this new arrangement initially backfired and cost John the deal with Pye / Calibre who weren’t feeling the slight change of vibe, original copies of the Stay 12” have become one of the most in demand from the brit funk canon.

These foundational DIY 12” singles paved the way for Freeez to become a household name in the history of British funk who went on to record hits like ‘Southern Freeze’ and ‘IOU’ as well as underground cult classics like ‘Melodies of Love’ and ‘India’ as Pink Rhythm, John Rocca’s later formation of Freeez named after his imprint.

More

(Two individually sold Vinyl 12"s) Far Out Recordings presents a double bill of two monumental Brit funk classics. 'Keep In Touch' and 'Stay' were the first two 12" singles by the iconic Freeez, both self-funded passion projects of its founding member John Rocca, for his own Pink Rythm imprint.

TRACKLIST
A / Stay
B / Hot Footing It

INFO

Far Out Recordings presents a double bill of two monumental Brit funk classics. Keep In Touch and Stay were the first two 12” singles by the iconic Freeez, both self-funded passion projects of its founding member John Rocca, for his own Pink Rhythm imprint.

It all started over the counter at Derek’s Records on Petticoat Lane, London in the mid-70s. Rocca - at the time a budding teenage percussionist - met the prolific guitarist, composer, producer and all round brit funk fixer Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick (also the father of Far Out producer Daniel Maunick). Best known as the founding member of Light of the World, Incognito, and more recently Str4ta, Bluey’s involvement in the origins of Freeez are lesser known, but no less crucial. Bluey invited Rocca to a weekly jam session in an East London basement, where they would develop their craft, form their first band Freeez and develop the idea for ‘Keep In Touch’: “Back in the basement there was this one particular track we were playing that I really loved. It had a groove that I thought I could sell” Rocca reminisces.

Going against the advice of all the musicians involved, who thought he was mad and set to lose all his money, John decided to go full DIY, hire out a high end studio in the West End to record ‘Keep In Touch’ and release it as a private press, birthing his now famed Pink Rhythm label. Featuring Bluey on guitar, Peter Maas on bass, Paul Morgan on drums, Jason Wright on keyboards, and John Rocca on percussion, Keep In Touch was a surprise underground hit selling over 5000 copies and reaching #49 in the UK, leading Freeez into a record deal with Pye / Calibre.

Still giddy from the experience of having produced and pressed his first record at the age of just 19, John set out to do it all again with ‘Stay’ and ‘Hot Footing It’, enlisting Bluey & co once again. This time Rocca attempted to take things to the next level by adding vocals into the mix. Though this new arrangement initially backfired and cost John the deal with Pye / Calibre who weren’t feeling the slight change of vibe, original copies of the Stay 12” have become one of the most in demand from the brit funk canon.

These foundational DIY 12” singles paved the way for Freeez to become a household name in the history of British funk who went on to record hits like ‘Southern Freeze’ and ‘IOU’ as well as underground cult classics like ‘Melodies of Love’ and ‘India’ as Pink Rhythm, John Rocca’s later formation of Freeez named after his imprint.



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TRACKLIST

A1. 3 Horas Da Manha
A2. Samba Do Aviao
A3. Tema Medieval
A4. Despues De Las Seis
A5. Tema Barroco
A6. La Rana
B1. Pra Que Chorar
B2. Encuentro De Sombras

INFO

Far Out Recordings proudly presents Argentinian guitarist Agustín Pereyra Lucena’s 1980 album La Rana. Recorded in Oslo, La Rana features Agustín’s stunning takes on compositions by Ivan Lins, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Agustín’s friend and musical hero Baden Powell. In addition to these, and a number of Agustín’s own compositions including the fifteen-minute masterpiece “Encuentro De Sombras”, the album’s title track is an idiosyncratic version of Joao Donato’s “A Rã” (Eng: The Frog/ Esp: La Rana) from his 1973 album Quem É Quem.

Forming the rest of the quartet are two fellow Argentinians who were also Agustin’s bandmates from the group Candeias: bassist and multi-instrumentalist Guillermo Reuter and flautist Ruben Izarrualde; with Norweigan drummer Finn Sletten on drums and percussion.

Throughout La Rana we hear not only Agustín’s fabled guitar playing, which ascended him to share stages with the likes of Vinicius de Moraes, Dorival Cayymi, Toquinho, Maria Bethania, Chico Buarque and Quarteto Em Cy, but also his talent as a vocalist. He also provided the heartening illustration for the cover art, which perfectly fits the cordial, inviting tone of the music. Inspired in equal measure by South American rhythms and Norweigan glaciers, mountains and waterfalls, La Rana is filled with the warmth, humility and sincerity of a man seizing a joyful moment in life through music. More