CHEIRO DE VIDA

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!

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!

Cheiro De Vida came from Porto Alegre, Brazil and came to life in late-70's, featuring bassist Andre Gomes, guitarists Carlos Martau and Paulo Supekovia and drummer Alexandre Fonseca.In 1981 they moved to Sao Paolo and recorded an album with singer Diana Pequeno, before returning to their hometown and record a second work with singer Bebeto Alves.Later they became the backing band of Victor Ramil, but in 1984 they decided to record an album of their own.The small Acit label showed interest in distributing and promoting this work and the album was released under the name of the band.

Cheiro De Vida played a typical Brazilian Fusion, mixed with some local influences, far from complex and more into creating ethereal and accesible music.They produced a dreamy instrumental atmosphere, which was based on warm melodies, soft jazzy tunes, funky touches and Lounge aesthetics.Nothing progressive around it, the most complex parts are played by the super technical bassist Andre Gomes with the two guitarists providing interesting solos and some decent melodies, while some tracks feature also a good bunch of acoustic textures.Despite their certain approach on accesible Fusion, the music sounds often a bit directionless and confusing, propably because the smooth plays do not translate usually into memorable or trully efficient instrumental tunes.Bass is to high in the mix and the guitars are often left in a secondary role, still there are some nice jazzy moves and more powerful ideas to be found, I guess a more consistent display of these stylings would have worked better.One track, ''Ayisha'', features also a fine full sitar performance.

After the album's release keyboardist Dudo Trentin would join the band for a short time, before the members decided to relocate in Rio De Janeiro.By 1988 Supekovia had also left the band, which was now back to a trio, mainly performing live.A document of the period was released in 2000 under the title ''1988 vivo''.After a short break they returned in 1991 and recorded a big part of a second, still unreleased, effort, but in 1992 they iced their activities with only sporadic performances since then.Alexandre Fonseca participated also in Márcio Rocha's ''Juno'' album from 2000.

Bass-fronted Brazilian Jazz Fusion with accesible compositions, but not effective melodies oe even some great instrumentals.Recommended if you like the lighter side of the genre...2.5 stars.

Cheiro De Vida's eponymous album is not necessarily the proggiest album in its segment, or in the history of Brazilian music, but I feel it would certainly deserve a little more attention and recognition than it has so far received (two reviews only).

Jazz Music Archives classifies Cheiro De Vida as "classic fusion", which is fairly accurate. Like the majority of ear- and brain-friendly fusion albums of the era, Cheiro De Vida quite skilfully incorporates a noticeable amount of "lighter stuff": funky rhythms, world folk and symphonic/orchestral instrumental pop ("easy listening?"). There is positively nothing wrong with that, as long as the style-blending is done right and the result is mentally stimulating without being OTT tedious to listen to.

To re-state: if you are looking for something more riotous, noisier or off the chart innovative (=borderline insane), perhaps, you should take a pass on this one. No-one on Cheira De Vida is pounding pianos, violating violins or drubbing drums. Do, however, tune in if you appreciate well-made classic fusion.

3.5 stars rounded to 4.

Common place for a long time in the Brazilian music scene were the formations of support bands for artists more renowned. The reasons were of a practical and financial order: having little studio material (and of low quality, sometimes) the groups could freely rehearse and then provided support in the studio for the compositions of solo artists with better equipment, also performing live with this "big-shots". So it was with Som Imagin'rio and Milton Nascimento; Os Braz'es and Gal Costa, among others.

Apparently CHEIRO DE VIDA also started this way. Perhaps the most critical aspect from them was the moving of the band to another state, which may explain sometimes why some bands are not recognized within their territories of origin. What further complicates to be successful on a national level: the bands may not be recognized by listeners from the same location from where they left, and can be seen as foreigners in the places they currently resides! Music was something difficult to do in Brazil for 40, 30 years ago (and still is!).

But let's go to the music: the interesting thing from bands who spend years playing with other artists is that they end up producing a lot of music and practicing well enough. When they can go to a studio to record their own album themselves, what it seems to happen is a flurry of styles, compositions and arrangements of all of what they would have played in the previous period and with a competence that only years in road and studio can bring. That was the feeling I had listening to the only self-titled album from CHEIRO DE VIDA. From a stantard jazz style to Indian music, the album is eclectic as it could be the entire career of a group devoted only to itself. And the nice is that this mixture work from one track to another, and have no single boring melody.

I was so tempted to give the full 5 stars, but I think it would be a bit of an exaggeration. The album is good and it sure can be a great addition to anyone's music library - so, lets go with 4.