A Brazilian Love Affair (1980)

The strength of Brazilian Love Affair lies in the way it combines so many musical styles without sounding discorded. Each song is a natural progression from the last. In many respects it's comparable to the Nuyorician Soul album (1997) which took such an eclectic but also educated look at Puerto-Rican/Latin music and its influence on, through immigration, the New York music scene. This album does much the same with Brazilian music, except is perhaps more of an achievement, having been almost entirely written by George himself.

Said to have been musically inspired by a Duke Ellington concert at the age of four, George took up the piano soon afterwards. Having turned professional before he left high school, his ensuing career could hardly have been more eclectic. He played in a rock group before joining a Latin band, Jaxx Co-Op. He led a resident jazz trio at a local nightclub while studying at the San Francisco conservatory where he majored in trombone and composition. He toured for three years as a pianist with Al Jarreau, before discovering the electric piano and working with Jean-Luc Ponty. In 1970 Frank Zappa invited him to join The Mothers of Invention, and encouraged him to develop his vocals and work with synthesizers. After forming the Cobham Duke Band with Billy Cobham and recording two albums together, George recorded as a solo artist on the MPS label and later Epic, where his work became better known. By which time he had also taken on board influences from disco and acts such as George Clinton and Earth, Wind and Fire.

This eclecticism is always present on his albums, as is his love for Brazilian music. Take Diamonds and Omi (Fresh Water), an early collaboration with Raul De Souza, from his 1977 album Reach For It. It's this love of Brazilian music that adds such strength to the recordings, because it's so genuine. He doesn't blandly copy Brazilian standards, nor does he pretend that this is just Brazilian music but a fusion, a 'love affair' if you will, between it and his own musical background. Between American and Brazilian artists, who included Flora Purim, Airto Moreira, Raul De Souza and Milton Nascimento. So the album flows from the jazz funk of the title track, to the Brazilian pop of Summer Breezin' and Brazilian Sugar, to the furious Latin salsa of Up From The Sea It Arose And Ate Rio, to the ballads Love Reborn and I Need You Now, to the unaccompanied piano of Alone · 6AM. On the two rerecordings on the album George undertook the unenviable task of covering Cravo E Canela and Ao Que Vai Nascer, both from Milton Nascimento's Clube de Esquina album. With Milton rerecording his own vocals, Cravo E Canela follows the group vocal of the MPB 4 version of his song, while on Ao Que Vai Nascer Duke expands on the original, adding sypathetic synthesizer and orchestral arrangements.

The result is a surprisingly complete album, with a quality of composition that has the power to truly get under your skin with just one hearing.