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Lição #1 Moacir

Early in 2017, a correspondent asked if I knew of any contemporary Brazilian instrumental music. I did not, but on searching in YouTube I found a goldmine of such material in the form the channel of "Programa Instrumental SESC Brasil". It contained many dozens of 50-55 minute shows, each one devoted to a performance by a specific musician or group. Not only were practically all of the featured artists new to me, but, judging by the frequently very low view counts, many must not have been widely-appreciated even in Brazil. One of my favourite such videos featured a band called Quartabê.

I liked their performance so much I bought their debut album: Lição #1 Moacir.  It's among a handful of records I've bought in download form from Bandcamp and then burned to CD-R. I can't then make much comment about the cover design (I snagged the image from the Discogs listing) or the insert/booklet notes - which, in any case, would be in Brazilian Portuguese. The band's website helpfully provides an explanation of their origins in English: "Quartabê's identity was built upon the metaphor of the classroom: the group sees itself as a school class, which chooses its own teachers from among great masters of Brazilian music. [...] The band started its studies by recording a first album about the work of maestro Moacir Santos." (Lição means "lesson").

Quartabê were a five-piece at this point, with Joana Queiroz variously on tenor sax, alto & bass clarinets; Maria Beraldo Bastos on clarinet and bass clarinet; the mononymous Chicão on keyboards; Ana Karina Sebastião on bass and Mariá Portugal on drums. On one of the tracks 'Chamada' we hear each introduce themselves - otherwise, unless I misremember, there are no virtually no other vocals. Seven of the eleven other tracks are credited to Moacir Santos, with one of the remainder a direct homage to him. Santos' tunes are beautiful (I hadn't heard of him before acquiring this record) and the arrangements here are imaginative & vivacious - at times slightly astringent - it's a highly enjoyable album throughout.

Edited much later to add: I have since bought the proper CD release. My copy came in a simple card sleeve with a paper insert bearing just a minimum of information. The comment above about there being hardly any vocals isn't quite right: there's an acapella intelude in Suk-Chá and some chanted vocalese in Nanã - Coisa #5 - though it is still true to say it's predominantly an instrumental album.

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