Marcos Valle

Marcos Kostenbader Valle (born September 14, 1943 in Rio de Janeiro)^[1] is a Brazilian singer, songwriter and record producer. He has produced works in many musical styles, including bossa nova, samba, incidental music and fusions of American/European rock, soul and dance music with Brazilian styles.

Biography

Valle's talent was evident from his high school years, which coincided with the explosion of the Bossa Nova movement in Rio. His classmates included future legends like Edu Lobo and Dori Caymmi, and his composition "Sonho De Maria" was included on the Avanco album by the highly influential Tamba Trio in 1963. With his brother Paulo Sergio Valle as his lyricist, he had already built an impressive portfolio of songs, prompting the Odeon label (a subsidiary of EMI) to sign him as a recording singer. His debut album Samba Demais was released in April, 1964. His reputation quickly spread, and his fellow musicians (including Wilson Simonal, Elis Regina, Nara Leão and many others) lined up to record his songs. A second album, O Compositor e o Cantor, followed in 1965, and featured the debut of what would become his most recognizable song, "Samba De Verão" (known in English as "So Nice (Summer Samba)"), as well as other instant classics as "Deus Brasileiro," "Gente" and "A Resposta."

1966 brought Valle's first trip to the United States, where he and his then-wife Anamaria teamed up with the also recently-emigrated Sérgio Mendes briefly in an embryonic version of what would later become the latter's hugely successful Brasil '66. The threat of being drafted and sent to Vietnam caused him to return quickly to Brazil, however, although the following year saw him back to America and have a more positive experience which included his debut American release "Braziliance!" on Warner Bros. Records, and several appearances on the Andy Williams TV show. Following session work on Verve Records releases by compatriots Walter Wanderley and Astrud Gilberto, the label released Valle's "Samba '68" album featuring English-language versions of assorted songs from his earlier Brazilian releases.

Shortly thereafter, feeling homesick, Valle returned to Brazil and entered a new creative phase in his career. 1968's "Viola Enluarada" album was a more introspective affair, with Valle's songwriting attaining a more mature and reflective tenor far removed from the frothy and lighthearted feel of the "Samba '68" album. The title track became one of Valle's signature compositions in Brazil and was a duet with future icon Milton Nascimento. It also featured a surprising political bent almost absent in Valle's previous work - he would go deeper and deeper with political and social contestation in the years to come -, and the album as a whole pointed to a broader range of musical influences (particularly the Northeastern Brazilian styles he enjoyed listening to since his childhood days) that moved him out of the "strictly "bossa nova artists" club." ^[1]

This process continued on 1969's "Mustang Cor De Sangue Ou Corcel Cor De Mel," another leap forward that incorporated rock, soul and pop styles, all stamped with Valle's unmistakable melodic style. His singing was strong and confident, and his work on the album reflected the sophisticated pop approach of American songwriters such as Jimmy Webb and Burt Bacharach as well as the inescapable influence of The Beatles.^[1]

Around this time, Valle was tapped to create theme music for assorted TV programs and "novelas" (soap operas), which over the next few years would become one of the main outlets for his work, along with advertising jingles. 1970's "Marcos Valle" (often referred to as "the Bed Album" due to its cover shot of Valle in bed) was his most adventurous effort to date as well as his most rock and psychedelic-influenced music up to that point. Backed by Milton Nascimento's backing band Som Imaginario, Valle explored a more eccentric approach, with a number of futuristic tracks and an extended instrumental suite not unlike the work of U.S. composer/producer David Axelrod. 1971's "Garra" was a career highpoint, a pop masterwork that summed up his music and still stands as one of the finest pop albums of the era, Brazilian or otherwise. Its effervescent pop/jazz/soul/bossa/film soundtrack musical stylings were matched by lyrics that attempted to reconcile Valle's hippie leanings with his status as a wealthy young musician who was also a successful businessman because of his successful novela soundtracks and corporate advertising accounts. Telenovelas he provided some or all of the music for during this period included "O Cafona,"Uma Rosa Com Amor", "Minha Doce Namorada," "Pigmalião 70," "Os Ossos Do Barão" and, most prominently, "Selva De Pedra." He also wrote the score for the film "O Fabuloso Fittipaldi" (1973).

1972's "Vento Sul" album found Valle long-haired and bearded, and backed by the progressive rock band O Terço. His most experimental and left-field effort to date (he even flirted with heavy metal on the song "Mi Hermoza"), it was something of a sales flop, although it has accumulated many admirers over the ensuing decades. The following year's "Previsão Do Tempo" fared better and was an innovative effort made in conjunction with the band who initially formed to back Valle at live shows and named themselves after one of his songs, Azimuth (soon to change the spelling to Azymuth). This album had a notable jazz fusion influence due to his enthusiasm for the Fender Rhodes piano and Azymuth keyboardist Jose Roberto Bertrami's expertise on the Hammond organ and assorted synthesizers such as the Mini-Moog and the ARP Soloist. This sound would later prove a decisive influence on the Acid Jazz scene in Europe twenty years later.^[1]

One innovation in "Previsão do Tempo" was the use of vocal percussion on the track "Mentira", ten years before hip-hop artists introduced beatboxing. Valle emulates a drum kit with his voice to perform a pattern and a fill.

From 1972 to 1974, Valle provided the music for "Vila Sésamo," Brazil's version of Sesame Street. In '74, he also released his final album for EMI, another self-titled effort. This album differed yet again from its predecessors in pursuing a piano-pop sound reminiscent in turns of Elton John, Todd Rundgren and Bread, and replete with elaborate vocal arrangements. At this point, Valle had grown tired of the strictures of living and working under Brazil's military dictatorship, then in its darkest and bleakest phase. He therefore decided to return to the U.S., where he spent the rest of the decade. Settling in Los Angeles, he entered into collaborations with artists as diverse as Sarah Vaughan, Chicago and R&B singer and songwriter Leon Ware. Valle and Ware found themselves especially compatible, and wrote many songs together, Valle appearing on several of Ware's Elektra album releases.^[1]

Valle returned to Brazil in late 1980 and completed two albums, 1981's Vontade de Rever Você, and 1983's Marcos Valle. These albums had prominent boogie, soul and funk influences. These had been present in Valle's work since the beginning of the 1970s and would be permanent influences on his music, also being solidified by his work with Leon Ware and Chicago. His 1982 7-inch single for "Estrelar", a boogie dance track marketed as "workout music" at the time happened to be his best-selling record ever with a total of about 90,000 copies sold. In 1984, he released another boogie single, "Bicicleta", but his recording label (Som Livre) decided to dismiss its entire cast and concentrate on soap opera LPs and Marcos did not make it to release a new album. His final album from the eighties was 1986's Tempo da Gente, and then he took a hiatus from recording. But he kept on playing gigs (something he did not do in his Estrelar days) and writing songs for many different artists like Tim Maia, Roberto Carlos and Ricky Martin.

In the meantime, many collectors had become acquainted with Valle's work of the '60s and '70s, and his music started to enjoy renown among European and American fans, as well as connoisseurs of dance music. Valle recorded a new album in 1999, Nova Bossa Nova, which reached back to his roots in bossa nova and added contemporary electronic influences to his music. At this point Valle had signed with the London-based Far Out label, which specialized in the recordings of Brazilian musicians such as Azymuth (his backing band on 1973's Previsão do Tempo) and Joyce. In 2001 Valle also produced two other discs, Live in Montreal with guitarist Victor Biglione and a backing band, and Bossa Entre Amigos, a release aimed at the Brazilian market that featured Valle sharing the bill with famed Braziilian guitarist and songwriter Roberto Menescal and singer-guitarist Wanda Sá.

Escape, and especially its follow-up, Contrasts (released in 2003) showed increased electronica influences, aided by the production skills of London-based electronica producer Roc Hunter. Valle showed on these releases that he was able to stay true to the roots of his sound, but also remained open to modern influences and possessed the ability to integrate them into his style. On 2005, Valle released Jet Samba, an all-instrumental collection, highlighting reworked compositions from past albums, as well as several new songs. Valle continues to perform in Brazil and throughout Europe.

In 2010, he released Estática, an album which saw him return to a more organic approach, albeit with the use of some analog synthesisers. The record features expansive horn and string arrangements and has been referred to as a 'masterpiece' by some.^[2]

In 2011, he collaborated with Phenomenal Handclap Band to contribute a version of the song "Tudo o Que Você Podia Ser" for the Red Hot Organization's most recent charitable album "Red Hot+Rio 2." The album is a follow-up to the 1996 "Red Hot + Rio." Proceeds from the sales will be donated to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV and related health and social issues.

Discography

• 1963: Samba Demais (Odeon Records)
• 1965: O Compositor e o Cantor (Odeon/EMI)
• 1966 : Braziliance (Odeon)
• 1968: Samba '68 (Verve)
• 1968: Viola Enluarada (Odeon)
• 1969: Mustang côr de Sangue (EMI)
• 1970: Marcos Valle (Quarentão Simpático) (EMI)
• 1971: Garra (Odeon)
• 1972: Vento Sul (EMI)
• 1973: Previsão do Tempo (EMI/Odeon)
• 1974: Marcos Valle (No Rumo Do Sol) (Odeon)
• 1980: Vontade de Rever Você (Som Livre)
• 1983 : Marcos Valle (Som Livre)
• 1986 : Tempo da Gente (Arca Som)
• 1999: Nova Bossa Nova (Far Out Recordings)
• 2001: Escape (Far Out)
• 2002: Bossa Entre Amigos (with Roberto Menescal and Wanda Sá)(Albatroz)
• 2002: Live in Montreal (Rob)
• 2003: Contrasts (Far Out)
• 2005: Jet Samba (Dubas)
• 2008: Conecta ao Vivo No Cinematheque (live)
• 2010: Estática (Far Out Recordings)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} allmusic Biography
2. ^ Marcos Valle -- Estática

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Name	Valle, Marcos
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Date of birth	September 14, 1943
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