Vinicius Mendes - Macunaísmo Tardio Vol. 1 & 2 (2024)

Vinícius Mendes is a saxophonist, flautist, composer, improviser and researcher from the inland state of Minas Gerais in Brasil, known not only for its wealth of minerals and mining activities, but for its deep musical traditions founded by such pioneers as Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges.
Having graduated from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, one of the most important centres of excellence in Brasil, with a BA in Popular Music and an MA in Music, Mendes continued to research Improvisation in Free Jazz and in Brasilian Popular Instrumental Music at the university.
In Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais’ capital city, he became embroiled in the instrumental music scene - a style that’s always been a challenge to Brasileiros, who have a tradition of needing something to sing along to! The counter-tradition though, inspired by artists like Victor Assis Brasil and Hermeto Pascoal, who developed a more sophisticated sound that echoed the work of North American jazz artists like John Coltrane and Horace Silver, was still alive and well and very much being practised by local musicians like Rafael Martini and Federico Heliodoro.

In 2014, Vinícius released his first instrumental work at the Savassi Jazz Festival, and one year later he recorded the album NAU - a heady mix of free jazz and traditional Brasilian music, and something of a prelude to Macunaísmo Tardio, the album he recorded Volume One of in 2021 with Volume Two following in 2022 and one that is finally available in full via Sonar Kollektiv’s sub-label Notes On A Journey.

Macunaísmo Tardio is a perfect release for the label, masterminded by Jazzanova’s Jürgen von Knoblauch, which concerns itself with shedding light on criminally overlooked masterpieces. This album is, without a doubt, one of these.

The LP features original compositions by Mendes himself, as well as fresh arrangements of Brasilian classics from Lucca Noacco, Toninho Horta and a stunning version of the evergreen dance floor classic Aldeia de Ogum by Joyce Moreno.

Throughout both volumes of the album, and across twelve pieces of music, Lucas de Moro and Igor Neves’ Rhodes & Wurlitzer pianos glide with ease, underpinned by Paul Cardoso and Rafael de Sousa’s hefty basslines, which set the tone beautifully on cuts like Mineiro, and Cyrano Almeida and Estevan Barbosa’s understated drumming on Volumes One & Two respectively.

As for the Mendes himself, the combination of North American inspirations such as Sam Rivers and Hank Mobley, and South American luminaries like Tonino Horta and Milton Nascimento, produces the ‘secret sauce’ that makes this album, and in particular Mendes’ playing on it, such a unique and mesmerising musical experience.

“This album reflects my experience as an instrumentalist within the Belo Horizonte samba scene as well as my schooling in jazz, which I listen to obsessively. Post-bop, to my ears, has a relationship with the instrumental Brazilian music of the 70s. So this album reflects them all: from Nelson Ângelo and Novelli through the Quarteto Novo, Joyce and Paulinho da Viola to Andrew Hill, Sam Rivers and people like that.” - Vinícius Mendes

Indeed, the spirit of Nascimento and Borges’ 1972 classic Club Da Esquina runs throughout the album, and remains deeply ingrained in Mendes’ DNA, though (as the title suggests) this is not a retrospective project, but one that embraces modernism within every note that is played. The result is an album that is as serene, breezy and pensive in some places as it is expansive, ambitious and forward thinking in others. A contemporary masterpiece that needs to be shared and enjoyed by all.

“Clube Da Esquina, a musical movement born in Belo Horizonte, is the principal means through which I was able to access the different sounds and styles that exist within my music. People like Milton Nascimento, Lô Borges, Nelson Angelo and Novelli brought me closer to jazz and to the experimentation that 70s Brazilian music made possible. Whether it be a jazz waltz, a samba or a baião it can be ‘Brazilian music’ as long as it’s made in Brazil.” - Vinícius Mendes

Tracklist:
1.01 - Vinicius Mendes - Absurdo N°1 (ou Muiraquitã) (6:32)
1.02 - Vinicius Mendes - Baião do Agremiá (5:57)
1.03 - Vinicius Mendes - Variações (8:19)
1.04 - Vinicius Mendes - Meu Canário Vizinho Azul (7:47)
1.05 - Vinicius Mendes - Aldeia de Ogum (7:06)
2.06 - Vinicius Mendes - As Margens do Desejo (8:16)
2.07 - Vinicius Mendes - Cafuringa (9:01)
2.08 - Vinicius Mendes - Gente, Como a Gente - Dedicada a Tarsila do Amaral (6:12)
2.09 - Vinicius Mendes - Meio a Meio (4:52)
2.10 - Vinicius Mendes - Memorial dos Sentimentos Escusos (9:26)
2.11 - Vinicius Mendes - Mineiro (9:09)
2.12 - Vinicius Mendes - Tombo em Pé (6:00)