Janko Nilovic
Un homme dans l'univers

After a string of sought-after releases on labels like Barefoot Beats, Cocada Music, Bongo Synth and Too Slow To Disco, Bernardo Pinheiro brings his seasoned production skills to Onda Boa. A man at home working in a myriad of styles, the third release on the label sees Pinheiro assemble The Amazon Orchestra to create a brilliant cover of the Marcos Valle / Azymuth jazz dance classic, “Virabrequim”. Diggers of Brazilian wax and jazz-funk aficionados will know the tune from the O Fabuloso Fittipaldi OST that first united Marcos Valle and Azymuth in 1973. Pinheiro’s updated disco version maintains the original track's swinging piano, propulsive bassline and soaring horn charts while pushing the material into the future, earning high praise from the man like Marcos Valle himself. Live bass, keys, guitar and brass bring an organic sound to Pinheiro’s stylish production, creating a euphoric take that's ready to elevate any house, disco or jazz dance set. Voilaaa’s remix sees the French maestro pull back the reins a bit, stripping things down before reassembling the elements in a way that allows each section to shine in a supremely funky way. With the third release on the label, Onda Boa has cemented their sound, one which honors the iconic Brazilian originators while charting their own unique course to a cosmitropical future.

2 years after the release of his first solo album, Favorite Recordings proudly presents SOLAR, second album by acclaimed Brazilian composer Lucas Arruda, and hundredth releases of the label!!Lucas Arruda’s born in 1983 near Rio de Janeiro. After studying electric guitar, his passion quickly turned into Rhodes and keyboards, expanding his musical range of skills. At the same time he started his own home-studio and a real musical career in Brazil, gaining great local support from people like Ed Motta, William Magalhães (Banda Black Rio), Robert Lamm (Chicago) or Hyldon. In 2012, Fabricio Di Monaco (from Modo Solar) introduced Lucas’ music to Favorite Recordings’ head honcho, Pascal Rioux, and one year after, Lucas Arruda presented his first solo album titled Sambadi, receiving great supports from many international DJs and media, who all acclaimed his natural skills for composition and arrangement.Following this successful first effort, here comes SOLAR, new and second solo album by Lucas Arruda, filled with his fusion style, mixing influences and elements from his Latin musical background, with his genuine admiration for Jazz, Soul and Funk music ;On “Melt the Night” for example, Lucas asked legendary producer Leon Ware for his help, reminding his collaborations in the 80s with Marcos Valle, when they perfectly merged together the sophisticated Boogie and AOR touch from California, with the blazing sense of rhythm from Brazil. For the occasion, they also recorded a blowing version of Marvin & Diana’s classic ballad “Stop! Look, Listen (To Your Heart)“ with the help of Guida de Palma’s (Jazzinho) beautiful voice.For “Uma Onda”, he invites Alex Malheiros, bassist of the famous Jazz band Azymuth, for a splendid tribute to their specific fusion sound and influence on the Brazilian music scene. Finally the song “Agua”, co-written with his longtime friend Fabricio Di Monaco, is a beautiful ballad which illustrates perfectly Lucas’ passion for Soul music stars such as Stevie Wonder or Curtis Mayfield.On top of these great collaborations and a few more surprises, SOLAR also differs from its predecessor by a lot more elaborated production process, offering an authentic and warm sound. Mostly recorded at Sala A Studio in Brazil, many drums parts were also taken at the fully analog Ambience Studios in Finland. The mix was also done in Finland on a Neve 8108 console from 1978, using only analogic technology and a Studer master tape to record the final pre-master.The result is a timeless album, which should definitely established Lucas Arruda as one of the finest and most talented Brazilian musicians these days.

France' best kept 'Boogie & Funk' secret and legendary german funk label BTS finally collaborating on this 4 Track melter 12". Spacy, trippy, positive!!

When producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Diogo Strausz arrived in France for the first time, he already had an impressive CV. First, as part of the duo Balako, his music was released on Razor-N-Tape, Barefoot Beats and Greco-Roman after gaining the attention of Joe Goddard of Hot Chip. His tracks also have been played by Gilles Peterson on BBC 6. He also produced Brazilian indie artists such as Castello Branco and Alice Caymmi and remixed a track by Brazilian legend Gal Costa. Arrived in France, it is by signing the co-production of the disc "Les Bruits de la Ville" of Voyou or tracks for Julia Jean-Baptiste that he drew attention. Freshly signed on Goutte d'Or Records, affiliated label of Cracki Records, to whom we can thank for Agar Agar, Saint DX or Alma Elste, Diogo Strausz will present his first EP Flight of Sagittarius in April 2022. Flight of Sagittarius is both retro and current. Between the old school boogie of Marcos Valle and the jazz funk of Azymuth but also the sunny groove of Nu Genea or the electro-funk productions of Guts.

The Afro-Funk side of the Latin Soul maestro!Born in Gao (Mali), Boncana Maïga is one of the most talented and popular producer of West-African music since the 60's. He studied flute and Latin arrangements in Cuba during the 60's and founded the famous “Les Maravillas du Mali” in 1968.He became orchestra leader for the national Ivorian TV in Abidjan in the mid-seventies, and toured all over the world with the famous Africando band. During his recording sessions in NYC at the beginning of the 80's with a lot of “Latin musicians” from Puerto Rico, Venezuela or Colombia, Boncana Maïga also recorded few rare Funky tracks with heavy breaks! With the artist, we decided to reissue four rare tracks from 1978 to 1982 dedicated to dancefloor, including a really rare soundtrack for the oil company of Ivory Coast called “Petroci”.In 2018, he'll be back on tour with “Les Maravillas du Mali”, still have a weekly TV show on TV5 Monde and with this reissue will continue to warm your Afro-Funk parties!Fully licensed, 12inch vinyl (45 RPM) including interview. Remastered by The Carvery!

Gentle waves lap the soft white sand. The limitless ocean fills the view as the sun slowly sinks below the horizon. As the day ends in blue and orange tones, the heat begins to subside, a sure sign that the slow evening migration from the beach will soon begin. A pleasant, yet formidable music comes from the radio tuned into a frequency transmitted from Paris. Maybe it was written and recorded in the 70s, or maybe it has simply soaked in that aesthetic all the way down to the pauses. It doesn't really matter. Delving deep to explore the roots of Brazil’s musical tradition, the Camarão Orkestra has tapped into Candomblé and its rhythms. Born on the drums of enslaved Africans in a ritual that invokes numerous deities, they lay the foundation for this new album, Nação África.The eleven musicians, guided by Amanda Roldan’s silky voice and guest appearance by Anthony Joseph (“Canto De Bahia”), explore and embrace the murmuring polyrhythm of Brazilian percussion instruments, vibrating berimbau and squeaking cuícas, pouring their tightly-wound funk bass into the groove and letting their jazz fly free, together and solo.The seven nonchalant tracks get your hips swaying, whether you’re in a comfortable armchair or surrounded by other dancers. They take your mind far away, on a journey paved by analog synths with Fender Rhodes crystals to the horizon where the sun’s last glimmer has finally faded away. The brass section’s shiny bells, valves and keys reflect the images and ambiance of the soft Brazilian night air.