Azymuth's 1980 jazz-fusion classic Outubro is being reissued again on black vinyl by the UK Far Out label on June 5th.
Here's the scoop...
A landmark recording from Azymuth's prime era, Outubro (named for the Milton Nascimento-composed meditation on "October") is to be reissued on classic black vinyl. First released on Milestone in 1980, the album could stake a claim to be the group's most danceable, home to the insatiable grooves of 'Dear Limmertz' led by the bass bump of Alex Malheiros, Jose Roberto Bertrami's vocoder-enhanced samba jazz gem 'Un Amigo' and UK club classic 'Maracanã' featuring drummer Ivan "Mamao" Conti.
Re-mastered from the original two-inch tapes, this issue provides the optimum means to enjoy Azymuth's expressionist fusion of samba rhythm, jazz progression, funk attitude and ethereal electronics.
Today is Bandcamp Friday so what better time to pre-order the LP ahead of its June 5th shipping date right here: https://azymuth.bandcamp.com/album/outubro. Check out a couple of tracks from Outubro below followed by Azymuth's performance at Lee's Palace in Toronto on June 26, 2025.
Along with a version of João Donato's "Naquela Base," Nicola cut a new tune inspired by Glauber Rocha's film Terre Em Transe.
Here's the scoop...
Fresh from the recording sessions of his new album due for release in early 2027, Nicola Conte has blessed us with a spectacular double A side 7” for this year’s Record Store Day. The A-side is a new original composition "Terra Em Transe" inspired by Glauber Rocha's Brazilian cinema novo classic Terre Em Transe (Entranced Earth) from 1967 (watch it below) while the flipside features a live-in-the-studio update of João Donato's hard bossa gem "Naquela Base" (listen below) which originally appeared on the 1962 album Muito À Vontade which everyone should own. Limited to 1000 copies, these have been moving fast, but if there’s any left by May 15th, they’ll be available from the Far Out website and Bandcamp. Nicola discusses the new single following the credits.
Nicola Conte's new archival comp Viaggio presents some amazing lesser known Italian film and television soundtrack swingers.
Viaggio compiled by Nicola Conte
Following his acclaimed five-part Viagem compilation series celebrating Brazil's forgotten bossa nova and samba jazz, Far Out, Blue Note and Schema recording artist and international DJ Nicola Conte turns his curatorial attention homeward with Viaggio, an extraordinary exploration of Italy's library music renaissance 1970-79.
The 12-track compilation spotlights the remarkable creative explosion that occurred during the seventies: when some of the greatest yet most historically overlooked composers, including Amedeo Tommasi, Alessandro Alessandroni and Max Rocci, were composing and recording huge amounts of original music for film and television libraries.
Unlike commercial releases designed for mass consumption, library music was created specifically to accompany images on screen. This meant creative freedom for composers who imagined scenarios, feelings and worlds to soundtrack. Pressed in limited quantities, these recordings were distributed only to internal circles of music supervisors, journalists, and television professionals – making them virtually invisible to the general public for decades.
This is a journey through a largely forgotten world, explains Conte. While major jazz recording opportunities were scarce, an incredible network of small labels owned by publishing companies – often created by the composers themselves – began to flourish. This created an open space where musicians could express more experimental and free thinking sounds.
At the heart of Viaggio stands Amedeo Tommasi, the sophisticated jazz pianist who emerged in 1960 backing international stars like Chet Baker, Bobby Jaspar, and Jacques Pelzer. Tommasi was among Italy's earliest artists to introduce Black US modal jazz influences, and when traditional recording opportunities dwindled, he pivoted to soundtrack and library music, helping define a distinctly Italian sound that bridged experimental jazz with the emerging possibilities afforded by developments in synthesizer and recording technologies.
The compilation features rare gems from small label outputs, namely the Girraffa, Cenacolo and Rotary label catalogs. Tommasi's contemporaries include the great Alessandro Alessandroni and his vocalist wife Giulia De Mutiis (Kema), Stefano Torrosi (under the alias Farlocco - meaning fake/phony), and Belgian composer Joël Vandroogenbroeck. The recordings capture the technological evolution of the era as beguiling synthesis often combines with global influences spanning Brazilian rhythms, jazz-funk explorations, and Middle Eastern scales.
You can hear both the haunting melodies and sun-kissed atmospheres so typical of Italian culture from that era, Conte observes. Some of these albums could have been proper artist releases, while others were specifically designed for accompanying images on screen, yet all were crafted with exploratory creativity that still resonates powerfully today.
Nicola Conte Presents Viaggio releases on Vinyl LP, CD and digitally on November 28th, via Far Out Recordings. Get a copy via Bandcamp right here. Watch Nicola's preview clip right here.
TRACKLIST: Side A: Amedeo Tommasi - Brasilia (The Sound) Max Rocci & His Friends - Colorombo (Il Mondo Dei Giovani, Vol. 4) Max Rocci & His Friends - Niagara Falls (Il Mondo Dei Giovani, Vol. 4) Alessandroni E Il Suo Complesso - Via Mare (L'Ora Del Cocktail) Joël Vandroogenbroeck - Electronic Jungle (Images Of Flute In Nature) Kema - Pescatori (Canto Femminile) (La Natura E L'Uomo)
Side B: Desert - Leaving (Desert) The Swingers - Depressione (Jazz Video) Latrudi - Feeling (Teleobiettivo) Narassa, Amedeo Tommasi Trio - Lalo (Made In The USA) The Swingers feat. Marco Di Marco - Meditazione (Il Mondo Dei Giovani, Vol. 1) The Swingers - Nostalgia (Il Mondo Dei Giovani, Vol. 3)
Fans of 70s Brazilian jazz funk will delight in the release of these unheard recordings cut at Jose Roberto Bertrami's home studio.
Here's the scoop from Far Out...
Since their debut album release in 1975, Azymuth have risen to rank alongside the world’s greatest jazz, funk and fusion artists. As young men in Rio de Janeiro, they stood out for both their exceptional talent as musicians, and their wild rock ‘n’ roll antics in the predominantly middle-class worlds of bossa nova and jazz. Their signature ‘Samba Doido’ (crazy samba) sound ruptured the tried and tested musical structures of the day, resulting in what can only be described as an electric, psychedelic, samba jazz-funk hybrid.
But before they became Azymuth, Jose Roberto Bertrami (keyboards), Ivan ‘Mamão’ Conti (drums), Alex Malheiros (bass) and Ariovaldo Contesini (percussion) played backing band to just about every major artist in Brazil. Bertrami was also contracted as an arranger and songwriter at some the biggest labels of the era: Polydor, Philips, Som Livre, and EMI being just a few. Azymuth’s name can be found on record sleeves by the likes of Jorge Ben, Elis Regina, Marcos Valle, Ana Mazzotti and countless others. But at the dawn of the seventies, fascinated by developments in improvisational music - from jazz in the US, to progressive rock in the UK and of course samba, bossa and tropicália on home turf - the energetic young group were inspired and ready to move forward.
Any spare moment in which they weren’t in sessions and writing music for other artists, they would be carving out their own sound.
These previously unheard recordings took place between 1973-75 at Bertrami’s home studio in the Laranjeiras district of Rio de Janeiro. At the time of recording, there was nothing in Brazil, less the world that sounded anything like them, so perhaps it’s unsurprising that when Bertrami presented his demos to the record companies he had been working for, he was turned away, and told in effect that the music was ‘wrong’.
One of the demos ‘Manhã’ would be picked up by Som Livre and Azymuth released their seminal debut album in 1975. Throughout the late seventies and eighties, the group released a series of now classic albums for Milestone Records, before taking an indefinite hiatus to pursue their individual careers.
When English producers Joe Davis and Roc Hunter arrived in Brazil in 1994 to record the first Azymuth album in over a decade, Bertrami dug out the demos which had sat virtually untouched for over twenty years. Joe recalls how he was “blown away by the freedom and intensity of the music, as well as the genius of the ideas musically.” Beginning a long and fruitful relationship, ‘Prefacio’ would be the first track Azymuth recorded for Far Out Recordings and was released on the Carnival album (1996).
Along with ‘Manhã’ and ‘Prefacio’, only a handful of these demos were ever professionally recorded and released, making this the first opportunity to hear many of these early Azymuth compositions in their raw, original form.
On every track the frenetic energy in the studio is palpable, giving the recordings a beautifully personal feel and a sense of the phenomenally creative vision Bertrami, Malheiros and Conti were realising at the time. Fifty years on, Azymuth’s earliest recorded music retains an ineffable, futuristic quality, standing amongst their most captivating and moving work.
Check out "Castelo" (Version 1) followed by the complete tracklist below. You can order both volumes of Azymuth Demos (1973-75) directly from Far Out right here.
Azymuth Demos (1973-75) Vol 1 & Vol 2 tracklist:
01. Prefacio*
02. Castelo (Version 1)*
03. Melô Da Cuica*
04. Xingó (Version 1)*
05. Laranjeiras*
06. Equipe 68*
07. Unknown Jam*
08. Unknown Song for Mario Telles*
09. Duro De Roer**
10. Manhã**
11. Tempos Do Paraná**
12. Bateria Do Mamão**
13. Quem Tem Medo**
14. Xingó (Version 2)**
15. Juntos Mais Uma Vez**
16. Castelo (Version 2)**
*Tracks on Vol.1
**Tracks on Vol.2
