Cheiro de Vida - 1988 Vivo (2000)

Artista: Cheiro de Vida
Álbum: 1988 - Vivo
Año: 2000
Género: Jazz Rock/Fusion
Duración: 56:31
Nacionalidad: Brasil

Lista de Temas:
1. Africa (4:16)
2. Levada (3:32)
3. Vox Populi (4:05)
4. Jazz (3:31)
5. Blue (8:16)
6. Beep Bop (5:51)
7. Vinheta (2:03)
8. Dark Funk (5:37)
9. Intro (1:38)
10. Funk Indiano (3:35)
11. Rush (3:25)
12. Guerra (7:24)
Bonus track
13. Jazzmania (2:14)

Alineación:
- Andre Gomes / bass
- Carlos Martau / guitar, krika
- Alexandre Fonseca / drums

Y Sandy les deja el último álbum de la semana, esta vez un disco en vivo de la banda Cheiro de Vida, que ejecutan un jazz-rock agradable y ecléctico. Si quieren escuchar a la banda, dejo a mano un videíto. Y ahora sí, que tengan lindo fin de semana, nos veremos el lunes con más música cabezona...

Seguimos con otros brasileros, pero no ya en el estilo sinfónico sino en que nos metemos en la onda jazz/rock, con un álbum instrumental bastante agradable, buenas instrumentaciones y algo de virtuosismo le dan vida a este registro grabado en vivo. Este grupo sacó en 1984, su único álbum de estudio, pero luego de su separación lanzan este álbum grabado mucho tiempo antes, ya que si bien la fecha del recital desde donde se toma el registro data de 1988 (como el título de su álbum lo indica) pero recién sale a la luz en el año 2000, y no me pregunten el porqué, aunque la respuesta es fácil: no tengo idea.
Sobre el estilo de banda, la verdad es que es bastante ecléctico, alcanando niveles de calidad bastante altos por momentos, un álbum interesante (aunque tampoco me parece una real maravilla) de otro buen grupo carioca.

Gravada entre 1983 e 1984, a estréia do grupo gaúcho Cheiro de Vida tornou-se referência em todo o País para a música instrumental. Relançado em CD neste ano, o álbum registra o virtuosismo e o talento do quarteto distribuído entre o funk, o jazz e o rock progressivo, homenagens a Stanley Clarke, Hyeronymus Bosch e referências a "Nosferatu". Recheado de grandes momentos do guitarrista Carlos Martau e do baixista André Gomes, "Cheiro de Vida" é um grande disco, mesmo ouvido 15 anos depois do seu lançamento.

Gleber Pieniz

CHEIRO DE VIDA were an instrumental trio from Brazil who released one studio album along with this live record which was recorded in 1988 but not released until 2000. They are listed here under JRF and the closest reference points would be EXSIMIO and MAR DE ROBLES although i prefer the music of those two bands over what these guys offer up. Still the instrumental work from this band is flawless and the bass player impresses me the most. I've heard more prominant bass than what we get here but not such fast playing as is demonstrated relentlesly throughout this live album.
"Africa" builds until the guitar solos over top of the chunky bass and drums. "Levada" is more of the same. It does settles after 2 minutes before kicking back in at 3 minutes. "Vox Populi" has prominant guitar along with the usual in your face bass. "Blue" is the first real mellow tune. Killer bass more than half way through. "Beep Bop" is an uptempo bass driven track. The guitar leads before 2 minutes then back to that bass led groove. "Vinheta" is a short but raunchy piece. "Dark Funk" is killer stuff with fast paced bass. "Intro" is complex but short. "Funk Indiano" is fast paced while "Rush" features more crazy bass. "Guerra" ends it with some welcomed laid back sections.
Again this is impressive music but it doesn't measure up to music i already have in a similar style.

John Davie

O Cheiro de Vida é composto por três grandes nomes da música instrumental do sul do Brasil: Alexandre Fonseca (bateria), André Gomes (baixo e sitar) e Carlos Martau (guitarra). Juntos formaram em 1978, em Porto Alegre, o lendário Cheiro de Vida, grupo instrumental de Jazz Rock progressivo. Na década de 80 foram para o Rio de Janeiro e rapidamente chamaram a atenção de nomes famosos do cenário musical do Brasil e desenvolveram trabalhos com artistas como Diana Pequeno, Pepeu Gomes, Marina Lima, Djavan, Nico Assumpção, entre outros.
Na Bagagem destes excelentes músicos, há muita esstória para contar: tours no exterior, participações especiais em estúdio e shows com vários artistas renomados, a fábrica de instrumentos de Martau... Como grupo, o Cheiro de Vida gravou dois álbuns históricos. O primeiro, em 1984, contou com participações de Paulo Supekóvia, Pedro Tagliani, Renato Alscher e Augusto Licks. O segundo álbum ao vivo (1988) contou com Dudu Trentin que participou do grupo por um período. Atualmente separados, André, Martau e Alex continuam sendo músicos altamente requisitados em estúdios e em shows por todo o país.

Ricardo Barão

Great jazzy prog, one of those hidden or forgotten bands.
If we look at the band-counter listed in PA, we will realize that just a few percentage of them are actually the ones we know, well at least with me, i know quite a bit of them, but i am sure it is not even half of the bands listed here, what i´m trying to say is that there are lots of great bands that have made excellent music throughout the years, some years ago i was a person who didn´t like to discover new bands or search for old gems even in the same prog realm, now i know that it was a mistake but the good thing is now that i am looking for old and hidden gems, i feel very pleased with some of them, because believe me, there are a hugh amount of albums worth listening.
So here we have one of those lost and hidden prog gems, this is Cheiro de Vida, a band from Brazil that i knew some months ago when was added to this site, i like a lot brazilian prog, from Os Mutantes to Spin XXI, but this was kind of different to me since their style is oriented to the jazz side of prog.
I didn´t go further with the band, i mean i just limited myself in listening to their music and not looking for extra info about it´s history or something like that, i just know that they are from Brazil and made just one album (sadly).
A self-titled album which contains 10 short songs, just one of them passes the 5 minutes, the running time of the album is almost 38 minutes and is completely instrumental.
Fechado Para Balanco the first song which immediately comes up with the jazzy feeling, also we notice an excellent musicianship, the rythm is kind of bright and happy, there are some nice guitar riffs. Asas Longas is at the beginning softer than the opener song, but then turs to a faster tempo song with some nice changes within it, good bass lines and drumming. Entre Estrelas is even softer than the previous ones, a calm passage of fabolous playing, there are excellent armonies between the instruments, though this song is more oriented to the soft jazz side rather than the prog side, here we have also acoustic guitars. Tema do Bonder is a nice track but not the best, the first half has a delicated sound while the second is a bit heavier. Crepúsculo starts with electric guitars and then some arpeggios with the acoustic one, we listen to a very nice background made by all the instruments but the guitar, which is the leading instrument of the song with it´s riffs. Hyeronimus Bosch is one of my favourites, it has excellent bass lines, i love them and the music in general follows the same vein as the first ones. Ai, Stanley has an extra point, because it provides us with a sitar, which is one of the instruments that i love the most, well the sound it makes its just beautiful, this is the longest song of the album and actually it has nothing to do with the music we had listened so far, since its completely sitar driven. Ayisha comebacks to the soft prog jazz style the band was used to play, again what catches more my attention is the bass sound, the music itself is not that complex, but very well done. Nosferatu starts with a beautiful and delicate bass playing, along with some background guitars and keys, the song follows the same line during the 4 minutes it lasts, good. O Bom Pastor is the last song, of an album that i would descibe as pleasant ffor someone who liked the light jazz prog, with a touch of raga music, this song has some strange noises i dont know if made by the guitars or the keys, it has a very 80s sound indeed.
I feel pleased while listening to this album, is just an example of how interesting is to look for forgotten bands, we can find great surprises. A nice find, great band and good music, my grade would be 3 stars because i consider it good but non- essential, however i recommend it.
Enjoy it!

Guillermo H. Urdapilleta

I am most sorry Brazilian (not to mention from other coutries, of course) musicians are usually underrated... some didn't even manage to achieve success in their homeland, you see. Cheiro De Vida's unfortune is due to the fact of the group being one of the many orphans of progressive music. Such talented musicians weren't accepted by the 80's and those who believed that music needn't to be produced by people who actually studied music. That explains a bit their lack of success in the mainstream. And, on the other hand, it is believed that the 80's weren't much exciting for music. That would make sense if people tried to argue why the group doesn't seem interesting.
The group, however, happens to be slightly popular (albeit in the underground), and thus I am obliged to explain why. In fact, their homonymous album (about which I am writing) does the job for me. It isn't as complex as what was produced a decade earlier, indeed, but it still deserves our attention. Their songs are short and striking: lovely guitar work here, nice rhytm and a very, very funky bass. At the first song you will understand why I compare André Gomes to, say, Jaco Pastorius and Chris Squire. He does one of the best bass guitar solos, completely on the counter-tempo! Sometimes he even plays the song's tune while the guitars just come along. André also plays the citar on the eighth song, Ayisha. The band, though, is not unworthy of such bassist: the guitarists play great harmonies, rhytms and arpeggios, most notably on Crepúsculo.
Almost every song here is sure fun for listeners (except for Ayisha, if you are not into Oriental music, and O Bom Pastor, which seems to be a filler), ranging from funky up-tempo (such as Fechado Para Balanço and Asas Longas) songs to mellower, more melodic orientated ones (Crepúsculo, Nosferatu and Entre Estrelas) and everything in between. Worth a listen, at least. Enjoy!

Oneiromancer

After some garage jams back in 1978, Cheiro de Vida was formed by bassist André Gomes, guitarist Carlos Martau and drummer Alexandre Fonseca.
The band started properly on 1980 on Rio Grande do Sul, south part of Brazil, performing on a variety of theaters and pubs, now with the addition of Paulo Supekovia also on guitar.
Moving to São Paulo in 1981, they recorded an album backing Brazilian singer Diana Pequeno, becoming her touring band, travelling all over the country.
At the end of 1982, the band came back to their hometown, Porto Alegre, and recorded for the second time, now with singer Bebeto Alves, on his live album titled “Notícia Urgente”. On the same year they also became the band for singer Victor Ramil besides keeping Cheiro de Vida’s own activities.
On the following year they began to record their first album “Cheiro de Vida”, which would only see the light of day a year later, on 1984. To finance the album, 850 “bonus” was sold to friends and fans. A couple of weeks before it’d start pressing the album, a small record label ACIT offered to take care of it’s promotion and distribution, in exchange of releasing it in it’s label. It was taken and proved a wrong business decision that took a long time to heal. After not receiving any royalties or proper promotion, the band took 10 years to get it’s masters back.
On the same year, Cheiro de Vida became a five-man band, with the addition of Dudu Trentin on keyboards. Things started happening writing and recording soundtracks for plays like “Cem Modos” a successful Theater Company that traveled around the country.
After that they decided it was time to move to Rio de Janeiro, and take their chances, and they all came to live together on the same apartment with their wives and kids, with the exception of Dudu Trentin which moved to Austria, where he started on his own later recording a solo album.
By 1987 the were a kind of back-up band for a night club called Jazzmania, the coolest place around for instrumental music, wherever it was a open slot, the band would come play, presenting their material. At this performances André Gomes also had a break for his sitar playing, showing another side of his abilities as a musician.
After Jazzmania the word -of-mouth began to spread and soon started a special following by fans wherever they played. Some of Brazilian’s top musicians started popping around to check them out, such as Pepeu Gomes, Ricardo Silveria, Nico Assumpção, just to name a few and like others became friends with the band.
Cheiro de Vida had them started some few vocal numbers, like “Suave Mágica” and “Meninos” , having on André their vocalist. Warner Records became interested on recording them but with a budget of US$ 2,000 made it impossible to record properly. Instead a 6 song Demo tape was made on the “Nas Nuvens” studios, unreleased to this day.
With the need to make some money for their living, band members started to work with other artists. André and Alexandre were playing and recording for Pepeu Gomes and Martau was working with Marina on her “Virgem” album. Paulo Supekovia went back home to try pastures new and on 1988 Cheiro de Vida was back where they started just the Trio.
1988 started with a lot of concerts, beginning at Rio’s Planetário da Gávea, moving to Ipanema’s Theater before the band went to Porto Alegre for a couple of gigs at OASP, the first day to record the show for local TV station, and recording what was intended to be their second album “1988”.
Unable to release the album and with Martau joining Djavan on a world tour that went from USA to Japan, passing through Europe the band took a long break until 1991. With Dudu back on board they quickly started writing and playing with a new approach, more jazzy, and on 1992 began playing clubs again as well as recording what should be their second studio album, having Ricardo Silveira guesting on one track. Apart from a couple of unrecorded solos, the album was almost completed when the band took the present break.
Martau opened his “Guitar Clinic” becoming a much required luthier and also a very in demand live sound engineer as seen on his work with such artists as Frank Gambale, Mike Stern (which always asks for his service at once), Cássia Eller and nowadays Marina Lima.
André Gomes made some soundtracks after leaving Pepeu Gome’s Band, recorded an album with his father, violin player Zé Gomes, titled “A Idade dos Homens”, and also worked with pop-rap singer Gabriel O Pensador. Today his producing his wife, singer Hannah Lima.
Alexandre Fonseca after leaving Pepeu and playing with pop band Kid Abelha, can be found playing on teh industrial metal band “Infierno” as well as recording some tracks with Marcio Rocha’s Juno album.
Dudu Trentin just released a solo album entitled “Wherever I Go” and has his own website www.guiamarau.com.br/dudu.
The band is not over, their “expanding” and are seriously talking about a reunion to take place sometime in the near future.
To start the ball rolling their unreleased 1988 album was released in September/2000 and a couple more are in the cooking as you read this.

Brazilian Progressive Rock

Here in Brazil, São Paulo and Rio De Janeiro had always been the origin and a stage of many bands of Hard Rock and Progressive Rock, with some exception the Rio Grande Do Sul also supplied artists with excellent competence also to produce Progressive and Hard Rock, it is the case of the Group Cheiro de Vida that was formed in 1978 with five musicians and only one edited work, they make a lot of fans in Brazil and Japan. After some years in anonymity three members of the firts formation had decided to recorder a instrumental work with Guitars, Bass and Drums, now they are a super charged power trio with high musical quality and many experience. We can not say that the style is on to the beginning of the band, but certainly who to hear goes to very identify well the origins and influences of the musicians. Cheiro de Vida - "1988 Vivo" is a excellent work like a old document to be discovered and to become a rarity of this loved cult band, the style of the new formation represents well years 70 very and 80, influences as Jazz, Blues and Hard Rock, some of the musical passes remember a little of Rush and also The Mahavishnu Orchestra. The CD has thirteen tracks. Cheiro de Vida is: Andre Gomes - Bass, Carlos Martau Guitars/Krika and Alexander Fonseca - Drums. The Live performance was Recorded at OSPA Theater in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande Do Sul - Brazil, in April, 14 1988. 1988 Vivo is a Independent production. Nice work and high recommendable...

Brazilian Progressive Rock - Reviews

Acá van algunos videos para que escuchen a la banda, pero si se bajan el disco les comento que no creo que se arrepientan...