Marcos Valle
Encyclopedia
Marcos Kostenbader Valle (born September 14, 1943 in Rio de Janeiro
) is a Brazil
ian singer, songwriter
and record producer
. He has produced works in many musical styles, including bossa nova
, samba
, incidental music
and fusions of American/European rock, soul and dance music with Brazilian styles.
movement in Rio. His classmates included future legends like Edu Lobo
and Dori Caymmi
, and his composition "Sonho De Maria" was included on the Avanco album by the highly influential Tamba Trio in 1963. With his brother Paulo Sergio Valle as his lyricist, he had already built an impressive portfolio of songs, prompting the Odeon
label (a subsidiary of EMI
) to sign him as a recording singer. His debut album Samba Demais was released in April, 1964. His reputation quickly spread, and his fellow musicians (including Wilson Simonal
, Elis Regina
, Nara Leão
and many others) lined up to record his songs. A second album
, O Compositor e o Cantor, followed in 1965, and featured the debut of what would become his most recognizable song, "Samba De Verão" (known in English as "So Nice (Summer Samba)"), as well as other instant classics as "Deus Brasileiro," "Gente
" and "A Resposta."
1966 brought Valle's first trip to the United States
, where he and his then-wife Anamaria teamed up with the also recently-emigrated Sérgio Mendes
briefly in an embryonic version of what would later become the latter's hugely successful Brasil '66. The threat of being drafted and sent to Vietnam
caused him to return quickly to Brazil, however, although the following year saw him back to America and have a more positive experience which included his debut American
release "Braziliance!" on Warner Bros. Records
, and several appearances on the Andy Williams
TV show. Following session work on Verve Records
releases by compatriots Walter Wanderley and Astrud Gilberto
, the label released Valle's "Samba '68" album
featuring English-language versions of assorted songs from his earlier Brazilian releases.
Shortly thereafter, feeling homesick, Valle returned to Brazil and entered a new creative phase in his career. 1968's "Viola Enluarada" album was a more introspective affair, with Valle's songwriting attaining a more mature and reflective tenor far removed from the frothy and lighthearted feel of the "Samba '68" album. The title track became one of Valle's signature compositions in Brazil and was a duet with future icon Milton Nascimento
. It also featured a surprising political bent almost absent in Valle's previous work - he would go deeper and deeper with political and social contestation in the years to come -, and the album as a whole pointed to a broader range of musical influences (particularly the Northeastern Brazilian styles he enjoyed listening to since his childhood days) that moved him out of the "strictly "bossa nova
artists" club."
This process continued on 1969's "Mustang Cor De Sangue Ou Corcel Cor De Mel," another leap forward that incorporated rock
, soul
and pop
styles, all stamped with Valle's unmistakable melodic style. His singing was strong and confident, and his work on the album reflected the sophisticated pop
approach of American songwriters such as Jimmy Webb
and Burt Bacharach
as well as the inescapable influence of The Beatles
.
Around this time, Valle was tapped to create theme music for assorted TV programs and "novelas
" (soap operas), which over the next few years would become one of the main outlets for his work, along with advertising
jingles. 1970's "Marcos Valle" (often referred to as "the Bed Album" due to its cover shot of Valle in bed) was his most adventurous effort to date as well as his most rock
and psychedelic
-influenced music up to that point. Backed by Milton Nascimento
's backing band Som Imaginario, Valle explored a more eccentric approach, with a number of futuristic tracks and an extended instrumental suite not unlike the work of U.S. composer/producer David Axelrod
. 1971's "Garra
" was a career highpoint, a pop masterwork that summed up his music and still stands as one of the finest pop
albums of the era, Brazil
ian or otherwise. Its effervescent pop
/jazz
/soul
/bossa/film soundtrack musical stylings were matched by lyrics that attempted to reconcile Valle's hippie
leanings with his status as a wealthy young musician who was also a successful businessman because of his successful novela soundtracks and corporate advertising accounts. Telenovelas he provided some or all of the music for during this period included "O Cafona,"Uma Rosa Com Amor
", "Minha Doce Namorada," "Pigmalião 70," "Os Ossos Do Barão" and, most prominently, "Selva De Pedra." He also wrote the score for the film "O Fabuloso Fittipaldi" (1973).
1972's "Vento Sul" album found Valle long-haired and bearded, and backed by the progressive rock
band O Terço
. His most experimental and left-field effort to date (he even flirted with heavy metal on the song "Mi Hermoza"), it was something of a sales flop, although it has accumulated many admirers over the ensuing decades. The following year's "Previsão Do Tempo" fared better and was an innovative effort made in conjunction with the band who initially formed to back Valle at live shows and named themselves after one of his songs, Azimuth (soon to change the spelling to Azymuth
). This album had a notable jazz fusion
influence due to his enthusiasm for the Fender Rhodes piano
and Azymuth
keyboardist Jose Roberto Bertrami's expertise on the Hammond organ and assorted synthesizers such as the Mini-Moog and the ARP Soloist. This sound would later prove a decisive influence on the Acid Jazz
scene in Europe
twenty years later.
One innovation in "Previsão do Tempo" was the use of vocal percussion
on the track "Mentira", ten years before hip-hop artists introduced beatboxing
. Valle emulates a drum kit with his voice to perform a pattern and a fill.
From 1972 to 1974, Valle provided the music for "Vila Sésamo
," Brazil's version of Sesame Street
. In '74, he also released his final album for EMI
, another self-titled effort. This album differed yet again from its predecessors in pursuing a piano-pop sound reminiscent in turns of Elton John
, Todd Rundgren
and Bread
, and replete with elaborate vocal arrangements. At this point, Valle had grown tired of the strictures of living and working under Brazil's military dictatorship
, then in its darkest and bleakest phase. He therefore decided to return to the U.S., where he spent the rest of the decade. Settling in Los Angeles
, he entered into collaborations with artists as diverse as Sarah Vaughan
, Chicago
and R&B singer and songwriter Leon Ware
. Valle and Ware found themselves especially compatible, and wrote many songs together, Valle appearing on several of Ware's Elektra
album releases.
Valle returned to Brazil in late 1980 and completed two albums, 1981's Vontade de Rever Você, and 1983's Marcos Valle. These albums had prominent boogie
, soul and funk influences. These had been present in Valle's work since the beginning of the 1970s and would be permanent influences on his music, also being solidified by his work with Leon Ware and Chicago. His 1982 7-inch single for "Estrelar", a boogie dance track marketed as "workout music" at the time happened to be his best-selling record ever with a total of about 90,000 copies sold. In 1984, he released another boogie single, "Bicicleta", but his recording label (Som Livre) decided to dismiss its entire cast and concentrate on soap opera LPs and Marcos did not make it to release a new album. His final album from the eighties was 1986's Tempo da Gente, and then he took a hiatus from recording. But he kept on playing gigs (something he did not do in his Estrelar days) and writing songs for many different artists like Tim Maia
, Roberto Carlos
and Ricky Martin
.
In the meantime, many collectors had become acquainted with Valle's work of the '60s and '70s, and his music started to enjoy renown among European and American fans, as well as connoisseurs of dance music. Valle recorded a new album in 1999, Nova Bossa Nova, which reached back to his roots in bossa nova and added contemporary electronic influences to his music. At this point Valle had signed with the London-based Far Out label, which specialized in the recordings of Brazilian musicians such as Azymuth
(his backing band on 1973's Previsão do Tempo) and Joyce. In 2001 Valle also produced two other discs, Live in Montreal with guitarist Victor Biglione and a backing band, and Bossa Entre Amigos, a release aimed at the Brazilian market that featured Valle sharing the bill with famed Braziilian guitarist and songwriter Roberto Menescal
and singer-guitarist Wanda Sá
.
Escape, and especially its follow-up, Contrasts (released in 2003) showed increased electronica
influences, aided by the production skills of London-based electronica producer
Roc Hunter. Valle showed on these releases that he was able to stay true to the roots of his sound, but also remained open to modern influences and possessed the ability to integrate them into his style. On 2005, Valle released Jet Samba, an all-instrumental collection, highlighting reworked compositions from past albums, as well as several new songs. Valle continues to perform in Brazil and throughout Europe.
In 2010, he released Estática, an album which saw him return to a more organic approach, albeit with the use of some analog synthesisers. The record features expansive horn and string arrangements and has been referred to as a 'masterpiece' by some.
In 2011, he collaborated with Phenomenal Handclap Band to contribute a version of the song "Tudo o Que Você Podia Ser" for the Red Hot Organization's
most recent charitable album "Red Hot+Rio 2." The album is a follow-up to the 1996 "Red Hot + Rio
." Proceeds from the sales will be donated to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV and related health and social issues.
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
) is a Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian singer, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. He has produced works in many musical styles, including bossa nova
Bossa nova
Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...
, samba
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
, incidental music
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
and fusions of American/European rock, soul and dance music with Brazilian styles.
Biography
Valle's talent was evident from his high school years, which coincided with the explosion of the Bossa NovaBossa Nova
Bossa Nova may refer to:*Bossa nova, a style of music*Bossa Nova , a dance form associated with the music*Bossa Nova , a 2000 film*Bossa Nova - album by John Pizzarelli...
movement in Rio. His classmates included future legends like Edu Lobo
Edu Lobo
Eduardo de Góes "Edu" Lobo is a Brazilian bossa nova singer, guitarist, and composer. He achieved fame in the 1960s as part of the bossa nova movement...
and Dori Caymmi
Dori Caymmi
Dorival Tostes Caymmi is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and producer who is a two-time Grammy Award winner .-Biography:...
, and his composition "Sonho De Maria" was included on the Avanco album by the highly influential Tamba Trio in 1963. With his brother Paulo Sergio Valle as his lyricist, he had already built an impressive portfolio of songs, prompting the Odeon
Odeon Records
Odeon Records was a record label founded in 1903 by Max Straus and Heinrich Zuntz of the International Talking Machine Company in Berlin, Germany. It was named after a famous theatre in Paris, whose classical dome appears on the Odeon record label....
label (a subsidiary of EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
) to sign him as a recording singer. His debut album Samba Demais was released in April, 1964. His reputation quickly spread, and his fellow musicians (including Wilson Simonal
Wilson Simonal
Wilson Simonal de Castro, was a Brazilian singer, born in Rio de Janeiro on February 26, 1939. He also died in Rio de Janeiro on June 25, 2000. He was a singer of a great success in the 1960s and in the first two years of 1970 decade. He was married and had two sons: Wilson Simoninha and Max de...
, Elis Regina
Elis Regina
Elis Regina Carvalho Costa, known simply as Elis Regina was an important singer of Brazilian popular music. She became nationally renowned in 1965, after singing Arrastão in the first edition of TV Excelsior festival song contest, and soon joined O Fino da Bossa, a television program on TV Record...
, Nara Leão
Nara Leão
Nara Lofego Leão was a Brazilian bossa nova and MPB singer and occasional actress. Her husband was Carlos Diegues, director and writer of Bye Bye Brasil....
and many others) lined up to record his songs. A second album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, O Compositor e o Cantor, followed in 1965, and featured the debut of what would become his most recognizable song, "Samba De Verão" (known in English as "So Nice (Summer Samba)"), as well as other instant classics as "Deus Brasileiro," "Gente
Gente
-Covers:The Italian-language version of the song was covered in 1995 by Brazilian singer Renato Russo and included in his album Equilibrio distante.-Charts:...
" and "A Resposta."
1966 brought Valle's first trip to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where he and his then-wife Anamaria teamed up with the also recently-emigrated Sérgio Mendes
Sergio Mendes
Sérgio Santos Mendes is a Brazilian musician. He has released over thirty-five albums, and plays bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk....
briefly in an embryonic version of what would later become the latter's hugely successful Brasil '66. The threat of being drafted and sent to Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
caused him to return quickly to Brazil, however, although the following year saw him back to America and have a more positive experience which included his debut American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
release "Braziliance!" on Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
, and several appearances on the Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
TV show. Following session work on Verve Records
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
releases by compatriots Walter Wanderley and Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She is well known for the Grammy Award-winning song "The Girl from Ipanema".-Biography:...
, the label released Valle's "Samba '68" album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
featuring English-language versions of assorted songs from his earlier Brazilian releases.
Shortly thereafter, feeling homesick, Valle returned to Brazil and entered a new creative phase in his career. 1968's "Viola Enluarada" album was a more introspective affair, with Valle's songwriting attaining a more mature and reflective tenor far removed from the frothy and lighthearted feel of the "Samba '68" album. The title track became one of Valle's signature compositions in Brazil and was a duet with future icon Milton Nascimento
Milton Nascimento
-Biography:Nascimento's mother was the maid Maria Nascimento. As a baby, Milton Nascimento was adopted by his mother's former employers: the couple Josino Brito Campos, a banker employee, mathematics teacher and electronic technician; and Lília Silva Campos, a music teacher and choir singer...
. It also featured a surprising political bent almost absent in Valle's previous work - he would go deeper and deeper with political and social contestation in the years to come -, and the album as a whole pointed to a broader range of musical influences (particularly the Northeastern Brazilian styles he enjoyed listening to since his childhood days) that moved him out of the "strictly "bossa nova
Bossa nova
Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...
artists" club."
This process continued on 1969's "Mustang Cor De Sangue Ou Corcel Cor De Mel," another leap forward that incorporated rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
styles, all stamped with Valle's unmistakable melodic style. His singing was strong and confident, and his work on the album reflected the sophisticated pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
approach of American songwriters such as Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He wrote numerous platinum selling classics, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "The Worst That Could Happen", "All I Know", and "MacArthur Park"...
and Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
as well as the inescapable influence of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
.
Around this time, Valle was tapped to create theme music for assorted TV programs and "novelas
Novelas
Novelas is the fifth compilation album by brazilian rock band Os Paralamas do Sucesso. This compilation gathers together the band's tunes written for brazilian soap opera soundtracks .-Track listing:#Aonde Quer Que Eu Vá#Lanterna Dos Afogados...
" (soap operas), which over the next few years would become one of the main outlets for his work, along with advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
jingles. 1970's "Marcos Valle" (often referred to as "the Bed Album" due to its cover shot of Valle in bed) was his most adventurous effort to date as well as his most rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
-influenced music up to that point. Backed by Milton Nascimento
Milton Nascimento
-Biography:Nascimento's mother was the maid Maria Nascimento. As a baby, Milton Nascimento was adopted by his mother's former employers: the couple Josino Brito Campos, a banker employee, mathematics teacher and electronic technician; and Lília Silva Campos, a music teacher and choir singer...
's backing band Som Imaginario, Valle explored a more eccentric approach, with a number of futuristic tracks and an extended instrumental suite not unlike the work of U.S. composer/producer David Axelrod
David Axelrod (musician)
David Axelrod is an American composer, arranger and producer, working in several musical genres.-Biography:...
. 1971's "Garra
Garra
Garra, the garras, are a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. These fish are one example of the "log suckers", sucker-mouthed barbs and other cyprinids commonly kept in aquaria to keep down algae...
" was a career highpoint, a pop masterwork that summed up his music and still stands as one of the finest pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
albums of the era, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian or otherwise. Its effervescent pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
/jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
/soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
/bossa/film soundtrack musical stylings were matched by lyrics that attempted to reconcile Valle's hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
leanings with his status as a wealthy young musician who was also a successful businessman because of his successful novela soundtracks and corporate advertising accounts. Telenovelas he provided some or all of the music for during this period included "O Cafona,"Uma Rosa Com Amor
Uma Rosa com Amor
Uma Rosa com Amor is a Brazilian telenovela that was produced by SBT, and displayed on 1 March 2010 to August 16, 2010 in 145 chapters. It was written and adapted by James Santiago, inspired by the work Sesso hormone Vincent in collaboration with Renata Dias Gomes and Miguel Paiva and the direction...
", "Minha Doce Namorada," "Pigmalião 70," "Os Ossos Do Barão" and, most prominently, "Selva De Pedra." He also wrote the score for the film "O Fabuloso Fittipaldi" (1973).
1972's "Vento Sul" album found Valle long-haired and bearded, and backed by the progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band O Terço
O Terço
O Terço was one of the first progressive bands from Brazil. The band, whose name means "rosary beads" in Portuguese, first formed in 1968.Personnel changes would become part of the bands dynamic, with Sergio Hinds assuming the role of band anchor...
. His most experimental and left-field effort to date (he even flirted with heavy metal on the song "Mi Hermoza"), it was something of a sales flop, although it has accumulated many admirers over the ensuing decades. The following year's "Previsão Do Tempo" fared better and was an innovative effort made in conjunction with the band who initially formed to back Valle at live shows and named themselves after one of his songs, Azimuth (soon to change the spelling to Azymuth
Azymuth
Azymuth is a three-piece electric funk jazz group from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Formed in 1972, the members are Jose Roberto Bertrami , Alex Malheiros , and Ivan Conti .-History:...
). This album had a notable jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
influence due to his enthusiasm for the Fender Rhodes piano
Rhodes piano
The Rhodes piano is an electro-mechanical piano, invented by Harold Rhodes during the fifties and later manufactured in a number of models, first in collaboration with Fender and after 1965 by CBS....
and Azymuth
Azymuth
Azymuth is a three-piece electric funk jazz group from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Formed in 1972, the members are Jose Roberto Bertrami , Alex Malheiros , and Ivan Conti .-History:...
keyboardist Jose Roberto Bertrami's expertise on the Hammond organ and assorted synthesizers such as the Mini-Moog and the ARP Soloist. This sound would later prove a decisive influence on the Acid Jazz
Acid jazz
Acid jazz is a musical genre that combines elements of jazz, funk and hip-hop, particularly looped beats. It developed in the UK over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as tacking the sound of jazz-funk onto electronic dance: jazz-funk musicians such as Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd and Grant Green are...
scene in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
twenty years later.
One innovation in "Previsão do Tempo" was the use of vocal percussion
Vocal percussion
Vocal percussion is the art of creating sounds with one's mouth that approximate, imitate, or otherwise serve the same purpose as a percussion instrument, whether in a group of singers, an instrumental ensemble, or solo.-In Western music:...
on the track "Mentira", ten years before hip-hop artists introduced beatboxing
Beatboxing
Beatboxing is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of producing drum beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice. It may also involve singing, vocal imitation of turntablism, and the simulation of horns, strings, and other musical instruments...
. Valle emulates a drum kit with his voice to perform a pattern and a fill.
From 1972 to 1974, Valle provided the music for "Vila Sésamo
Vila Sésamo
Vila Sésamo is the Brazilian version of the American children's show Sesame Street. As of 2009 it airs on TV Rá-Tim-Bum.- History :Vila Sésamo is the Brazilian version of the popular American educational children’s show, Sesame Street...
," Brazil's version of Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
. In '74, he also released his final album for EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, another self-titled effort. This album differed yet again from its predecessors in pursuing a piano-pop sound reminiscent in turns of Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...
and Bread
Bread
Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...
, and replete with elaborate vocal arrangements. At this point, Valle had grown tired of the strictures of living and working under Brazil's military dictatorship
Military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....
, then in its darkest and bleakest phase. He therefore decided to return to the U.S., where he spent the rest of the decade. Settling in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, he entered into collaborations with artists as diverse as Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and R&B singer and songwriter Leon Ware
Leon Ware
Leon Ware is a soul music singer, songwriter and producer. Best known for crafting the hit album, I Want You, originally recorded for Ware, until friend and Motown icon Marvin Gaye was assigned to the album in 1976...
. Valle and Ware found themselves especially compatible, and wrote many songs together, Valle appearing on several of Ware's Elektra
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
album releases.
Valle returned to Brazil in late 1980 and completed two albums, 1981's Vontade de Rever Você, and 1983's Marcos Valle. These albums had prominent boogie
Boogie
Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm, "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie music. The characteristic rhythm and feel of the boogie was then adapted to guitar, double bass, and other instruments. The earliest recorded...
, soul and funk influences. These had been present in Valle's work since the beginning of the 1970s and would be permanent influences on his music, also being solidified by his work with Leon Ware and Chicago. His 1982 7-inch single for "Estrelar", a boogie dance track marketed as "workout music" at the time happened to be his best-selling record ever with a total of about 90,000 copies sold. In 1984, he released another boogie single, "Bicicleta", but his recording label (Som Livre) decided to dismiss its entire cast and concentrate on soap opera LPs and Marcos did not make it to release a new album. His final album from the eighties was 1986's Tempo da Gente, and then he took a hiatus from recording. But he kept on playing gigs (something he did not do in his Estrelar days) and writing songs for many different artists like Tim Maia
Tim Maia
Tim Maia , born Sebastião Rodrigues Maia in Rio de Janeiro, was a famous Brazilian musician known for his iconoclastic, ironic, outspoken, and polemical musical style...
, Roberto Carlos
Roberto Carlos (singer)
Roberto Carlos Braga is a Grammy Award-winning Brazilian singer and composer, who has achieved a great deal of success and recognition in his 50 year career, also known as King of Latin Music....
and Ricky Martin
Ricky Martin
Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales , better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican and Spanish pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.During his career he has sold more than 60 million album copies worldwide...
.
In the meantime, many collectors had become acquainted with Valle's work of the '60s and '70s, and his music started to enjoy renown among European and American fans, as well as connoisseurs of dance music. Valle recorded a new album in 1999, Nova Bossa Nova, which reached back to his roots in bossa nova and added contemporary electronic influences to his music. At this point Valle had signed with the London-based Far Out label, which specialized in the recordings of Brazilian musicians such as Azymuth
Azymuth
Azymuth is a three-piece electric funk jazz group from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Formed in 1972, the members are Jose Roberto Bertrami , Alex Malheiros , and Ivan Conti .-History:...
(his backing band on 1973's Previsão do Tempo) and Joyce. In 2001 Valle also produced two other discs, Live in Montreal with guitarist Victor Biglione and a backing band, and Bossa Entre Amigos, a release aimed at the Brazilian market that featured Valle sharing the bill with famed Braziilian guitarist and songwriter Roberto Menescal
Roberto Menescal
Roberto Menescal is a Brazilian jazz guitarist important to the founding of bossa nova. In many of his songs there are references to the sea. He is also known for work with Carlos Lyra. Menescal has performed in a variety of Latin music mediums, including Brazilian pop, Música Popular Brasileira,...
and singer-guitarist Wanda Sá
Wanda Sá
Wanda Sá is a Brazilian bossa nova singer and guitarist, active from 1964 to the present day.Her first guitar teacher, when she was 13, was Roberto Menescal. Later, she worked with Sérgio Mendes in his group Brasil '65, and also with Marcos Valle and Kátya Chamma...
.
Escape, and especially its follow-up, Contrasts (released in 2003) showed increased electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
influences, aided by the production skills of London-based electronica producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Roc Hunter. Valle showed on these releases that he was able to stay true to the roots of his sound, but also remained open to modern influences and possessed the ability to integrate them into his style. On 2005, Valle released Jet Samba, an all-instrumental collection, highlighting reworked compositions from past albums, as well as several new songs. Valle continues to perform in Brazil and throughout Europe.
In 2010, he released Estática, an album which saw him return to a more organic approach, albeit with the use of some analog synthesisers. The record features expansive horn and string arrangements and has been referred to as a 'masterpiece' by some.
In 2011, he collaborated with Phenomenal Handclap Band to contribute a version of the song "Tudo o Que Você Podia Ser" for the Red Hot Organization's
Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization is a not-for-profit, 501 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilation albums, related television programs and media events to raise...
most recent charitable album "Red Hot+Rio 2." The album is a follow-up to the 1996 "Red Hot + Rio
Red Hot + Rio
Red Hot + Rio is a compilation album produced by Paul Heck as part of the Red Hot AIDS Benefit Series intended to promote AIDS awareness. This installment is a contemporary tribute to the Bossa nova sound, especially the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim...
." Proceeds from the sales will be donated to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV and related health and social issues.
Discography
- 1963: Samba Demais (Odeon RecordsOdeon RecordsOdeon Records was a record label founded in 1903 by Max Straus and Heinrich Zuntz of the International Talking Machine Company in Berlin, Germany. It was named after a famous theatre in Paris, whose classical dome appears on the Odeon record label....
) - 1965: O Compositor e o Cantor (Odeon/EMI)
- 1966 : Braziliance (Odeon)
- 1968: Samba '68 (Verve)
- 1968: Viola Enluarada (Odeon)
- 1969: Mustang côr de Sangue (EMI)
- 1970: Marcos Valle (Quarentão Simpático) (EMI)
- 1971: Garra (Odeon)
- 1972: Vento Sul (EMI)
- 1973: Previsão do Tempo (EMI/Odeon)
- 1974: Marcos Valle (No Rumo Do Sol) (Odeon)
- 1980: Vontade de Rever Você (Som Livre)
- 1983 : Marcos Valle (Som Livre)
- 1986 : Tempo da Gente (Arca Som)
- 1999: Nova Bossa Nova (Far Out RecordingsFar Out RecordingsFar Out Recordings is a UK-based record label specializing is the music of Brazil.The label released a Milton Nascimento performance of two ballets.-Artists:*Aleuda*Antonio Adolfo*Arthur Verocai*Azymuth*Binario*Celia Vaz*Clara Moreno*Danny Wheeler...
) - 2001: Escape (Far Out)
- 2002: Bossa Entre Amigos (with Roberto Menescal and Wanda Sá)(Albatroz)
- 2002: Live in Montreal (Rob)
- 2003: Contrasts (Far Out)
- 2005: Jet Samba (Dubas)
- 2008: Conecta ao Vivo No Cinematheque (live)
- 2010: Estática (Far Out RecordingsFar Out RecordingsFar Out Recordings is a UK-based record label specializing is the music of Brazil.The label released a Milton Nascimento performance of two ballets.-Artists:*Aleuda*Antonio Adolfo*Arthur Verocai*Azymuth*Binario*Celia Vaz*Clara Moreno*Danny Wheeler...
)