Azymuth

Brazilian fusion jazz trio founded by Bertrami (keyboards), Conti (percussion) & Malheiros (bass). The 3 had been playing in the bossa nova and jazz scene of Rio as live and session musicians, and were living in the same bohemian block in Copacabana when Bertrami invited the two others to join him. They first recorded together as a trio the late 1960s as Projeto III, then recorded an album of covers as Som Ambiente in 1972. (That same year also saw a 7" EP, a quartet fronted by singer Fabiola.) In 1973 they changed the band's name to Azymuth, inspired by a Marcos & Paulo Sérgio Valle song. (They also backed Marcos Valle on his Previsão Do Tempo (opens in a new tab) album released in 1973.) In 1975 they released their first album, initially titled Azimüth. It featured the hit Linha Do Horizonte. In 1976 they scored another minor hit with Melô Da Cuíca. In 1979 Jazz Carnival became another hit, and 1980's Dear Limmertz also became a popular staple. The trio moved to the United States in the early 1980s, producing a number of albums that never came out in Brazil, and placing their bets on a mix of samba, funk and jazz that they defined as MPB-jazz (referring to Música Popular Brasileira). The main composer, keyboardist José Roberto Bertrami left the group in 1988, and was replaced by Jota Moraes and by Marinho Boffa, but Bertrami returned in the middle of the following decade, when the group signed with the label Far Out. After Bertrami died in 2012, keyboardist Kiko Continentino joined drummer Ivan "Mamão" Conti and bassist Alex Malheiros in 2015 to continue the band. After the death of Ivan Conti in April 2023, joined as Conti's successor.