DESCRIPTION
You know it’s going to be a heavy record when DJ and collector Mr Thing asks you to keep an eye out for a copy on your next digging trip to Brazil. Add to that the fact that one of the tracks was sampled by Madlib on ‘Curls’ from the legendary Madvillain album — and you know you’re holding a piece of deep crate gold.
Taken from Waldir Calmon’s 1970 album Waldir Calmon E Seus Multisons on Copacabana, ‘Airport Love Theme’ might not scream “breakbeat essential” at first glance. The unassuming cover art — featuring a bespectacled middle-aged man — hardly hints at its future as the source for one of the most iconic underground hip-hop samples of the 2000s. But as ever, appearances can be deceiving. The track is a lush, feel-good slice of dreamy lounge — music for a utopian world that never quite existed. Beneath the silky-smooth groove lies an earworm of a melody that burrows deep.
On the B side, ‘Afro Som’ — also taken from the same LP — ventures into a more rhythmically complex, Brazilian-rooted sound. A quirky, cinematic 60s breakbeat-funk tune, it echoes the melodic bounce of Jean-Jacques Perrey’s ‘E.V.A.’ (also released in 1970), but trades the Moog synthesizer for Calmon’s rich, orchestrated arrangement. It’s an exotic, hypnotic groove bursting with percussive flair and hidden funk.
Waldir Calmon had an expansive career spanning from the 1950s until his passing in 1982. A musical prodigy, he formed his first ensemble at just 14 and began performing in nightclubs while composing jingles. He later transitioned into a successful television music career and recorded prolifically, rubbing shoulders with legends like Tom Jobim, João Gilberto, and Doris Monteiro.
This reissue offers a much-deserved spotlight on two magical tracks from one of Brazil’s lesser-known yet undeniably influential musical figures.
TRACKLIST
A Side
-
Waldir Calmon – Airport Love Theme
B Side
2. Waldir Calmon – Afro Som