Back in December, I posted a Backgrounder on the Brazilian Jazz Quartet and how alto saxophonist José Ferreira "Casé" sounds like Art Pepper and how pianist Moacyr Peixoto sounds like Russ Freeman (go here). So much so that if I just posted the tracks, you'd likely guess these were previously unreleased takes by those musicians. The album I featured, Brazilian Jazz Quartet: Coffee and Jazz (1958), was an LP I discovered on YouTube and has been long out of print. It was recorded in February 1958.
Now Fresh Sound has issued the album, remastered and coupled with an LP entitled The Good Neighbors Jazz, also featuring the two musicians mentioned above. The beauty of the second album, recorded in September 1958, is that the tracks run considerably longer and give the musicians a chance to stretch out. [Photo above of José Ferreira "Casé"]
The fidelity is terrific on both albums, and Case and Peixoto play as if they spent the 1950s in Hollywood studios. Case's alto saxophone is bone dry and lyrical, and Peixoto's piano has a chunky churn that's similar to Freeman's. If you've been wishing for this material to become available again, you're in luck. Not only is it on CD with excellent liner notes by Jordi Pujol, the music sounds clear as a bell and is warmly dynamic. [Photo above of Moacyr Peixoto]
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Brazilian Jazz Quartet and The Good Neighbors Jazz as part of Fresh Sound's "Rare and Obscure Jazz Albums" two-fer series here.
JazzWax clips: Here's Too Marvelous for Words from the first album...
And here's Out of Nowhere from the second...
