{"id":12944,"date":"2024-03-09T22:17:18","date_gmt":"2024-03-09T22:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=12944"},"modified":"2024-03-10T08:23:01","modified_gmt":"2024-03-10T08:23:01","slug":"music-media-bossa-nova-album-cover-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=12944","title":{"rendered":"MUSiC\/MEDiA: Bossa Nova, Album Cover Art"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I got this book quite some time ago. And I\u2019ve leafed through it several times. I\u2019ve never read it all the way through. But tonight I read a number of sections of the text, and spent longer than I\u2019ve ever done before, perusing the images. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Very cool!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have to confess that on my first viewing of this book I was rather disappointed. Looking at it now, I can still see why that is. But I also appreciate it better for what it is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Fabulous typographical design work.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve grouped some of my images together, out of sequence with how they appear in the book. These Tamba Trio covers, for example, are spreads out across the whole book. But I like gathering them together!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Yogic flying?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Not the whole cover. I just love this typography.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I guess I was kind of hoping for something akin to the Blue Note cover art books, or similar collections of jazz record covers. But Blue Note was a rather singular affair, and sets the bench very high, in terms of art, design, photography and typography. And that\u2019s before you even get to the fabulous music!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Do I have this, but with a different cover?*<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

* Turns out the answer is no. I have this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not as taken as the folk behind this book (who include famed DJ and jazz\/Brazilian music buff Gilles Peterson) may be, with, for example, Cesar Villela, a designer who contributes a little essay to this book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A number of Villela\u2019s album cover designs are featured herein. But I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve included any of his stuff amongst the snaps I present here? Unlike some reviewers of this book, who love Villela\u2019s work, it doesn\u2019t do much for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Woah! Very wibbly-wobbly. Bordering on psychedelic!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s interesting, to me, that certain artists – The Tamba Trio and Milton Banana, for example – crop up repeatedly, and have consistently groovy covers. And <\/em>I love their music! Whereas other artists, such as Joyce, whilst included here twice – and I really<\/em> love her music – yet I don\u2019t like the covers enough to want to include them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Very \u201860s!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Now this is<\/em> a bit Blue Note-esque; strong design, photography and typography.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Most of the names of musicians I am familiar with. But a few I\u2019m not. The names of the designers and record label folk are more less all new to me. And it\u2019s interesting to read about this side of music production in this period. The book, incidentally (as the cover subtitle say), deals just with the sixties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Drummer Edison Machado is a drama Queen!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This was a time when Brazil came out of a quite liberal progressive era, only to wind up under a less open-minded military dictatorship for a number of years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Zooming in for more Machado gurning.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The next few covers, I\u2019ve grouped together because these are the few albums featured in this book that I have. And for continuity\u2019s sake, I start\/continue with Edison; fab cover, okay music. Edison Machado and Milton Banana are both very highly regarded a Brazilian Drummer\u2019s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Nice photo, Machado dramatically emerging from the surrounding darkness. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Banana – what a name! – is credited with inventing or defining the bossa nova drum rhythm (now a universal phenomenon), via his playing on Joao Gilberto\u2019s early recordings. And of the two, Machado and Banana – based on what I know of their work this far – I\u2019m more of a banana man!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
This is one I even have on vinyl.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
A very young and handsome Marcos Valle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Most of the music in this book that I have in my collection is in CD format. Only the Joao Gilberto one is vinyl. The Marcos Valle album above, I got as a Japanese import, via the US (dustygroove.com). Very expensive! At the time that was the only way to get some of this stuff. Since then, at least with Valle, a lot of stuff has seen wider re-issuing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Quarteto Novo were absolutely amazing. As is this album. The only one they made. With Hermeto Pascoal (flute, etc) and Airto Moreira (drums\/percussion), plus Theo de Barros (bass\/guitar), and Heraldo do Monte (guitar).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve got several Milton Banana albums on CD, including Balan\u00e7ado<\/em>. I don\u2019t have the two further up this post, or the one below. Or rather, I don\u2019t have albums with these covers. I rather suspect I may have some of the music. But packaged differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
I wonder if I have this in different packaging?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Nara Leao. Looking fab.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have some Nara Leao. But not the above. It\u2019s quite bold, having only her image, and no typography or info\u2019 whatsoever. A rare thing in any market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Not heard these guys (as far as I know?).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Several of the next discs are striking album covers from Brazilian artists I\u2019m not familiar with. Mind, I might have heard them, if they appear on any of the several Braz\/Latin compilations I have a fair few of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Nice photography, with bold design and strong typography.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
More powerfully bold design. Almost stark.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Reminds me of the public pavement mosaics in Rio de Janeiro.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The above is the one of the very few record cover that occurs both in this book and in Charles Gavin\u2019s 25 picks for The Som Livre 50th Anniversary reissue series. Whilst it\u2019s bold and colourful, and I chose to include it here, it\u2019s not a favourite. It\u2019s fun, but rather dated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Shades of thriller book cover design?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Several Os Catedraticos\/Eumir Deadato releases feature in this book. But this is only one I\u2019ve snapped. Again, like the Decis\u00e3o one, it\u2019s striking – I like the pencil depressing the piano-key motif – but not a favourite. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All in all? A good book. Well worth having if you\u2019re passionate about music of this era from Brazil. Which I certainly am. Not quite as groovy as I\u2019d anticipated. With numerous albums, or covers, I might\u2019ve expected to see not appearing. And some choices – quite a few – that just don\u2019t align with my tastes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But very good nevertheless. I\u2019ll have to read the rest of the text next!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To finish, a couple of covers I\u2019d expected to find here, but didn\u2019t:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
This is a real classic!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Love this one as well. Simple but strong.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I got this book quite some time ago. And I\u2019ve leafed through it several times. I\u2019ve never read it all the way through. But tonight I read a number of sections of the text, and spent longer than I\u2019ve ever done before, perusing the images. I have to confess that on my first viewing of … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “MUSiC\/MEDiA: Bossa Nova, Album Cover Art”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paGwUa-3mM","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12944"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12944"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12954,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12944\/revisions\/12954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}