Now I’ve taken liberties with the Carlos Niño interview, (see HERE) but there’s more than one connection with the Build An Ark gig last week.

But before that, if you’re of a certain age, mention ‘Utopia’ and it’ll bring back memories of a rather lack lustre Todd Rundgren and a dodgy Frank Zappa album. Thankfully, this is nothing like Todd or FZ, even though its soul is very much in the 70s as Alex Malherios is the bass player in Azymuth along with José Roberto Bertrami (who’s got his own side project Aventura and Ivan Conti (he of Jackson Conti).

And regular readers will know that Azymuth have been on top form recently and have been playing live at Ronnie Scott’s and Southport in the past couple of months; and not just for the hit that made their name with the fusion explosion of ‘Jazz Carnival’ (espeically the last album, Butterfly).

Also, you’ll know that Alex’s daughter Sabrina (who has just had her New Morning : Deluxe Edition released) is another one that just can’t stop making fantastic music and if Carlos isn’t into tracks like ‘Serenity’ and ‘Solar’, I’ll be amazed.

The actual project started in 2005 with a 12” project, so it’s been a while but it’s worth the wait for a ful album of chilled out Brazilian jazz tunes. Tracks like ‘The Wave’ and ‘Sem Pessa’ (both featuring Sabrina) are so mellow and you can hear that his inspiration was more like the 60s hippy era but the help of some 70s synth sounds.

Talking of Sabrina, like her album, this one is produced by Daniel Maunick (son of Incognito’s Bluey) and I suspect that’s why/how the album contains a fantastic new version of Bobbi Humphrey’s ‘Uno Esta’ that was hinted at on Gilles Peterson Brazilika album; especially essential in the super fusion run up to Christmas for old jazz dance heads).

The jazz comes from more of a Crusaders/Wilton Fielder in Rio angle, I’m thinking ‘Baixo Partido’ and ‘Copa A Noite’ here and the piano led ‘4 Eyed Viper’ (interesting title?) whilst, Sabrina provides all the “bah, bahs”, “oh, arrhs”, “lah, lahs” and more so effortlessly and spot on, in other hands it could have been a mistake but definitely not on this album she get’s more fantastic the more I hear her.

So much so that tracks like ‘Corpo’ sans Sanbrino seem a little weak but ‘Copa A Noite’ makes up for that as it’s jazz, jazz, jazz (chill) so you can see why there’s DJ fans as diverse as Mike Chadwick (Jazz FM), Michael Rütten (Soulpatrol/Compost), Rob Mello and Ron Trent!

Back to the 12”, there was a set of I.G. Culture remixes and although I’ve been saying it for a while now, I can feel a return of the broken beat to the dance floor (I.G. Culture as a band supporting Build An Ark last week were excellent and the dancers at the front show the rest of us how to do it). That said, I.G. ‘Twist’ on ‘The Wave’ sounds a bit dated in the beats department but stick with it as The Plan Mix works in some vocals and is more interesting.

Inevitably a DJ of I.G’s stature will want to get his hands on ‘Uno Esta’ and there’s a remix and upbeat/downbeat/anybeat dub version that are worth the price of the album on their own - it’s so good to have the I.G. Culture back in the house/box (as in the remix Sabrina’s ‘Eira Nem Beira’ and you should have heard his mix of Build An Ark’s sound check!) No wonder there was so much I.G. love in the house.

Back at the main body of the album, there’s certainly a strong jazz feel (especially the title track which gets better with every play) but I can’t get enough of it. It’s an ideal reminder of what we’ve got to look forward to in the summer; let the wave take you to the shore of jazz lovliness. - “yes, yes” as someone might say.

Reviewed: Alex Malheiros & Banda Utopia - The Wave (Far Out Recordings) Cat. NO. FARO145CD Release date: 30th November 2009
Tracklisting:
1 Serenity (5:59)
2 Uno Esta (4:39)
3 Vola (5:29)
4 Sem Pressa (3:17)
5 The Wave (6:26)
6 Baixo Partido (5:20)
7 4 Eyed Viper (4:58)
8 Corpo (5:32)
9 Capa A Noite (5:15)
10 Solar (5:25)
IG Culture Beatz Up Banda Utopia
11 The Wave (IG’s Original Twist) (2:57)
12 The Wave (The Plan Mix) (3:42)
13 Uno Esta (Remix) (6:57)
14 Uno Esta (IG Dub) (5:34)

Links:
myspace.com/alexmalheiros
myspace.com/azymuth
www.sabrinamalheiros.com
www.myspace.com/sabrinamalheiros
myspace.com/sonofscientist
bobbihumphrey.net
www.faroutrecordings.com
www.myspace.com/faroutrecordings