Playlist: Back Roads Through Brazil's Treasured Masterpieces

A first pass through a curious reissue project

The reissue torrent released by Universal Japan in late July under the heading “Brazil’s Treasured Masterpieces” seems, at first, to be a curated survey of music from bossa nova forward. It includes records of serious importance — some gorgeous easy-listening bossa from guitarist Laurindo Alameida, Gilberto Gil’s second solo album from 1968, Nara Leao’s 1967 Nara — alongside records that slipped through the cracks long ago.

Among those less-traveled treasures: A studio-orchestra set on Elenco from Baden Powell and drummer Jimmy Pratt (release dates vary on the web — Wiki says 1963, Discogs 1967), and a suave soul-funk session, Para Festas Bailes E Afins Vol.1, masterminded by the Luther Vandross-influenced singer and producer Ed Motta, whose uncle was Tim Maia. I’ve listened to lots of Powell but missed the collaboration with Pratt, which is nice but could use a few more guitar solos (!). As for Motta, the cover image shows him cradling a pipe; that was all it took for me to order.

As I searched “Brazil’s Treasured Masterpieces,” though, this “series” began to look like pure marketing — there’s not much curation going on! Yes, the sonics are uniformly clear, but there are no rarities or bonus tracks, and no effort is made to translate liner notes (most are in Portuguese or Japanese). Further, Universal has evidently de-listed many of these treasures from streaming platforms, which means that hearing the amazing accordionist Dominguinhos record I wrote about earlier this week may take some sleuthing. Today’s short playlist includes titles in the series I was able to source from earlier releases and compilations.

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