Amazonas
Naná Vasconcelos
1973
Why This Album Matters
Amazonas, released in 1973, is a representative work of the initial phase of Naná Vasconcelos' solo career, an artist who would become globally recognised as an authority in percussion. The album emerged during a period when Naná was already consolidating his innovative approach, endowed with an intense curiosity that led him from Villa-Lobos' classical music to Jimi Hendrix's rock. Naná innovated by extracting an unprecedented range of sounds from percussion instruments, his great speciality, and became notable for his talent with the berimbau, an instrument that until then was almost exclusively confined to capoeira. He explored all the potentialities of the berimbau, including superimposing his voice over the sound of the vibrating string to create surprising effects. His style was marked by unusual metrics in jazz, such as rhythms in 5/4 or 7/4, common in the Brazilian Northeast, and by the use of any object that could produce an interesting sound in his compositions.
Context
The release of Amazonas in 1973 occurred at a crucial moment in Naná Vasconcelos' artistic trajectory. After moving to Rio de Janeiro in 1967 and recording with Milton Nascimento, he participated in Quarteto Livre and, in the early 1970s, formed Trio do Bagaço. It was during this period that Argentine saxophonist Gato Barbieri invited him to join his group, boosting Naná's international profile and initiating a long and fruitful career outside Brazil, with performances in New York and Europe, including the Montreux festival.
Rankings
Tracks
Credits
Naná Vasconcelos
Raimundo Fagner
Naná Vasconcelos
Ary Carvalhaes, Luis Cláudio Coutinho
Podcasts
NAGULHA · Nagulha
Episódio comentando o disco Amazonas, de Naná Vasconcelos
Films
Books
Naná Vasconcelos’s Saudades
Daniel B. Sharp · 2021
Este livro traça a história do percussionista afro-brasileiro Naná Vasconcelos, costurando as histórias do jazz, psicodelia, world music, experimentalismo e pós-punk das décadas de 1960 a 1980. Aborda sua trajetória em Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Nova York e Paris, e suas colaborações com músicos como Egberto Gismonti, Don Cherry e Pat Metheny. É uma análise aprofundada de sua obra, cobrindo o período do álbum 'Amazonas'.
300 Important Albums of Brazilian Music
Charles Gavin, Tárik de Souza, Carlos Calado, Arthur Dapieve · 2008
Conceived by Titãs drummer and musical researcher Charles Gavin, the 434-page book brings together covers and reviews of albums released between 1929 and 2007. The texts were written by journalists Tárik de Souza, Arthur Dapieve and Carlos Calado.
Analyses
Notas Musicais: Sai de cena Naná Vasconcelos, percussionista que ...
blognotasmusicais.com.br
O primeiro álbum feito e lançado no Brasil, Amazonas, saiu em 1973 pela gravadora Philips, consolidando o nome de Naná como percussionista hábil na combinação de vozes e batuques.
FLORIANO MARTINS | A Música se chama Naná Vasconcelos
arcagulharevistadecultura.blogspot.com
Frequentávamos a casa de um deles, Ricardo Bezerra, em bairro afastado de Fortaleza, e ali descobri uma capa que me chamou a atenção, do disso Amazonas (1973), que então era considerado seu primeiro disco.
Naná Vasconcelos - Amazonas | TheAudioDB.com
theaudiodb.com
Artist: Naná Vasconcelos, Album: Amazonas, MusicBrainzID: 5204c257-854d-488d-ac91-9906e9a654f7, data, artwork, cover, cdart, spine, back cover
Discogs
Amazonas – Discogs
discogs.com