Curumin’s Top 10

Photo by Marcos Vilas Boas

A bandleader by the age of eight, it’s pretty clear how Luciano Nakata Albuquerque earned the nickname Curumin, an indigenous Brazilian term for precocious children.

Theme covered the multiple-instrument playing musician in Issue 4. On the heels of his sophomore album, Japan Pop Show, Curumin took a moment to give us his Top 10 favorite albums from his native Brazil.

1. Artur Verocai Artur Verocai (1972)
Artur Verocai is a composer, arranger and studio musician on many classic records from Brazil. This is his first solo record and it has a very Minas Geraes (a state in Brazil) flavor. It’s a soul/funk/experimental masterpiece. On this album Verocai recorded with the guys from Abolição and Banda Black Rio, artists that represent the cream of the crop from the ‘70s.

2. Tom Jobim Matita Perê (1973)
It’s a smooth, slow, and deep album with great arrangements by Claus Ogerman. This was the perfect soundtrack for touring in a van along the California highways—sunny, dry, and slow with long horizon lines. Plus, he has a song inspired by one of my favorite writers, Guimarães Rosa.

3. Marku Ribas Underground (1976)
Underground is a kind of afro-samba soul funk featuring great musicians and arranged by the mythic funky maestro of Brazil, Erlon Cahves (head of Banda Veneno). Marku is pure music in everything he does. With the new record, I even called him to guest and sing on one song.

4. Pedro “Sorongo” Santos Krishanda
A rare and fine gem with crazy arrangements by maestro Jopa Lins, the percussionist Pedro Santos goes to very different places exploring strange instruments and textures.  The sound is like Bollywood meets Fela and samba. He has beautiful lyrics that reflect the “hare krishna” philosophy.

5. Estudando o Samba - Tom Zé - 1975
Tom Zé is one of the geniuses of a great generation of Brazilian music and this is his masterpiece.  The title’s means “studying the samba,” but for me it sounds like Tom Zé deconstructing the samba. He created very experimental arrangements with strange and beautiful lyrics.

6. Paulinho da Viola Foi um rio q passou em minha vida (1970)
Very lyrical and elegant, this samba album mixes orchestra arrangements with root samba batucada and adds a lot of beautiful reverbs (the sound engineer is damn good!). With this album they found the meeting point between classical and roots. It’s pure old-style carioca soul.

7. Arnaldo Antunes O Corpo (1999)
This album was made for a dance company, Grupo Corpo, from Brazil. The songs are intense with tons of energy; it sounds like tribal beats. There’s also strange minimalist poetry about the body. Before you take a listen, I’d recommend starting on a good trip.

8. Jorge Ben Força Bruta (1970)
I spoke with Nereu Gargalo, the mythic tambourine player from the Trio Mocotó band. Trio Mocotó was Jorge Ben’s band and Nereu told me at the time of recording, Jorge was falling deep in love. He was blessed and very inspired; all the recording sessions were unique and flowed easily. They completed the whole album in three days. Music from the heart. What more can I say?

9. Racionais MC’s Sobrevivendo no Inferno (1996)
Not just another gangster rap album, Racionais hits you with the incredible truth and vision about São Paulo—the violence, poverty, racism, and life in the ghetto. Meaning “surviving in hell,” it’s very raw and strong with dirty beats made with lo-fi equipment. This album changed the way people in São Paulo speak, the way they understand the city. This album sold one million copies without the Racionais going on TV or giving an interview. Big. 

10. Erasmo Carlos Sonhos e Memorias (1972)
In the ‘60s Erasmo was a teen rock/pop star in Brazil. But with Sonhos e Memórias he welcomed the hippie/LSD era and made a deep psychedelic album. There are a lot of different musical references but to me it sounds like a meeting of Jorge Ben and Pink Floyd.