Grupo Um: Starting Point
Editor's Choice
Author: Kevin Le Gendre
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Musicians: |
Zeca Assumpção (b, v) |
Label: |
FarOut |
Magazine Review Date: |
April/2023 |
Media Format: |
CD, LP |
Catalogue Number: |
FARO235 |
RecordDate: |
Rec. 1975 |
Arguably the premier curator of Brazilian jazz in Britain, if not further afield, FarOut returns with yet another reissue of a priceless album that lovers of samba-infused sounds will lap up like the sun in midwinter. Recorded in 1975, Grupo Um's Starting Point is testament to the wealth of hugely talented post-bossa nova players that had fully embraced the fusion school ushered in by Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Joe Zawinul and were bringing a rainbow of electric sounds to bear over the sauntering rhythms that had cast a spell over America, and the rest of the world, for that matter. Keyboardist Lelo Nazario is a dominant figure, but the propulsion of the whole trio draws favourable comparison with the likes of the legendary Azymuth, Opa or Hermeto Pascoal, with whom Grupo Um had played as precocious teenagers. Having said that, their music was not released at the time, apparently because labels were deterred by its off-centre imagination and richter scale groove, which has a kind of primal energy that is often quite astounding. The qualities that denied Grupo Um an audience almost 50 years ago are what might win it one today. Starting Point should not be the ending of a fine musical adventure that has more than stood the test of time.

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