FLORA PURIM & AIRTO
Wings Of Imagination (Concord)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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Flora Purim's amazing vocal range and Airto Moreira'a command of Latin percussion added intriguing flavor to the first incarnation of Return To Forever, granting them pioneer status in the fusion scene. Their post-RTF efforts to lead their own band were disrupted by Purim's arrest and imprisonment on drug charges, but following her release they regained lost ground and made a number of albums together before splitting up (musically, at least) to follow their increasingly disparate musical directions. They reunited in the mid-eighties, and this new Concord two-fer combines a pair of the albums that resulted, 1986's The Magicians and 1989's The Sun Is Out.

The Magicians finds them surrounded by nearly 20 musicians who were mixed and matched from track to track, emphasizing the pop side of their work. Today it would probably be categorized as "smooth jazz," and it would put most of the entries in that category to shame. When it was released it was widely dismissed by the jazz cognoscenti for its pop content, but it's long overdue for a more generous reappraisal.

The Sun Is Out is more representative of Flora and Airto's Brazilian roots, and in a musical climate friendlier to Latin rhythms than existed a decade or so ago, is also well deserving of re-release and reappraisal.

There's a lot of good music on this set, which makes these significant, if not classic, pieces of this important duo's discography widely and affordably available.

Track Lists:

Disc One (The Magicians): Sweet Baby Blues * Garimpo * Esquinas * Bird Of Paradise * The Magicians * Jennifer * Jump * Two Minutes Of Peace * Love Reborn

Disc Two (The Sun Is Out): Samba Do Cantor * The Hope * Viver De Amor * Pablo Sereno * The Sun Is Out * Lua Flora * Asas Da Imaginacao (Wings Of Imagination) * Forever Friends * Midday Sun * Olivia (Changes)

© 2002 - Shaun Dale