Tahira is a name that many will become more familiar with now – after hearing his superb selection of Brazilian music for Jazz & Milk.
This is the first Afro-Brazilian compilation for the German label, which has specialised in jazz and funk influenced productions and reworks. It’s an insightful decision to team up with one of São Paulo’s most active DJs and music collectors. While many DJs tend to play Brazilian music that has more cross-pollination with jazz, soul, funk and disco, Tahira’s has selected tracks from the past four decades that display more wide ranging influences and roots – Levanta Poeira expertly encompasses Brazil’s various regional musical styles influenced by African and Amerindian forms and that is what makes it so special.
Most of these tracks will be made available on vinyl for the very first time with a highlight certainly being Tahira’s A Toda Menina Baiana remix (vinyl-only) of one of Brazil’s absolute musical heroes, Gilberto Gil.
Below is a video featuring Tahira discussing the project, with more words from the label underneath. More from Tahira and Jazz & Milk Recordings label boss, Christoph Doepke, can be read from their interviews, click here to access the WTM labels section.
“Tahira is a well known character and good soul of São Paulo’s music and digging community, regularly searching through record shops, private collections or dusty attics around the country. The passionate DJ dedicated the past four years extensively researching Brazil’s broader spectrum of musical styles and slowly started to introduce more and more African and indigenous elements in his DJ sets.
Encouraged by the great acceptance and success during his shows he decided to curate his first compilation project to share his discoveries with the world. “Levanta Poeira” is a popular Brazilian expression meaning “kick up dust.” This is a phenomenon that can be found throughout the country, a cultural manifestation that exists where people gather to play, dance and party. Earth is hit by the foot of the dancers raising a cloud of dust. It is a sign that the heat of the Brazilian spirit is present!
“The compilation starts of with a key figure of Brazil’s music scene. Since the 1950s, the Genius Gilberto Gil has been gifting us with countless musical blessings.
Very few artists were able to not only explore but embody the diversity of Brazilian music as well as he did. Gil’s endless row of classics include the wonderful track Toda Menina Baiana which has been revisited by Tahira himself. Adding Ijexá beats, as well as Afrobeat stlye guitars and a horn section on top of the original, Tahira managed to make this legendary song attractive to a young and modern audience. The remix starts of with a long percussion intro, builds up very slowly before finally introducing the first vocal verse – an arrangement especially designed for DJs who love to mix and blend Brazilian rhythms in their sets. This remix will be available on vinyl only!”
Click here for Jazz and Milk’s Bandcamp. To read more from the label and Tahira, click here to access the WTM labels section.
