Artist: Walter Wanderley
Album: Brazil's Greatest Hits
Genre: Bossa Nova, Samba
Label: GNP Crescendo
Released: 1980/1995
Quality: FLAC (tracks)
Tracklist:
- A Felicidade 02:52
- Wave 03:14
- Tristeza 02:02
- Meditation 01:53
- Recado 02:56
- Feelings 03:17
- Baia 02:33
- Carnaval 02:34
- Mas Que Nada 01:39
- Girl From Ipanema 02:33
- Canta De Ossanha 02:33
- Triste 02:13
- One Note Samba 02:03
- Quiet Nights 02:20
- Berimbau 02:37
- Desifinado 02:23
- Summer Samba 02:45
- How Insensitive 03:02
- Samba De Orpheu 01:35
- Brazil 03:15
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- Personnel:
- John Pisano - Guitar, Guitar (Baritone)
- Jose Marino - Bass
- Luis Peralta - Berimbau, Cabassa, Cuica, Culca, Drums, Percussion, Tambourine, Waterphone
- Patrice Young - Cello
- Walter Wanderley - ARP Synthesizer, Fender Rhodes, Moog Synthesizer, Organ, Piano, Piano (Electric)
It should be said at the outset that WW was a "keyboardist," not just an organist. He actually started out playing piano in Sau Paulo and Rio clubs before he moved to the organ. So it's not really a departure for him to play the ARP, the Fender Rhodes electric piano, piano, and B3 organ on this compilation. That said, it should also be known that WW died from alcoholism not long after he cut these tracks, so that they don't sound like the "vintage" WW might reflect a man on his way out, both musically and literally, rather than his being affected by 80s culture.
It's rather odd that in Brasil, most folks have never heard of Wanderley; they remember the wife he left to come to America, Isaura Garcia, but not the man who was "discovered" by Tony Bennett and handed over to Creed Taylor at Verve (1966). Summer Samba put WW on the map here in the USA, but his successive output never reached that level of popularity, and in the 1960s American music business, if you're not popular, you're not going anywhere economically speaking. I've heard stories of WW playing drunken gigs in San Francisco tranny bars, and they might be true considering the sad anonymity that became his life. This collection should be considered the last musical gasp of a once popular star. It's really not all that bad, despite the more restrained keyboard style noted in another review. You can hear the earlier WW in a few tracks. I have nearly all the output of WW, including the stuff he realeased in Brasil (Sao Paulo used record stores), so I kinda had to buy this one. If you had to buy a compilation, get the Verve one with the bacon and coldcuts on the cover.