marcos valle: sempre
Francisco Espregueira
Marcos Valle is one of the very greatest and most important composers, arrangers, writers and performers in Brazilian history. His new album on Far Out Recordings, Sempre, marks a stylish return, with a new record of feel-good Brazilian party music. Marrying compositional genius with pure pop perfection, the album flows on ecstatic disco, cosmic samba, and late-night jazz-funk, drawing obvious comparisons to some of Valle’s late-seventies and early-eighties output. Words of love, tolerance and living the moment.
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. Since the mid-nineties his music has been experiencing a renaissance with Far Out Recordings, where his approach has remained, as always, open to new influences, possibilities and technologies. Sempre is Marcos Valle’s fifth album for the label, following 2010’s critically acclaimed Estatica or 1998’s fantastic Nova Bossa Nova.
Featuring Azymuth bassist Alex Malheiros, a horn section including Valle’s go-to high-trumpeter Jesse Sadoc, and percussion master Armando Marçal, Sempre tastes fresher than a fruity caipirinha in the Copacabana sunshine, just in time for summer. Out on vinyl, CD and digitally, courtesy of Far Out Recordings.