AOTW: Edu Lobo - SERGIO MENDES PRESENTS LOBO (SP-3035)

[Captain Bacardi]

Edu Lobo
SERGIO MENDES PRESENTS LOBO
A&M SP-3035

Released 1970

Format: Vinyl/8-Track/CD

Produced by Sergio Mendes

Songs:

• 1. Zanzibar (Edu Lobo) - 4:04
  2. Ponteio (Edu Lobo/Jose Carlos Capinan) - 3:02
  3. Even Now (Edu Lobo/Paula Stone/Lani Hall) - 2:11
  4. Crystal Illusions (Edu Lobo/J. Guarnieri/Lani Hall) - 6:10
  5. Casa Forte (Edu Lobo) - 3:37
  6. Jangada (Edu Lobo/Jose Carlos Capinan) - 2:23
  7. Sharp Tongue (Hermeto Pascoal) - 2:15
  8. To Say Goodbye (Edu Lobo/Torquato Neto/Lani Hall) - 4:41
  9. Hey Jude (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) - 4:14
  
  Arranged by Edu Lobo, Hermeto Pascoal and Sergio Mendes

Musicians:
Edu Lobo - Guitar, Vocal, Conductor
Hermeto Pascoal - Flute, Piano, Electric Piano
Oscar Castro-Neves - Acoustic 12-string Guitar, Acoustic Nylon-string Guitar
Sebastião Neto - Bass
Claudio Slon - Drums, Percussion
Airto Moreira - Percussion
Gracinha Leporace - Vocals (5, 7)
Norman Herzberg - Bassoon (9)
Cello - Ron Cooper, Ray Kramer, Kurt Reher, Eleanor Slatkin

Recorded July 1970 at Kendun Recorders, Burbank, California; A&M Studios, Hollywood; Sergio Mendes home studio, Encino, California

Cover Photograph by Guy Webster
Inside Cover Photograph by Jim McCrary
Art Direction by Roland Young
Liner Notes by Leonard Feather



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Captain Bacardi]

This is the album that really hooked me onto Brazilian music. There's not a bad song on here - I even like Lobo's version of "Hey Jude". But the real highlights are "Zanzibar", "Crystal Illusions", "Jangada" and "Casa Forte". The rhythm section is solid on all tracks. Definitely one of my desert island discs!



Capt. Bacardi

 

[A&Mguyfromwayback]

I didn't know this album until recently......I liked it then, but was a little removed. However, it keeps growing on me - nice renditions of these songs.......

 

[Harry]

This was one my earlier A&M Corner discoveries as I began to branch out from just Herb, Sergio, and Carpenters. Our early discussions on the album made me want to seek it out - especially with the "Sergio Mendes Presents" in the title.

And boy was I happy once I heard it. As I recall, Paula sent me copy on a cassette tape. I can recall listening to it as I was eating dinner, and I remember the joy of hearing not only familiar songs, but the familiar voice of Gracinha on a couple of tracks! This was good stuff.

I was thrilled to find the album on CD from Japan, and even more thrilled when Verve By Request issued it in their series of A&M Reissues, with it's cool retro-ochre label.

Harry

 

[audiofile]

What a great album. Edu delivers a gem here. I'm convinced Edu Lobo does not know how to write a bad tune.

Did he record any other albums for A&M during this time period?

 

[A&Mguyfromwayback]

How much recording has he done at all?? Does anyone know?

 

[Rudy]

A&Mguy: he's actually done a lot more than you'd think. I didn't think he had done much either, but while looking on the All Music Guide, I found he actually had quite a string of albums. Nothing like the quantity Jobim put out, but still pretty good. If I get some time later this evening, I'll clue you in on a couple of others.

BTW, our member "JO" raved about the first Edu Lobo album which features Tamba Trio. He's right--it's excellent! There is one he does on solo acoustic guitar, "Zambi", and given his mastery of the guitar and voice at that age (he was 21 when it was released), you would never guess it was from a debut album! I like some of the songs on this SM Presents album as well--the cover of "Hey Jude" just seems out of place, but I was like you on this one: first few listens when I bought it, I didn't really give it too much attention. This summer, it really clicked and I really like most of the tracks on this one.

His "Personalidade" compilation on Verve is excellent, too: has a few tracks from the debut, and other tracks over the years you've probably heard. Including "Little Train of Caipira" which Herb and crew covered on the "Brass Are Comin" album, and a few recognizable songs from Sergio's catalog.

 

[Rudy]

Here's Edu's discography on All Music Guide: http://j.mp/4lufZy

I counted 26 original albums, and maybe 10-12 compilations. I've heard only a handful, but everything I've heard of his has been very good.

Interesting, too: at the Herb Alpert/Lani Hall concert this evening, the band threw several bars of "Zanzibar" into the instrumental break of one of Lani's songs from Brasil Nativo.

 

[Harry]

Interesting, too: at the Herb Alpert/Lani Hall concert this evening, the band threw several bars of "Zanzibar" into the instrumental break of one of Lani's songs from Brasil Nativo.

It was likely "Viola Fora de Moda/Zanzibar". They did that in Philly too, and I was thrilled to hear a representation from that album. And since Michael Shapiro was the drummer on that album, it was surely familiar material!

Harry

 

[Rudy]

Yep, that was the song.

I'd indirectly heard Mike on the drums before (he's very active in the L.A. music scene), but it's amazing the number of colors he can get out of a set of drums and limited percussion.

Next thing you know, he'll be beating his chest!

 

[seashorepiano]

I'm in the minority on this. I've tried more than once to like this album over a span of at least five years. Little success. I like "Ponteio," but that's about it. There's a certain ruggedness to his music and style that I just can't appreciate, maybe because I like the heavier jazz side to Brazilian artists like Tamba Trio. 2 stars.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I'm in pretty much the same boat as seashore on this one. I love "Ponteio" and a few of the other songs are pretty good, but I don't reallylike "Hey Jude" and I prefer Sergio Mendes' versions of the songs he recorded. I need to be in the right kind of mood to listen to this album.

That said, it's been a while since I've spun it, so maybe I'll give it another shot tonight.

 

[Dave]

Edu's version of "Crystal Illusions" is more earthy than the Sergio Mendes version... Without all that bodacious, instrumentation, but at least mellifluously done, it's a lot easier to hear, although I still prefer Paul Desmond's version the most...

"Hey Jude" works a lot better than one would think... I think it gets done in a fairly pop-friendly manner Sergio Mendes would do and it's interesting to think how maybe if Mendes had covered it, how it would sound...

More rootsy versions of "Ponteio" and "Zanzibar" can be found here and I enjoy the still-spacious quality while not as over-the-top as Walter Wanderley and Sergio Mendes have done of these two songs, respectively...

The same can be said of "Casa Forte" and "To Say Goodbye", although JJ & K rock out with it, making the former justifiably more experimental while on the latter, Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 can carry it out in a cohesive manner, making it one of the more worthy tracks on their watery, almost-psychedelic Crystal Illusions album...

In all, Edu Lobo characterizes his album is a very focused and fruitful manner, with help from Sergio Mendes in reaping his own harvest, after seeing other versions of his songs by other artists help him attain growth... Very much Brasilian jazz, which like artists such as Airto Moriera, Milton Nascimento and Flora Purim, with more of a world beat...



Dave