Sempre

The original Rio beach boy returns in style, with a new record of unabashedly feel-good Brazilian party music. Featuring Azymuth bassist Alex Malheiros, a horn section including Valle's go-to high-trumpeter Jesse Sadoc, and percussion master Armando Marcal, Sempre has all the masterful composition, exceptional musicality, and forward-thinking ideas you'd expect from the Brazilian titan. Updating Marcos Valle's seminal boogie-era sound, Sempre spans ecstatic disco, cosmic samba, and late-night jazz-funk, drawing obvious comparisons to some of Valle's late-seventies and early-eighties output. But lyrically the new album is more closely reminiscent of Valle's progressive early '70s releases. Heralding love, tolerance, and living in the present, while satirizing political corruption, Sempre recalls a time in which Valle, together with his brother Paulo Sergio, was writing subtly subversive lyrics in order to bypass the censorship imposed by the military dictatorship, which ruled over Brazil between 1964 and 1985. The album marries compositional genius with pure pop perfection. From the blistering brass arrangements on up-tempo disco hit "Olha Quem Tá Chegando" and the infinitely classy "Vou Amanha Saber", to the nine-minute synth heavy instrumental funk stepper "Odisséia", which gradually morphs into an interplanetary samba jam, the songs are tightened and given an extra coat of gloss by London based producer Daniel Maunick. More moments of boogie delight come in the form of "Minha Roma" and the sunshine anthem title-track. Translating as "Ever", Sempre is a testament to the continual drive for development and reinvention that has defined Marcos Valle's astounding six-decade career. Ever changing, ever moving forward, he began as one of the second-wave of early bossa nova composers in the '60s, writing the world famous bossa standard "Summer Samba (So Nice)" for his sophomore album Samba 68. After a brief stint in the States, Valle returned to Brazil, and the early '70s saw the release of four ground-breaking Valle albums. These albums would see Valle work alongside a number of hugely influential Brazilian bands, including Milton Nascimento's backing band Som Imaginaro, the prog-rock band O Terco, and jazz funk legends Azymuth. Returning back to the US in '75, Valle resided in LA, writing music for the likes of Eumir Deodato, Airto Moreira, Chicago, Sarah Vaughn, and Leon Ware, before returning to Brazil once more. Since the mid-nineties, Valle has been experiencing a renaissance with Far Out Recordings. Sempre is his fifth album for the label, following 2010's critically acclaimed Estatica (FARO 153CD).