Here’s Klemmer at his best, echoing The Magic found on 1975’s Touch.
John Klemmer’s Brazilia is filled with stunning beauty, placing his tropically evocative drift-away style in soft contrast to other albums of its day.
Originally published July 10, 2004. Updated October 6, 2023
By the mid-70s instrumental jazz was beginning to see the results of its move to accommodate a wider ‘pop music’ audience. The musicians who would go on to blaze the long trail for contemporary jazz – like Grover Washington, Jr., Bob James, Chuck Mangione, Freddie Hubbard, and fusion stars like Chick Corea and Al Di Miola – were finally getting their due.
Meanwhile, Brazilian music was making another comeback with Sergio Mendes & Brasil 77 and a long list of his disciples. Lee Ritenour, Dave Grusin, Dori Caymmi, and Oscar Castro-Neves were heading to the recording studios to combine instrumental pop with Brazilian music.
John Klemmer’s Brazilia is one of the best to emerge from those heady days. At the time of this recording, he was still riding high on a string of successful records beginning with ‘Touch’ (1975) and ‘Barefoot Ballet’ (1976).
Klemmer’s approach to music pre-dated Smooth Jazz and New Age by decades. Consequently, these two aforementioned albums have earned their place in the history of contemporary jazz.
Not to say that Klemmer lacks talent, imagination, or chops. In fact, the Chicago-born saxophonist has more than ample access to all three and he uses them to great effect on this album. The secret of Klemmer’s strength as a musician is in knowing how to reinvent the expected into something utterly (and pleasantly) surprising.
Setting The Scene For John Klemmer’s Brazilia
A quick glance at the lineup for Brazilia reveals his appreciation of both established and young talent, too.
The Brazilian contingent is particularly strong, influenced by guitarist and arranger Oscar-Castro-Neves. He recorded the five-star album Simpatico, a stunning ‘live on the beach’ set with Klemmer a short year before these tracks were laid down.
Brazilia is filled with stunning beauty. Bossa jazz ballads like ‘Heartbreak’ and ‘Tender Storm’ are tropically evocative, placing Klemmer’s mesmerizing style in soft contrast to the driving samba of the title track.
Castro-Neves is his usual, brilliant self here and Jorge Dalto’s piano lines will stay with you forever. Ultimately, it’s John Klemmer’s musical tapestry of jazz, strings, and Brazilian rhythms that make this one of our favorite albums of its day.
Don’t be surprised when the music returns again and again to tap you on the shoulder. That’s the magic of Brazilia even more than 40 years after the fact.
John Klemmer’s Brazilia
Tracklist
- Brazilia
- Tropical Snowflakes
- Heartbreak
- Summertime
- Tender Storm
- Copacabana
- Bahia
- My Love Has Butterfly Wings
Personnel
John Klemmer (tenor saxophone), Oscar Castro-Neves (guitar), Victor Feldman, Abraham Laboriel (keyboards), Jorge Dalto (piano). Smitty Smith (organ), Bob Magnusson (bass), Lenny White (drums), Airto Moreira, Alejandro “Alex” Acuña, Paulinho Da Costa (percussion).
Produced by John Klemmer and Stephan Goldman.
Total Time: 48:00
From the liner notes
“BRAZILIA”
Hot sun and warm breezy evenings
relaxed lazy days with smooth syncopated
rhythms. Thought space to dream and love
smile and cry. Time to think of things
you’ll never do. Ocean breaths that rush
softly and strongly against sands of centuries.
Old men telling tales of wisdom and truth.
Joy and laughter with the community of
man in a carnival of freedom. Open blue
skies to fly with the birds. Exotic scents that
pull you into mind and body.
This is Brazilia. Geographically located
behind the eyes and between the ears.
It’s all in the way you see and feel it.
John Klemmer
1979
Music, Travel, Friends, And Fun!
John Klemmer’s Brazilia Review
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