1,001 Albums Project #8 — “Vento De Maio / May Wind” by Elis Regina (1978)
Bonus Album Recommendation: “The Shepherd’s Dog” by Iron & Wine (2007)
#NotOnSpotify but you can listen to the full album here
General Reactions and the Art of Mixing Genres
Elis Regina achieves what I consider to be a near-impossible feat with this 1978 release: create an album that combines various genres, and execute each of them authentically. Furthermore, the music from “Vento De Maio” stands on its own as a singular unique sound despite the fusion of multiple different styles.
If someone told me I was about to listen to a record that infuses Brazilian music with pop, funk, jazz, piano ballads, and yacht rock, I would probably respond, “that’s gonna sound corny as hell”. That’s not what happens here though. Not at all.
Elis Regina and her band effortlessly executed Brazilian styles and other latin feels in a way that only a native Brazilian band could — but on top of that, they could also lay down a relentless funk groove, rock riff, or tender pop ballad just as good, or better than any American band. Nothing about this record sounds artificial or “hackey”. Again the key word here is authenticity — across the board. It is so rare for me to hear a band that can sound so genuinely authentic while switching between genres such as these.
I am reminded of a “joke playlist” I made called Swing Where It Shouldn’t Be. In it, are examples of well-intentioned attempts to insert a “jazz” or “swing” section into a rock song for effect, but ultimately does not land. Hey, Neil Peart, your drumming for Rush is legendary; did you really need to crowbar 6 bars of solo jazz hi hat into “La Villa Strangiato”? Anyways, I say all this to fully explain the utter shock I experienced from enjoying this successful and creative “blend” of styles.
Obviously, “mixing” genres together is not a new concept. Dizzy Gillespie (one of the first artists to bring latin music into jazz back in the late 1940’s), combined genres in a similar fashion as Elis Regina did: allowing each genre’s sound to exist alongside one another. However, unlike Regina’s work in “Vento de Maio”, early Latin Jazz was rather simplistic in its compositional execution (perhaps necessarily so); pre-existing jazz song-forms remained unchanged, while the “new Latin sound” was simply “sprinkled atop”, like a new foreign spice.
Later, starting from the mid 1960’s throughout the 70’s & 80’s, bands such as Weather Report, Return to Forever, and Mahivishnu Orchestra, helped usher in a monumental wave of “genre mixing” into an entirely new genre of its own: Fusion. Here, Latin music was used almost as the “glue” in connecting Jazz & Rock. However, the final product was something that did not resemble any of the genres individually — and this is by design.
I love fusion and I love early latin jazz! It’s not my intention to diminish their merits as genres in favor of this single album — I just have never heard it done like this before. It feels like another level.
“Vento de Maio” Album Highlights
The song structures are so brilliant in this album. A quick example: the opening, self-titled track uses a form that comes off as very “sectional” without being disjointed; rather, it serves to highlight the various styles and instruments at play. There’s a constant trade-off of solos and features, starting with the opening acoustic guitar pattern, onto the the subtle layering of soft synth patches and light auxiliary percussion during Regina’s spacey vocal intro, all leading to an almost 80s glam rock-esque syncopated tom-tom fill into the samba chorus. I think this element of unpredictability within the individual songs contributes to the overall “flow” of the album. I also thought the sequence and balance between slow, fast, and medium tempos was perfect start to finish. That is important to me as a listener.
Another nice touch to this album was the mixing and careful panning of instruments into stereo sound; it was a treat to listen to this with headphones. The resulting sound is this cool “stage” effect, which makes the listener feel as though they are right there listening in the audience. I usually prefer mono recordings over stereo if I am listening with headphones (because hard-panned, lazy L/R stereo mixes make me dizzy), but this was done very tastefully, highlighting the various sounds and textures in the ensemble.
Elis Regina
I would be remiss to not give particular attention to Elis Regina, as her impassioned vocals were the feature ingredient in this outstanding record. Her ability to convey so many emotions was fueled by her vocal and dynamic range, as well as her uncanny ability to add (on command) a scratchy quality to her otherwise clean vocal tone.
In addition to her notoriety as a singer, Elis Regina was also very vocal in politics, speaking out against various injustices happening amongst citizens in Brazil as well as corruption in the government specifically. This was incredibly brave considering that during this time, Brazil was under reign of a notorious military dictatorship. From Wikipedia:
“…[Elis Regina] sometimes criticized the Brazilian dictatorship which had persecuted and exiled many musicians of her generation. In a 1969 interview in Europe, she said that Brazil was being run by “gorillas”. Her popularity kept her out of jail…”
Tragically, Regina’s life was cut short due to an accidental drug overdose in 1982, combining cocaine with alcohol, and sleeping meds. From what I have read, she was an incredibly influential figure with limitless artistic and humanitarian potential. I will definitely be listening to more of her music.
TRACK HIGHLIGHTS
- FUNKY!!!!!! Adventurous arrangement. Excellent bassline
- Latin sections feature this intoxicating sort of “uneven 16ths note” rhythm on shaker (maybe “shekere” )— I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE ABLE TO PULL OFF THIS FEEL
Yacht rock-ish, but better. Sexy intro to a sexy tune— ominous bass guitar harmonics, backed by light bongos, into a sudden marimba swell — Are you kidding me? Doesn’t get any smoother than this, baby
Aprendendo Jogar / Learning To Play
- Killer ostinato!!! Those stabs too.
- The end sounds suspiciously similar to “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N Roses (which came out 9 years after this album)…….. I’m looking in your direction, Axl Rose….
Would I Listen to this Album Again?
Yes!
Bonus Album Recommendation:
Trying to find an artist or album that is directly comparable to “Vento de Maio” by Elis Regina was not possible for me. However, I was reminded of this fantastic album because of the infusion of world-rhythms, hand drums, and other exotic musical elements into Sam Beam’s ever-changing folk universe. I love how Beam continues to explore the possibilities of what his music can be. It doesn’t seem like he’s trying to fit in any one box for too long, and I respect that.
Songs where this latin/world music fusion is audible:
“Lovesong of the Buzzard”, “Innocent Bones”, “Boy With A Coin”, “Wolves (Song of the Shepherd’s Dog)”, “Peace Beneath the City”, “White Tooth Man”
Other standout tracks:
“Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car”, “Flightless Bird, American Mouth”, “The Devil Never Sleeps”, “Carousel”
Next Album on the Docket from the Book: “1,001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die”:
