Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Quarteto Excelsior - Coquetel Dancante Nr. 1 (1957)

This is the first out of a series of really unique LPs, mainly Brazilian instrumental music from the late 50's and 60's. The source of this series comes from another donation to Loronix, made by someone that lives in Rio de Janeiro and this is the only thing I know about. It was just a matter of exchanging three or four emails to receive a box of twelve LPs dropped by someone at my building Lobby.

I decided to start with this one, recorded in 1957 - which is before Bossa Nova - and with a lot of Bossa Nova on it. This album confirms that Bossa Nova creation was a jointly work forged by several Brazilian artists, such as Quarteto Excelsior, a very well arranged and wonderfully played album with a cool male singing, very similar to that one we know as Bossa Nova way of singing.

This is Quarteto Excelsior - Coquetel Dancante Nr. 1 (1957), for RCA Victor. I will be straightforward, personnel listing is enough to explain this release, but I want to highlight Maestro Zaccarias, delivering solid clarinet solos and singing on a surprising and smooth voice for that time and Fats Elpidio, a legendary Brazilian pianist with a few albums already available at Loronix. Tracks includes:

Personnel

Maestro Zaccarias
(clarinet, voice)
Fats Elpidio
(piano)
Bill
(bass)
Romeu
(drums, vocals)

Track List

01 - Baião do Lavrador (Valdrido Silva / Zaccarias)
02 - Abre a Janela (Roberto Roberti / Arlindo Marques Júnior)
03 - Lá no Norte (Gilvan Chaves)
04 - Tiradentes (Estanislau Silva / Penteado / Décio Carlos)
05 - Pau-de-arara (Luis Gonzaga / Guio de Morais)
06 - Batuque no Morro (Russo do Pandeiro / Sá Róris)
07 - The Very Thought Of You (R. Noble) Love Me Tender (Elvis Presley / V. Matsen) Anastasia (Paul Francis Webster / A. Newman)
08 - Petticoats Of Portugal (Durso / Mitabel) Angustia (Orlando de Brito) Esperame En El Cielo (Francisco Lopez Vidal "Paquito") Que Murmuren (R. Fuentes / R. Cardenas)
09 - You're Sensational (Cole Porter) I Love You Samantha (Cole Porter) True Love (Cole Porter)

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