After spending the second half of the 1970s living far away from the Brazilian dictatorship in the USA, musician Marcos Valle wanted to see his people again. The title of his 1981 album »Vontade de Rever Você« makes that clear. It was a comeback in the truest sense of the word. For his first album in seven years, he not only brought back several artistic impressions, but also some musicians from Los Angeles. Among them was Chicago singer and bassist Peter Cetera, who contributed with his instrument. It’d be easy to package the result as a yacht-rock version of Marcos Valle’s bossa nova. And that wouldn’t be entirely wrong. Brazilian artists like multi-instrumentalist Robson Jorge and keyboardist José Roberto Bertrami from the fusion band Azymuth, on the other hand, provide the desired funk elements. What’s great about Valle’s eighties début is that it’s not just gnarly, but also has a desire for softness, a balance between Latin American lightness and polished US fusion. Steely Dan couldn’t have done it any better. Marcos Valle, by his own admission, has been listening to them a lot and with pleasure since the seventies. It’s quite likely that they’ve left their mark on this album as well. This may not be the same style that made Valle big in the sixties and seventies, but it’s still great. It’s a Valle that you want to hear time and time again.
Various Artists
Midnight In Tokyo Vol.4
Studio Mule