Nunca Tarde – a round-up of recent new albums (Marcos Valle, Nomade Orquestra, Twanguero, Laíz & The New Love Experience, Quito Ribeiro and more)

It’s a golden October thus far in the byways of southwest-central France, despite the ominous cloud of the American elections looming on the western horizon. Best not to think of that right now. Far, far better to read about and listen to some wonderful new sounds courtesy of the creative endeavours of Latin musicians the world over.

Laíz & The New Love Experience: Ela Partíu (Agogo Records)

It’s already nearly a month since this one came out, which probably explains why I have been listening to it so much of late. I’m not normally a fan of rapping, but this is intelligent, musical, jazzy and non-threatening. Despite her belief that the Brazilian system is “one of the most brutal and structurally racist… in the world”, and despite leaving her São Paulo home at just 14 for the U.S. and thence Germany, the 24-year-old singer/rapper doesn’t spit and snarl, she intones. And what makes this so special, in my book at least, are the compelling but often laid-back grooves, the supporting cast – with the likes of Jembaa Groove’s Eric Owusu and the marvellous, atmospheric trumpet of Daniel “El Congo” Allen – and the African rhythms and backing vocals. The 14 tracks give you room to breathe and lose yourself in music that seduces and hypnotises.

Ayom: Sa.Li.Va (Ayom/Believe)

I’m positively salivating about this one [Oh, give it a rest! Ed.]. Right from the opening strains of first song, “Oxalá, promessa do migrante”, you know at once that you’re not going to be disappointed. The combination of Brazilian vocalist Jabu Morales, Italian accordionist Alberto Becucci, the acoustic guitar redolent of Cape Verde, the sinuous percussion and range of Afro-Brazilian styles and rhythms is still a winning one – just like their self-titled debut four years ago, in fact, which garnered a Songlines award in 2021. On their sophomore release, the core sextet is joined by a modest array of guests like the Angolan semba singer Paulo Flores and the Brazilian vocalist, Juliana Linhares. Based between Lisbon, Barcelona and Florence, their influences are as diverse as their whereabouts, and although some subtle electronics have been added and the album was produced by Guilherme Kastrup, whose distinctive style helped Elza Soares win a Grammy for her splendid Mulher do Fim do Mundo, nothing much has really changed. And I’m quite glad of that.

Ittetsu Naruda: Tailwind (self-released)

What, you might wonder, does a Japanese jazz pianist, born in Tokyo and trained at Berklee, have to do with a Latin American site like this? The answer is: quite a lot. He has played with eminent Latin trombonist Jimmy Bosch and other big-hitters, and his first album puts a delicious Japanese twist on the Afro-Cuban jazz genre. Recorded with (sensuou) vibraphone, bass, drums and percussion (courtesy of fellow countryman, Takafumi Nikaido), these dozen numbers are compelling and classy. Highly recommended to anyone, like me, who loves the combination of piano and vibes in a small Latin jazz combo.

Carlos Mena: Con Personas (Pinch Recording)

And while on a jazz kick… This is the first album by a Venezuelan multi-instrumentalist, who found his instrumental bliss in the acoustic and electric bass. Based now in New York, Mena comes from a family of musicians and began playing percussion professionally at age 7. The album took a long time coming – it was first conceived in 2021 – which is surprising given that it’s a piano–trio recording, perhaps the most classic jazz format. However, this is far from straight-ahead stuff, given the mix of jazz, classical and indigenous Ecuadorian music (evident particularly in the closer, “Vuela”). It works particularly well on this title track in which the trio work beautifully in synch together. Mena is clearly a fine bass player with some very interesting ideas and it’s no accident that he has played with Arturo O’Farrill in the pianist’s Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.

Marcos Valle: Túnel Acustico (Far Out Recordings)

A new release by Marcos Valle is a cause for celebration. I don’t rate it quite as highly as his previous album: Sempre was more dance-orientated, which was just fine by me, but one has to remember that he has now celebrated 81 years, so you have to cut the old groover a little slack. There’s nevertheless plenty to like and it’s certainly more varied than its predecessor. There’s a tribute to that other great tunesmith, Burt Bacharach; Joyce Moreno contributes lyrics to the delicious current single, “Bora Meu Bem”; there’s the Anglophone collaboration with Leon Ware, the heavy-breathing “Feels So Good”; the title track is another of those ear-worms like, say, “Não Tem Nada Não“, that get etched into your printed-circuit-board; there’s a re-working of the song he co-wrote for Chicago, “Life Is What It Is” – and loads more.  

Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco: Celia & Johnny (Craft Latino )

Featuring the kind of kitsch cover that you’d willingly die for, this is the latest treasure to be resurrected by Craft Latino from Fania’s vaults (somewhere, one imagines, in the Bronx). The album also features the splendid “Toro Mata” and the immortal “Quimbara”, which finds the Cuban diva singing with such poise and lack of histrionics that you wonder whether it could just be her finest performance on record. But then, as her Dominican bandleader and label co-founder suggested, “Celia sounded good with a stick banging against a can. She didn’t need all those instruments.” Well, maybe, but I for one prefer to listen to her with the kind of fluid, brassy and percussive accompaniment she receives throughout all 10 numbers on this essential re-issue.

Nomade Orquestra: Terceiro Mundo (Nublu Records)

The 10-piece outfit from São Paulo is one of those bands I feel rather blessed to have been able to follow since their eponymous debut in 2016 for Far Out Recordings. They stayed with the label for the sophomore Entremundos and the opening of their fifth album makes a sly reference to it as if telling us that the current release picks up the pieces from 2017. Between then and now, Vox Populi Vol. 1 was a vocal diversion, while 2022’s Na Terra Das Primaveras was more of a reggae half-sister. So Terceiro Mundo means not only the third world, but also in a sense a third outing. As such, it sounds like the artistic culmination of those first two impressive blends of funk and big-band spiritual jazz. Recorded live in the studio, there’s barely a note out of place. All eight numbers work beautifully in their own different ways, from the reggae-inflected “Mariposa Tigre” to the funky homage to the sun (so I’m told) on the wonderfully dense and inventive “O Nascimento do Sol Invencível”. As the band suggests, “This [album] is about ‘the groove’ with strong influences from funk and soul music, powerful brass sections, [and] sound spices from different places and cultures.” You better believe it!

Twanguero: Panamericana (Cosmica Artists)

It seems like LA-based Spanish guitarist Diego Garcia and band have been featured so often in singles round-ups that it’s almost redundant to flag up the album. But I shall because their seventh album is a very enjoyable affair and well worth a listen. The 10 predominantly instrumental tracks, laid down by a combo of guitar, bass, drums and percussion (and here with a bit of Hawaiian pedal steel guitar thrown in for good measure), illustrate the album title with style and verve. Guitar Player magazine has labelled Señor Garcia “Spain’s King of Twang”. May he twang on into the sunset and deliver further helpings.

Manu Chao: Viva Tu (Because Music)

Here’s some more Panamericana now, from the past-master of music without borders. Anyone like me who was rather disappointed with La Radiolina, the follow-up to his marvellous debut, Clandestino, will not be disappointed this time. The citizen of the world runs the customary eclectic gamut from the rumba of the title track to the reggae of “Lonely Night” via the duet with Willie Nelson on “Heaven’s Bad Day”. “World folk music” is probably as good a category as any under which to file this unclassifiable musician’s unclassifiable music.

Piper Street Sound: Small Plate/Rid Them Remixes (Piper Street Sound)

Talking of reggae… These re-mix albums get me so mixed up sometimes that I do daft things like key in “Piper Sound” on YouTube, only to be surprised to see a Scottish piper in full ceremonial against a background of the Scottish Highlands. Well, Piper Street Sound has nothing to do with bagpipes, I can assure you. It’s the nom de turntable of one Matt Mansfield, former label manager of ZZK Records. The original Small Plate/Rid Them EP came out in 2020 and featured among others, Addis Pablo, son of the legendary melodica maestro and household god, Augustus. The remix album focuses on the more reggae-centric material like this number, featuring the Jamaican dancehall artist, General Pecos. There are others, though, that put a more Latin American slant on things, such as the remix by Biomigrant, a fascinating character who cycled from the US to Colombia in order to study Afro-Latin Folkloric music.

La Sonora Mazurén: Magnetismo Animal (Barbés Records)

Shades of Meridian Brothers now, which is not so surprising given that Eblis Alvarez produced this Colombian outfit’s first album, Bailando Con Extraños. Their follow-up is a thrilling blend of various regional genres all wrapped up in an electric blanket of tropical psychedelia. Electric guitars and synthesisers frolic with accordion and other traditional instruments to create something dynamic and individual that reflects the indie-tropical scene of today’s Colombia. It’s interesting but not that unexpected to learn that La Sonora Mazurén is made up partly of members of La Perla and the splendid Romperayo. What is surprising to learn is that the album was recorded in Normandy, France.

Quito Ribeiro: Umguerrê (ybmusic)

Back to Brazil once more for a lovely album by a singer-songwriter born in Salvador and transposed to Rio in 1990. The name is a new one to me, but his contributors are rather more familiar: it’s produced and supported musically by the increasingly ubiquitous Domenico Lancellotti (in conjunction with Pedro Sá) with help from the likes of Moreno Veloso, Ricardo Dias Gomes and Dora Morelenbaum. Given my very limited Portuguese, all I can unequivocally tell you is that this is his sophomore album, coming 15 years after his debut, Uma Coisa Só. It seems, however, that his songs have been picked up by such luminaries as Lucas Santtana, Caetano Veloso, Daniela Mercury, Gal Costa and more. Correct me if my foreign-language skills are way off, but meanwhile take a keen listen to this fine new release.

Rodrigo Campos: Pode Ser Outra Beleza (self-released?)

And finally… Something in a not too dissimilar vein from the singer-songwriter, producer and cavaquinho/guitar player who garnered the Revelation Artist gong at the 2013 Brazilian Music Awards. Another collaborator (with such artists as Juçara Marçal, Elza Soares and Criolo), he started playing cavaquinho and percussion in the samba circuit in and around São Mateus (on the outskirts of São Paulo), where he grew up. Since then, he has released several albums prior to this new one, a delightful minimalist affair of voice plus solo guitar.

That’s it, pack it up! as Mony Love once sang. I’ve had my Man from Manhattan here on his first visit for a decade and we’ve done nothing but natter for a week, so work and to-dos have fallen by the wayside. Just time to remind you that Reanimación by ¿Quiensave? with El Dusty is out now, and to confess that a notification that Luzmila Carpio’s Inti Watana: El Retorno del Sol has been put forward for a Grammy award reminded me that I completely forgot to give it the love it thoroughly deserved when it came out last year. Well, I suppose that’s the spirit of this column: better late than never. Nevertheless, in a sorry attempt to make amends, I leave you with the title track from the Bolivian singer’s righteous album. Until the merry month of November…

(Thanks to Caroline Bittencourt for use of the cover photo of Quito Ribeiro)

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