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The Richest Man in Babylon is the third studio album by American electronic music duo Thievery Corporation. It was first released on September 30, 2002 in Belgium and on October 1, 2002 in the United States by ESL Music. The album features contributions from Emiliana Torrini, LouLou, Pam Bricker, and Notch, and features both electronic and live instrumentation. The album combines influences such as dub, jazz, dance music, rap, reggae, and Indian music, and incorporates protest music into the group's sound. A remix/dub version of the album was released in 2004 titled Babylon Rewound featuring the unreleased track "Truth And Rights". - Wiki

Bottom line: a trip with Thievery is always worth taking, if only because their relaxed musicianship offers a potent counterpart to a culture that is becoming faster and more aggressive by the day. But The Richest Man in Babylon is one of their more intriguing works to date, capably blending vocal theatrics, spritual exploration and subtle songcraft in one sitting. They might not be the Bomb Squad, but they still carve out significant space in a crowded electronica landscape. – Pop Matters

Ancestral Afro-Venezuelan rhythms meet futuristic Latin jazz, raw funk and Afrobeat on Raúl Monsalve y Los Forajidos’ exhilarating new ‘Bichos’ album for Olindo Records. Venezuelan bassist Raúl Monsalve leads an all-star ensemble of musical trailblazers including “the voice of Venezuela” Betsayda Machado, singer Luzmira Zerpa (Family Atlantica) and drummer Dave De Rose (Agile Experiments, Moloko, Mark Ronson).

Raúl Monsalve has dedicated much of his life to understanding and learning traditional Afro-Venezuelan music, and studying under some of its greatest proponents among the percussionists of his home country, whilst at the same time taking as much interest in the sounds emanating from the fearless edges of jazz, rock, African and early electronic music.

With producer/engineer/drummer Malcolm Catto (Heliocentrics, Quantic, Yussef Kamaal) behind the recording and mixing desk, Raul brought together a like-minded cast of friends from Venezuela, Paris and London, to help him create a fresh sound, capturing the essence of both the African and indigenous roots of Venezuelan music, and the forward-looking sounds of afrobeat, gritty Latin jazz and experimental electronic music. ‘Bichos’, Spanish for ‘vermin’, ‘bugs’, ‘beasts’ but also used in Venezuela to refer to someone as a “nasty piece of work”, draws all these strands together. The album uses a variety of animals, such as the mosquito, butterfly, pig, snake, rooster and flea, to represent a wide range of human qualities, like greed, hate, love & compassion, and their impact on Venezuelan and worldwide corruption & division, the strengths of friendship, family, collaboration, rebellion and survival.

“Bichos” is not only a superb introduction to Raúl Monsalve, but also to a swathe of incredible musicians you might still be unfamiliar with. It’s also a brilliant window into the rich musical seam of Venezuelan music, and an excellent look at how it might interconnect with wider musical parallels. - Olindo

The official Mr Bongo reissue! 

A1. Eu Hoje Acordei Com A Luz Do Sol 2:50 / A2. Salamandras 4:44 / A3. Preludio Em Si Bemol Menor 1:50 / A4. Viver 3:15 / A5. Só 3:53 / A6. Sem Nome 3:35 // B1. Primitivo 5:40 / B2. Irracional 3:12 / B3. Papa-Mama 4:27 / B4. Imagem 3:12 / B5. Yélris 1:35

Brazilian arranger and composer Hareton Salvanini was born in Bauru and grew up in Campinas. S.P 73 is his first LP – he worked tirelessly with his right man and brother, Ayrton, was a theatre director. The 'Hareton + Meta' EP was written and recorded for one of Ayrton’s productions – Hareton wrote the music, Ayrton the lyrics – which was given out at performances. – Mr Bongo

Marcos and the other Brazilian luminaries Adrian and Ali hosted for Jazz Is Dead, are able to create an entirely different sound and feel using the exact same palette. 

Throughout the album Marcos sings in his trademark percussive and melodic style (“wa-di-do-bem, ba di da we da bem”), a distinctly Brazilian take on vocalese. Like the sweet and foreign sounds coming out of his mouth, Marcos and the other Brazilian luminaries Adrian and Ali hosted for Jazz Is Dead, are able to create an entirely different sound and feel using the exact same palette. “It was really interesting how we can play the same instruments, listen to the same music and they can still have their distinctly Brazilian flavor that we admire so, so, so much,” Adrian effuses. “And to just hear our influences mix with theirs and to make something brand new is a dream come true.”

– Bandcamp

Palmares Fantasy is the fifth album to be released by British saxophonist Sean Khan under his own name or as the leader of SK Radicals. Like its predecessors, it is a blinder, in touch with the jazz tradition while absorbing influences from beyond it and wearing its political heart on its sleeve. The music is characteristic of Khan's wide-angled aesthetic. To make it, he travelled to Rio de Janeiro to collaborate with fellow outsider, multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal, and other luminaries of the Brazilian music scene, and took the album's title from a settlement established by escaped slaves in northeastern Brazil some 400 years ago. Khan's liner note for the title track observes that while most of Palmares's population was made up of ex-slaves, many deserter conquistadors also joined the settlement, making it a rainbow-hued community of rebels. The album is a utopian jazz message for a world in crisis, spiritual jazz informed by samba's revolutionary tradition. – All About Jazz

The Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist Joyce Silveira Moreno was born and raised in the middle of Copacaban, a short beach stroll from the epicentre of the bossa nova universe. Since her older brother was friendly with leading lights of the bossa nova movement such as Roberto Menscal and Eumir Deodato, she was steeped in the form at an early age and witnessed its key evolution first-hand. She began studying journalism in 1967, shortly before her controversial song Me Disseram reached the finals of Rio’s second international Song Competition. The following year, her self-titled debut album was produced by Armando Pittigliani, with orchestration by Dorival Caymmi and arrangements by Gaya; along with her ow compositions, the album also featured songs by her rising-star friends, including Caetano Veloso and Marcos Valle. – Linear Notes

1967 album from the legendary Brazilian singer, composer & producer, Marcos Valle. Arranged by Eumir Deodato. Superior high-quality audio reproduction - mastered from original tapes. - Linear Notes | Mr Bongo

 GESTO is the first album unveiled by Joana Queiroz, Rafael Martini, Bernardo Ramos, who are the representatives of the music circle called “twenty-first century Clube da Esquina”, where cutting-edge artists of the contemporary Brazilian scenes come together. Joana Queiroz is the clarinet player, gifted with both intelligence and beauty;Rafael Martini is acclaimed as one of the most excellent artists in the circle as composer & arranger/pianist; Bernardo Ramos is the indispensable guitarist performing with basis of classic/jazz.

Defining their domestic music as an essential element, GESTO is comprised of tracks mingled with the influence of jazz, classic, indie rock developed in Brooklyn etc. The tracks, orchestrated by clarinet, Fender Rhodes, electric guitar as core instruments, are performed through lithe gesture (gesto), which appears to be a play with sound, and generate the new crystallization of chamber pop sound, recalling the parable world with primeval atmosphere inside beyond representation. - Spiral Records

Carioca is the term used to describe those who originate from Rio de Janeiro. But, in fact, there’s only one Carioca in the music scene in Brazil: Ronaldo Leite de Freitas, who took up this nickname in São Paulo after relocating from his native Rio de Janeiro to study music at University.

Recorded in 1980, Mistérios da Amazônia is also, at least to our knowledge, one of the first crowd-funding initiatives in the Brazilian music scene. Carioca, lacking the resources to pay for the studio and manufacturing fees, sold the album to fans, friends and independent record stores before having recorded it.

Carioca’s first work is a fascinating one of a kind album, certainly difficult to classify. Often compared to the path set by musicians such as Egberto Gismonti or Naná Vasconcelos, who were always seeking new musical expressions whilst retaining a Brazilian character. - Altercat Records

An essential record from a legend of Brazilian music! Reissued under Polysom, here's the self titled second album from the prolific songwriter spearheading the Tropicalia movement in 60's Brazil. 

"Soul Jazz Records are re-releasing Airto Moreira’s classic album ‘Samba de Flora’, out of print for 30 years ever since its original release in 1988. The album is very limited to just 1000 copies only, pressed on both vinyl and CD."

"...The impact of Airto Moreira in both the world of American jazz and in Brazilian music is unparalleled. At the start of the 1970s Airto was invited to join Miles Davis’ groundbreaking ‘electric’ group, which with albums such as the seminal ‘Bitches Brew’ helping Davis regain his title from John Coltrane as the most important jazz artist of all time." - Soul Jazz Records

Célia Regina Cruz recorded four self-titled albums for Continental between 1971 and 1977, ‘Amor’ in 1982 plus several more before she sadly passed away late in 2017. Célia was a Brazilian vocalist who worked frequently with master arranger-composer Arthur Verocai in her early years and many other heavyweights over the course of her extensive career.

This, her second self-titled LP from 1972, features an all-star line up including Arthur Verocai, Erasmo Carlos, Roberto Carlos, Marcos Valle, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Nonato Buzar and Vinicius de Moraes amongst others.

Célia’s version of ‘Na Boca do Sol’ – taken from this album – is arguably her most well-known and well-loved song. An incredible take on Verocai’s original, featuring waling fuzz guitars, strings, piano, horns and drums.  

Needless to say clean, original versions of this record now change hands for silly money! We are very proud to be able to reissue it officially, at long last.

Official Mr Bongo reissue. Replica original gatefold artwork. Licensed from Warner Music. - Mr Bongo

"Originally released by RGE in 1970 in Brazil, ‘É Ferro Na Boneca!’ features 13-songs composed by Luiz Galvão and Moraes Moreira. This record shows the roots of the group, moving through psychedelics, edgey pop, rock and Tropicália.

After writing ‘É Ferro Na Boneca!’ their music began to move towards MPB due to the influence of João Gilberto, who began working with the group. In 1972 they released their incredible ‘Acabou Chorare’ LP, which came top of Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of 100 Greatest Brazilian Records (published in 2007)." - Mr Bongo

Grandeza is an album about the natural gesture of love and the softness of the human body. It’s also about my love for Brazilian music and its many shapes and colors. I like to think that it exists somewhere among the rituals that celebrate life. It’s a reminder that amongst all the pain, music comes to reaffirm the beauty in living. – Bandcamp

Polysom have reissued an incredible folk record with a heavy psychedelic tinge - featuring string and brass arrangements by the mighty Arthur Verocai. 

Another Brazilian Funk landmark made by two of the most exceptional instrumentalists of the Soul funk scene of the 70s. José da Silva better know under the pseudonym of Zeca do Trombone is a trombone player who has worked with a multitude of Brazilian artists including Tim Maia and Carlos Dafé Elizeth Cardoso, Beth Carvalho, Milton Nascimento. Roberto Sax or Zé Roberto Simonal is none other than Wilson Simonal’s brother.

The original press of this LP is one of the rarest of Brazilian music. Mad About Record is proud to reissue it for the first time worldwide. – Bandcamp