Spotlight: Lani Hall - A BRAZILEIRA (SP-020105)

[Captain Bacardi]

Lani Hall
A BRAZILEIRA
A&M SP-020105 (170.063)

Released 1981

Format: Vinyl/Cassette

Produção: Aloysio do Oliveira
Co-Produção: Lani Hall
Assistente de Produção: Ron Stone
Arranjos e Regéncia: Oscar Castro Neves

Songs:

• 1. Minha (Francis Hime/Ruy Guerra) - 3:21
  2. Era Uma Vez Um Caso (Edu Lobo/Cacaso) - 3:24
  3. Clareana (Mauricio Maestro/Joyce de Jesus) - 3:31
  4. Trocando Em Miudos (Frozen Memories) (Francis Hime/Chico Buarque/Eng.: Lani Hall) - 3:28
  5. Casa Forte (Edu Lobo) - 2:26
  6. O Samba Da Minha Terra (Dorival Caymmi) - 2:51
  7. Para-Raio (Djavan) - 3:03
  8. Lamento (Pixinguinha/Vinicius de Morais) - 3:24
  9. Olha Maria (Antonio Carlos Jobim/Chico Buarque) - 4:21
  10. Eu E A Brisa (I Want To Stay) (Johnny Alf) - 4:36
  11. Abre Alas (Ivan Lins/Vitor Martins) - 3:38

Musicians:
Lani Hall - Vocals, Percussão
Oscar Castro Neves - Violão, Cavaquinho, Teclados, Percussão
Neil Larsen - Teclados
Don Grusin - Teclados
Abraham Laboriel - Biaxo Elétrico
Chuck Domanico - Baixo Acustico
Vince Colaiuto - Bateria
Laudir Oliveira - Percussão
Glen Garret - Flauta, Flautim, Oboe
John Mitchell - Flauta, Oboe, Corno Ingles
Phil Ayling - Flauta, Clarinete
Barbara Korn - Trompa
Gerald Vinci - Violino [spala]
Raymond Kelley - Violoncelo
Alan Harshman - Violino
Assa Drop - Viola

Gravado Nos Estudios Da A&M Records, Hollywood, California
Tecnico De Gravação: Steve Katz
Assistente: Benny Faccone
Mixagem: A&M
Tecnico De Mixagem: Steve Katz
Manager de Lani Hall: Ron Stone
Foto: Neil Reichline
Layout: Norman Moore/Designart Inc.

Special thanks to Sergio Mendes for changing the course of my life, and for introducing me to the beautiful sounds of Brasil. Thank you Aloysio de Oliveira (Luie) for making this album a reality, and to Oscar Castro Neves for his unique talent. The music of Brasil has entered my heart and sings through my soul.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Rudy]

If there is any one Lani Hall album I'd vote to release first, it would be this one. It never even had a proper LP release: in addition to being in limited release, the few I know who have owned it have had bad, noisy pressings.

I voted for the show stopper (IMHO) on this album: "Frozen Memories." "Casa Forte" is an honorable mention, as it's one of my favorite Edu Lobo tunes. Plenty of good songs on here!

 

[pdxet2]

I recently discovered this recording and concurr with Rudy -- nary a bad tune in the bunch ... the vocal nuances are just right ... my two faves are "O Samba Da Minha Terra" and "Para-Raio."

 

[Harry]

The album that gave me angst - and then joy.

Back in the early days of A&M Corner, discussions of Lani Hall sometimes led to mention of this mysterious, never-released-in-the-US release called A BRAZILEIRA. My recollection is that our Steve S. first surfaced with a copy to at least confirm its existence.

Then our Paula unearthed a copy and blessed me with a cassette dub. It was noisy - full of pits and bumps according to Paula, yet the record looked as clean as a whistle. But when it was looked at closely, tiny imperfections in the vinyl caused it to sound like an old record that had been mistreated.

I loved the album - even that old cassette dub. Paula spent good money to have a professional clean it up - and then I got a dub of that version. It was now nice and clean-sounding, but this *engineer* either only did one channel, or he mono-ed the whole thing out, claiming it was basically a mono recording anyway.

To my ears, the old cassette dub sounded like it had plenty of stereo information - I think this guy just didn't want to clean up two channels worth of all the pops and clicks.

About a year or so later, I finally tracked a copy down on eBay - and that was full of angst. Bidding against another stubborn bidder (one of our own members!), I ended up buying it for around $120. It was a matter of principle - I HAD to own the vinyl.

Joyously I opened up the mail that day to find a pristine looking copy of A BRAZILEIRA. But a playing on the turntable revealed the same defective pressing we'd heard before. This one sounded a tiny bit less defective perhaps than Paula's copy, so with a little halp from my friends and a little magic in Sound Forge, I've now got a decent CD-R copy to listen to.

I still see copies on eBay now and then, selling for hundreds of dollars. The thing is still a rare commodity, released only in Brazil and perhaps the Phillipines (I'm not sure about that, but I have seen a few listings for such a thing.) My curiosity would be if the Phillipines version might be a better physical pressing.

But, we've heard from Herb and Lani on the tour that her stuff would eventually see the light of day on CD, so perhaps this will finally get a true digital release. My vote is for sooner rather than later, but my copy will keep me patient.

I have to agree with new member pdxet2. "O Samba da Minha Terra" and "Para-raio" are my favorites, but really the whole album is a joy.

Harry

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I haven't listened to this in a while but I was always partial to the last song, "Abre Alas." "Casa Forte" is a keeper too. Need to listen to this one again, but I think I'll wait for summer -- it's more of a warm weather album for me, for some reason.

 

[Rudy]

This album does a number on me: at first it really doesn't seem that special, but then...it gets under your skin after you've listened to it a few times, and you can't stop thinking about it. I find that's the case with a lot of the Brazilian albums I've heard over the years. I think it's a lot of dense musical information to absorb all at once. Like a jigsaw puzzle. That initial pile of loose puzzle pieces is overwhelming at first, but once you work into them, all the pieces fit together and it all makes sense.

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I had the same experience that most everyone else had. I had never heard of this album until I became a part of this forum many, many years ago. And even then, I kept thinking it was just a compilation of her earlier stuff released in the Latin market. Good thing I was wrong!

I also had a Rice Krispie version of this LP (snap, crackle, pop), but did a pretty decent cleanup for a CD-R. There's a lot of goodies here. My favorite track is "O Samba Da Minha Terra", followed by "Para-Raio" and "Casa Forte". It's a shame that more people haven't heard this album, especially any Brasil '66 fans. I would also hope that this gets a CD reissue. It's very deserving of one.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Rudy]

If I had to draw a parallel: A Brazileira is to Lani Hall as Fandango is to Herb Alpert. Both were originally famous for the sounds of the countries they represented on record (Brasil '66 and Tijuana Brass); both of these albums present a more modern take on those countries' music. And IMHO, both are among the best of each of their recordings.

 

[Jojo Bailon]

Hello from Manila!

Just wanted to share that I recently picked up a cassette tape (sealed) and vinyl of "A Brazileira" made in the Philippines. Cheers!

 

[B4inSF]

Oh this is Lani Hall at her best!
I have digitized all of her Lps and I keep waiting for this one to be officially released, with bonus tracks of course!!!!