Search - Milton Nascimento :: Oratorio

SHAME ON YOU, MILTON!

Jean-Jacques Rossatti | BRAZIL | 10/15/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"BUYERS, BEWARE - this set contains the some of the worst stuff recorded by the wonderful Mlton Nascimento. Here's a brief descrition of the material:disc 1) COURAGE: verve session recorded on december 19/1968 and february 26-27/1969, featuring Herbie Hancock, João Palma and Airto, plus arrengements and regency by Deodato. Great session, great tunes, wonderful renditions of 'Canção do Sal'and 'Morro Velho'. Wonderful cover as well. This album is actually Milton's second release.disc 2) MILTON: absolutely wonderful session (1976), one of the best in Milton's career. Featuring Milton's best bass player - Novelli - Toninho Horta, Robertinho Silva, Airto, Raul de Souza plus very special participations by both mrs. Hancock and Shorter. Originally released only in the U.S., the highlights are 'Raça', 'Cravo e canela' (from 'CLUBE DA ESQUINA') with Mr. Hancock's superb participation on piano and 'Saídas e bandeiras', featuring great soprano work by Mr. Shorter. Amazing session, being the only fault some renditions of great songs in english.disc 3) JOURNEY TO DAWN: also intended for the U.S. market, recorded in 1979, this album shows the beginning of Milton's decline. Practically the same line-up from the previous disc, this album is sung almost in english. Very few good moments.disc 4) SENTINELA: Milton's last good work. Synthesizers taking over - 1980! The political moment in Brazil, with increasing popular pression against the dictatorship yielded HORRIBLE art. After all those wonderful songs composed by peolple such as Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque and Milton's partners (BRANDT, BORGES, BASTOS etc.), this generation lost the rebelliouness that kept them going - they sort of became yuppies, and the music clearly shows that.Discs 5-9: MISSA DOS QUILOMBOS (1982), an interesting political-ecclesiestical project on behalf of the black population of Brazil, although a bit too much drenched in the 'theology of liberation', a strong ecclesiestical trend at the time, of marxist inclination; ANIMA (1982), dreadful; AO VIVO (1983), horrendous; ENCONTROS E DESPEDIDAS (1985), probably Milton's worst album and finally A BARCA DOS AMANTES, recorded live in São Paulo in 1986. This last one is sort of listeneable, and features once again mr. Shorter on soprano.BOTTOMLINE - what an appropriate word! - the first 3 cds were once worth buying the whole set, but since polygram had them released separately later on this set does not really make any more sense."

Not shameful, just searching for a new sound

Dean Monti | 06/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I need to offset the negative review below by adding some of my own thoughts on this collection. While not essential Milton, nor the place to start listening to his music, it is by no means shameful music!



Disc 3)JOURNEY TO DAWN. Milton was beginning to have an American following and this AM recording reflects some of those American-tinged influences; to wit, the "overproduced" sound that has bothered some. But this is still a fine album, which gets better with repeated listenings. If side 1 is overproduced, side 2 settles into a nice, more acoustic feeling. The album features great drumming by Robertinho Silva, keyboards by Hugo Fattoruso, and ends with a nice vocal/percussion duet with Nana Vasconcelos. It's hardly the beginning of a "decline," rather it's an attempt, with mixed results to reach a broader audience.



DISC 4) SENTINELA. A classic recording with a very rich sound. Great on headphones. Listen to the group Uakti accompany him on several tracks. This has become one of my favorites.



DISC 5) MISSA DOS QUILOMBOS has to be approached as what it is, music and words for a Brazilian Mass. But beyond that, it has some beautiful percussion elements, and great choir singing.



DISC 6) ANIMA. Calling this "dreadful" is simply ridiculous. This album has wonderful vocals, lyrics and instrumentation. It features Tulio Mourao and Wagner Tiso on keyboards, Helio Delmiro and Ricardo Silvera on guitar and also contributions by Uakti. "As Varias Pontas De Uma Estrela" features Milton singing with Caetano Veloso.



DISC 7) AO VIVO. Another wonderful release. Although I prefer Milton's music in small group settings, this one, with orchestration is very good. Gal Costa guests on one track.



DISC 8) ENCONTROS E DESPIDIDAS. Another release geared for American audiences, it features Pat Metheny on guitar. Not as good as some, but I much prefer this to Yauarate, another US release.



DISC 9) A BARCA DOS AMANTES. Maybe not the best live Milton, but it does kick in nicely when Wayne Shorter joins the stage for several numbers.



Whether you like all or some of these, you'll be hard-pressed to find a more diverse group of recordings. I collected these on vinyl during the seventies and eighties as they were released (and hard to find) and I bought Oratorio to have these recordings on CD (this collection is the only place I know where you can get Journey to Dawn on CD).

If you follow Milton's career from start to finish, you'll notice little if any repetition from one album to the next. He's a creative artist who, like Miles Davis, likes to look forward rather than rest on his laurels. This has met with mixed results, but never an album that didn't stretch him, musically and lyrically. Some of these are not my favorite Milton albums, but NONE of these is an embarrassment and all have gems that make them worthwhile to own.





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