Sadao Watanabe - Sadao Meets Brazilian Friends (1968)

Hello, Good Night! First I would like to inform that Loronix Forum is back. A planned 30 minutes migration was scheduled yesterday, however, things went wrong and Forum was down for the last 20 hours. I'm sorry for this situation. I have received several emails that I could not reply, since I was fully dedicated to bring that server back. It is now up and running.

I think I have to take a nap before meeting friends at Loronix, meanwhile, let's check this album, made available by Caetano Rodrigues, reposting a previous Loronix release with CD quality. Thanks Caetano.

This is Sadao Watanabe - Sadao Meets Brazilian Friends (1968), for Denon, recorded with the members of the anthological Brazilian Octopus. I will repeat the original post story.

Rodhia, the textile company, as a marketing initiative, assembled Brazilian Octopus. Anyway, the story is so incredible that I decided to pick up an article written by Carlos Calado at allbrazilianmusic.com. Let's stay with the whole story, as follows:

This is the story of the group, assembled to perform at fashion shows, that gathered legendary musicians like Hermeto Pascoal and Lanny Gordin, made only one obscure album and wrote a chapter in the history of instrumental music in Brazil.

Picture a band that features musicians from schools so different as the multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal, the post-tropicalist guitar hero Lanny Gordin, bossa nova pianist Cido Bianchi (former Milton Banana Trio), acoustic guitarist Olmir Alemão Stocker and jazz bassist Nilson da Matta. The surprising meeting happened in 1968 and helped writing a little known chapter in the history of instrumental music in Brazil called Brazilian Octopus, whose only release is hunted by disc collectors. "This is undoubtedly the strangest Brazilian group ever", writes Marcelo Dolabela in his dictionary ABZ do Rock Brasileiro printed on Estrela do Sul, 1987).

"At that time, we didn't care about the money, we just wanted to play. It was a wonderful experience", recalls Celso Bianchi, also a maestro and arranger. Brazilian Octopus was lined up in São Paulo in the beginning of 1968 by Lívio Rangan, manager of a textile factory that promoted musical fashion shows to promote their products. "Lívio used to like me a lot. He even claimed he was gonna turn me into the new Sergio Mendes", tells the musician, appointed by Rangan as the group's coordinator.

In fact, Brazilian Octopus was born with uncommon space in the market: a contract for a year of work that included three months of rehearsals during which the musicians received salaries. At that time, the band recorded an album with Japanese saxophonist Sadao Watanabe that has never been released in Brazil.

Friends, that's the story and this is the album we will share today. Brazilian Octopus left a solo LP that is commercially available, a wonderful chance to have it on CD. I suggest you run to the stores before it goes out of print again. Personnel and tracks are just below.

Personnel

Sadao Watanabe
(sax, flute)

Caze
(sax alto)

Lanny Gordin
(guitar)

Cido Bianchi
(piano, organ)

Olmir Stocker
(guitar)

Mathias
(bass)

Douglas de Oliveira
(drums)

João Carlos Pegoraro
(vibes)

Carlos Alberto Alcântara
(sax tenor, flute)

Track List

01 - Bim Bom
02 - E Nada Mais
03 - Jequibau
04 - Eu e a Brisa
05 - Barquinho Diferente
06 - Ritmo
07 - Tristeza
08 - Carolina
09 - Bossa na Praia
10 - Mostra Morena
11 - Muito a Vontade
12 - Ritmo