Marcos Valle – Previsão Do Tempo (1973)

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. Though his reputation in America has never quite equaled that of contemporaries such as Caetano Veloso, Milton Nascimento, Gilberto Gil, or Tom Zé, Valle is one of the most important and popular performers in the history of Brazilian pop.

"Previsão do Tempo" was made in conjunction with the band that initially formed to back Valle at live shows and named itself after one of his songs, Azimuth (soon to change the spelling to Azymuth). This album had a notable jazz fusion feel thanks to Valle's enthusiasm for the Fender Rhodes piano and Azymuth keyboardist Jose Roberto Bertrami's expertise on the Hammond organ and assorted synthesizers such as the Mini-Moog and the ARP Soloist. This sound would prove a decisive influence on the acid jazz scene in Europe twenty years later. Another innovation in "Previsão do Tempo" was the use of vocal percussion on the track "Mentira", ten years before hip-hop artists introduced beatboxing. Valle emulates a drum kit with his voice to perform a pattern and a fill.

While "Garra" had seen all of Marcos Valle's talented parts -- songwriting, production, singing, and performing -- coalesce into the most beautiful whole ever seen in Brazilian music, "Previsão do Tempo" represented a slight pulling back from those lofty heights. Easygoing and relaxed where "Garra" had been nearly giddy with joy, the album still didn't lack for career-topping moments -- most of them due to the sunny groove produced by Valle with his backing band (soon to break away and form the boundary-pushing Azymuth). With Valle on Fender Rhodes and Jose Roberto Bertrami on Mini-Moog and ARP, the album is more electronic than electric, but with soloists as talented as these, and a lifetime of musical instincts to draw on, the results are absolutely pristine. (Only Stevie Wonder was capable of coaxing the same type of warm, fluid grooves from his coterie of synthesizers, and integrating them so flawlessly into his productions.) As could be expected, narrative songwriting takes a backseat. In its place are loose, aqueous, funk-filled jams with synth and electric bass leading the way. "Garra" is still the peak of Marcos Valle's '70s output, but "Previsão do Tempo" is its own masterpiece, one where a listener plays connect-the-dots to hear the beauty inside.

Tracklist:

A1 Flamengo Até Morrer
A2 Nem Paletó, Nem Gravata
A3 Tira A Mão
A4 Mentira
A5 Previsão Do Tempo
A6 Mais Do Que Valsa
B1 Os Ossos Do Barão
B2 Não Tem Nada Não
B3 Não Tem Nada Não (2)
B4 Samba Fatal
B5 Tiu-ba-la-quieba
B6 De Repente, Moça Flor

Marcos Valle – Previsão Do Tempo (1973)

(320 kbps, cover art included)