Search - Tim Maia :: Soul of Brazil

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Eddie Landsberg | Tokyo, Japan | 08/10/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Tim Maia was an iconic Brazilian soul singer who (sadly) passed away in 1998 in his mid 50's - - While he got quite funky in the '70s (like so many of his compatriots) a strong point of his artistry was his unwillingness to get cornered into performing in one particular style... hence, even though he may not be a household name outside Brazil, the fact was his music never became irrelevant... In fact, this in particular makes this CD so interesting... though his energetic performance style and the fantastic production style is always consistent, the tracks do NOT all sound the same... each track has some great twist or surprise and is worth a listen.



On this CD we hear a wide variety of styles.

Tunes range from funky '70s disco... soul samba... mainstream Northern Soul... and a whole hybrid of genres (sometimes lumped together here in Japan as "free soul")... Of course, many tunes are sung in his native Portuguese, and while I haven't the faintest idea what he's singing about, its hard not to appreciate his distinctly Brazillian, always groovy yet inspired breed of '70s soul...



Sadly, he's no longer with us... but as tracks of his (especially Reu Confesso) show up on various compilations, his name will continue to grow in popularity... and if you dig Brazillian Funk and Soul, this is definitely a good place to start discovering a true great.



note: If you like his funkier rare groove stuff, check out his self titled album from 1977, also available on Amazon.



Incidentally, this is one CD that saves the best for last... one of my favorite tracks is the possibly tongue in cheek THESE ARE THE SONGS, a soulful duet with Elis Regina featuring some really nice organ and guitar (Elis Regina was a superstar vocalist who also recorded with Jobim and who's LPs will probably be of interest to fans of more orthodox Bossa Nova.) - - In contrast the funky CHIC like "O Descobridor Dos Sete Mares" officer some great booty shaking late '70s disco soul that definitely has it on the heavy rotation list on my player !"