CON ALMA 26: Caixa Cubo
15 March, 2021São Paulo’s seasoned keys trio Caixa Cubo are proving to be, in the fashion of samba doido forebearers Azymuth, Brazil’s latest à la mode export, having been lauded by leading platforms such as BBC6 and Worldwide FM. Less than a year since we premièred their seventh studio album Angela, the trio’s insouciant jazz-funk has been reissued by London’s Heavenly Recordings. The label, whose delectably diverse roster includes offbeat indie delights Baxter Dury and H. Hawkline as well as raucous Madrileño rockers The Parrots and Dutch quartet Pip Blom, released their first Latin American LP last Friday.
Ahead of the vinyl release – an orange limited edition of which is already sold-out – I caught up with the trio for our latest instalment of Under The Influence. Now, they’ve shared further influences via a Con Alma Mixtape.
“It has always been a challenge to fit Caixa Cubo into a specific musical genre. Coming from São Paulo, a city with an amazing cultural diversity, and having travelled through several countries, our musical influences transcend Brazilian music or a specific genre. In this playlist, we chose to present some remarkable Brazilian electric grooves from the 70’s by João Donato, Azymuth, Johny Alf and others, as well as more rudimentary acoustic tracks such as Canto dos Escravos and Sambrasa. Among the international artists, one could not miss here are Ahmad Jamal, Jamiroquai and, representing newer releases, the excellent Kaidi Tatham.”
Tracklisting
Jards Macalé – Farinha do Desprezo
João Donato – Chorou Chorou
O Canto dos Escravos – Canto II
Jamiroquai – Manifest Destiny
Dom Salvador e a Abolição – Guanabara
Herbie Hancock – 4 AM
Johnny Alf – Sidarta
Sambrasa – Sambrasa
Ahmad Jamal – Blue Moon
Azymuth – Manhã
Kaidi Tatham – Seasoned Clouds
João Donato – Amazonas
Gilberto Gil – Essa é pra tocar no Rádio
Gilberto Gil – Toda menina Baiana
Egberto Gismonti – Baião do Acordar
The Con Alma series is a mug of hot coffee served on Monday mornings, to start your week off right. An hour of musical soul food, downtempo undulations and freshly-squeezed groovers that’s good for the heart, mind and body. Although the series’ name is taken from Dizzy Gillespie’s Latin standard, don’t expect an hour of frenetic bebop – this is gentle introspection, warm sunrises, shower sing-a-longs… always with plenty of soul.
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