The glorious 80s

The 70s ended quite well for Azymuth. In 1978, Bertrami, Alex and Mamão accompanied Flora Purim on a coast-to-coast American tour. In the next year, they released Light as a Feather, which opened up doors for them due to the hit track Jazz Carnival; being followed by Outubro (1980), Telecommunication (1982; key track: Estreito de Tarumã), Cascades (1982) and Rapid Transit (1983). Although the band has constantly enjoyed good positioning on the jazz charts, these albums have only came out in Brazil thanks to the musicians' personal efforts. "We almost made a point about settling in America", says Mamão. "But at best, we would spend six months there, in San Francisco. We were always coming and going. The cool things are in Brazil."

Bertrami, though, will not pretend that he doesn't miss the times when they were hot aborad: "People claim that the 80s was a lost decade - well, for us, it wasn't." He clearly remembers when Azymuth played in Detroit, once, for a mostly black audience - they managed to win the crowd by playing a funk set list adorned with bits of Brazilian music. "Brazilians won't go check Azymuth out", shoots the keyboardist. "And there were shows when we were the only white people in the room."

In 1989, though, Azymuth's deal with Milestone expired. They moved to Enigma Records, but the magic was not the same. Shortly after, José Roberto Bertrami left the band because he was overloaded with solo projects - "a friendly break-up", as explained by Mamão - being replaced by Jota Moraes, who was later substituted by Marinho Boffa. During Bertrami's time off, Alex Malheiros also left the trio, being temporarily replaced by bassist Adriano Giffoni. "But then it is not Azymuth anymore", protests Mamão. "If one of us leaves, it's over. It's like a marriage." Marriage, yes, but rich in affairs, of course. During the Milestone period, they all put out solo albums: Blue Wave and Dreams Are Real (by Bertrami, assembled in one CD in 1999   , Atlantic Forest (Alex) and The Human Factor (Mamão).

The first contact with Joe Davis, according to the drummer, happened in 1989, when Azymuth performed in London, still with Bertrami. "He said that he was starting a label and that he wanted us". England has always been a special country for the band, as put by Alex: "We performed many times in the USA, but it was in London, in 1986, that we realized the dimension of ourselves." Bertrami, in his turn, recalls that they were regarded as "the legendary Azymuth" in Liverpool. A lot of that success can be credited to Jazz Carnival, appointed as a classic by artists like Jamiroquai, Brand New Heavies and Incognito, who released the so-called Acid Jazz worldwide by the early 1990s.

"Jazz Carnival was surprising", says Alex. "We recorded it in Brazil, quite unpretentiously. We were keen on experimenting and insisted in recording with samba percussionists - they wouldn't understand us, so they'd go 'Let's record that rock, man!' It was instrumental music with a disco approach and bits of surdo (kind of bass drum) and some batucada (percussive drumming). The mix came out so nice that the foreigners got into it, even more than they would understand a traditional samba artist." Exchanging faxes with Joe Davis during the height of the Acid Jazz trend in 1994, Azymuth and Far Out scheduled recording sessions. And what's best - with José Roberto Bertrami back in the band. The first album was Carnival, followed by Woodland Warrior and Pieces of Ipanema (1999,  ).

Empathy with remixes
Nowadays, Azymuth has had ever better experiences with English audiences. "In Manchester, the kids would show up with our vinyl discs and with CDs", says Mamão, who increments the shows with a tambourine that has electronic effects. Jazz Carnival is, as expected, the band's big hit on English stages. But songs like Partido Alto, Estreito de Tarumã, Last Summer and tracks from Pieces of Ipanema and Before We Forget also get warm receptions. Azymuth eventually plays Woodland Warrior as proposed by the remix done by London Electricity. "It is rich", analyzes the drummer. "But the kids come up to us and say: 'You do things that the DJs won't do.'"

Azymuth's international tours have not lasted longer than a month, lately. In the beginning of 2001, the trio toured around England and Scandinavia. Within three months, the group heads for its second Japanese invasion (the first with Bertrami). The next album to come out on Far Out starts being recorded in April, and is going to be self-produced. Meanwhile, solo projects abound. Things Are Different (Bertrami) is ready come ut on the English label. Alex has one, too - Vôo Solo, recorded in his home-studio -, but no label, yet. Mamão is preparing one with drum'n'bass elements with English producer Roc Hunter. It should also come out on Joe Davis' label.

In Brazil, though, things are not that easy. According to Alex, negotiations between Trama and Far Out to release the discs in their native country have not evolved. The only Azymuth album available in Brazil is the first one, reprinted last year on Som Livre. It's a shame, because anyone who checks out the latest works by Ed Motta, Max de Castro, Doctor MCs or by electronica producers like DJ Patife and XRS Land will notice the influence of the music of Azymuth. "The other day, Ed invited me to sing one of my own songs that I didn't even remember", says Bertrami. Alex Malheiros seems optimistc: "There will come a time when people will understand what Azymuth is." Mamão completes: "With a little help from the media, we can be big again."