Victor Assis Brasil

• 180 HEAVYWEIGHT VINYL

Smooth bossa nova this is not. Victor Assis Brasil, a Brazilian saxophone prodigy who studied at Berklee College of Music, was clearly soaking up a ton of American and international music when he recorded Esperanto with a slate of gifted Brazilian players in 1970, a week before his 25th birthday. From the opening cymbal crash of Jimmy Heath’s “Gingerbread Boy,” the album’s sole cover, it’s clear we’re in for a wild ride. This is blistering, inventive jazz that feels more influenced by Coltrane’s pioneering work a decade earlier—and perhaps by 1960s psychedelic rock—than it does by Jobim’s uber-cool and mellow CTI output of the same era. There’s a dose of rock-ish fury on “Quarenta Graus A Sombra,” where Brasil’s runs take on a chaotic edge, a la Eric Dolphy (who, like Brasil, died unexpectedly in his mid-30s)

PERSONNEL:

• Victor Assis Brasil - alto saxophone
• Dom Salvador - piano, electric piano and organ
• Edison Machado - drums
• Hélio Delmiro - guitar
• Edison Lobo - bass

TRACKS:

• SIDE A
• A1. Ginger Bread Boy
• A2. Children

• SIDE B
• B1.Marilia
• B2. Quarenta Graus A Sombra
• B3. Ao Amigo Quartin