Inter-American Dialogue: The Leon Ware - Marcos Valle Connection

This is what blogs are for. I've been fascinated by the collaboration between Marcos Valle (left) and Leon Ware (below) for years now, ever since I read on Dustygroove that Marcos had written some songs on Leon's "Rockin' You Eternally" album. A deeper look reveals that their collaboration was a two-way street and the songs they wrote together are peppered across several albums of Leon's and Marocs'. Sure, I could try and write a proper article about this phenomenon, but the blog format seems ideally suited for this topic. I recognize that not everyone will be intrigued by this side alley of popular music, but for those who are, I'll dissect this collaboration in depth.
I've collected some (but not all) of the songs and recordings of the Ware-Valle partnership in this blog post, beginning with a song that was written by Marcos Valle and Robert Lamm (of Chicago) which Leon recorded for his 1979 album "Inside is Love."

Leon Ware - Love Is a Simple Thing
As far as I can tell, this is the first published intersection between Leon and Marcos, though Marcos is not playing on this record. It's strange to think that Marcos Valle and late-seventies Chicago were grooving to the same sounds, but it was a different time and when you really think of it they both come from similar backgrounds: jazz-influenced, blue-eyed pop soul.

Leon Ware - Rockin' You Eternally
For me, this is really the crowning achievement of the inter-American songwriter duo. The title track of Leon's first of two album on Elektra, "Rockin' You Eternally" is quintessential quiet-storm funk. Leon's clearly spearheading the lyrics on this one, but the music has got the unmistakable Marcos Valle touch, especially in the (and I'm not very expert in describing musical concepts) way the song changes keys in the chorus. You'll not that same chord progression in a Marcos song below that otherwise sounds nothing like this tune. I wonder if there is a recording somewhere of Marcos doing this tune in Portuguese or a Leon Ware - Marcos Valle demo . . .


Leon Ware - Baby Don't Stop Me
Here we have the first example of a song that both Leon and Marcos recorded in different, but very similar versions. Leon's is clearly rooted in an early-80s quiet-storm boogie mode with hardly a trace of Brazil in the mix.

Marcos Valle - A Paraíba Não É Chicago
I've been listening to this album non-stop for the past few days and it just doesn't get old. The whole thing is great, without a weak song among the bunch. This is the lead-off track and as you can hear, it's Marcos' version of "Baby, Don't Stop Me" with that exact chorus being sung by Chicago' Peter Cetera. This song and "Sei La" were the only two songs recorded in LA, I'm guessing, before Marcos returned to Brazil to stay and finish the album.

Marcos Valle - Velhos Surfistas Querendo Voar
This is the real sleeper on the album and took a dozen or so listens to really grow on me. This is also the tune that reappropriates the chord-progression from "Rocking You Eternally", but that's about where the similarity with the latter song ends. This song is where the album title comes from too.

Marcos Valle - Não Pode Ser Qualquer Mulher
This is a beautiful tune composed by the duo, with lyrical assistance from Marcos' go-to lyric writer, Paul Sergio Valle (his brother).

Marcos Valle - Bicho No Cio
Before I even knew about the Marcos Valle - Leon Ware connection I got this Brazilian promotional 7" single with four songs and this was one of them. I immediately dug the slow, funky groove and began my search for the album it came from. This is also the second song, like "Baby Don't Stop Me" that both artists did in similar versions.

Leon Ware - Got To Be Loved
Here we have Leon's version of "Bicho No Cio". I love Leon's work throughout his career, so I mean no disrespect when I say that aside from "Rocking You Eternally", I prefer Marcos' versions over Leon's and this song is no exception.

Leon Ware - Somewhere
This is an interesting tune that shows Leon getting into a Brazilian groove unlike any other recording of his I've heard. That would be Flora & Airto on vocals and percussion.

Marcos Valle - Dia D
Here's the last tune in the set, a one-off collaboration in a funky party mode. This album features one other tune with co-writing credits from Leon, but its a pretty mediocre slow-jam. This is a fun song from a seriously under-rated album. Actually, my next post will likely pull the song "Fogo de Sol", which I just discovered is the vocal version of one of my favorite Marcos Valle tunes, "Adam's Hotel" from the Deodato album "First Cuckoo".

T.G.I. Mutha Funkin' Friday!

It's about time we leave Brazil and get back to home turf for some smokin' tunes perfect for getting ready for the weekend. I'm still neck-deep in Tim Maiania, but everyone needs a break sometimes. I'm sure he'll be making another appearance here in not too long. Today's post has been in the procrastinating for months, if not years. A while back I chance upon two excellent disco 12"s that had a theme in common - Friday Night! And then I remembered another great Friday song that couldn't be more different in style than disco, but that's why this blog is called "Soul Spectrum", because I don't keep to one genre, but just play what I want, when I want and today its kick-ass Friday tunes!

Black Oak Arkansas - Hot Rod (live)
I got this record back in the glory days of 50 cent records at Everyday Music in Portland, OR. My brother and Mr. Morgan turned me on to this digging "technique" back in the summer of 2001 as I was just beginning to fill out my crates with everything from disco to rock. I found this album and quickly realized that this group was on a whole nother level. If Lynyrd Skynyrd is the poor-man's Allman Brothers' Band, then Black Oak Arkansas is the illiterate, inbred-man's Lynyrd Skynyrd. Fronted by a long-haired hillbilly by the name of "Big" Jim Dandy (who plays electrified washboard), these guys have no shame about their Southern pastimes (Hot Rod) or the Arkansas weather forecast (Hot & Nasty) or their dystopic visions of the future (Mutants of the Monster). I also liked that this live album was recorded in Seattle and Portland, confirming that the pasty-white Pacific Northwest is a not-too-distant cousin of the southern poor-white-trash. This song is all about the opening monologue and is specifically why its starts off today's Friday playlist.

Bell & James - Livin' It Up (Friday Nite)
And now we make the not-so-subtle transition to our disco double-whammy. This one I came across on some "Paradise Garage Classics" mix and managed to score the 12" at a flea market in Brooklyn. Pretty straight-ahead late 70s disco just the way I like it. The instrumental break-down is particularly nice.

The Fantastic Aleems featuring Leroy Burgess - Get Down Friday Nite
I snagged this one for a pretty penny from a friend, DJ Gerald McBoing Boing and though I rarely spend more than a couple bucks on a 12", this one was well worth it. Here we have the identical twins, the Aleem brothers, with some help from boogie-king Leroy Burgess getting us ready for the weekend. I absolutely love the use of the keyboards on this to create a kind of dissonant effect which makes the production stand out all the more.

Freeez - Southern Freeez (LP version)
OK, so this song has nothing explicitly to do with Friday, but I chanced upon it while reorganizing and remembered that I had wanted to blog about it. I have listened to it at least a half dozen times in the past 24 hours and need to share it with the rest of you. Josh Nice bought this for me on eBay and it just arrived unannounced in my mailbox. Many thanks, JC! I was also reminded of this song because I came across this album on the ever-great "My Jazz World" blog. This song is one of those "Greatest Feeling" kinda jams. And I guess that's what makes it a great Friday song. Just get in that ecstatic weekend mind state and rock to this.

Introducing Roger . . .

Mr. Morgan and I have been discussing a tag-team approach to the late, great Roger Troutman in all of his incarnations (Roger, Zapp, Funkadelic, Human Body and his productions for other peeps). I'm throwing down the gauntlet now and I hope that Morgan will take notice and return fire. We'll see how long this lasts before the Roger well runs dry, but given this guy's prolificness (a real word?) we should be grooving to Roger's elctro-voice for awhile.

Roger & the Human Body - Freedom (parts 1 & 2)
Roger & the Human Body - Nature's Song
Starting off, we have two of my favorite cuts from Mr. Troutman's first recordings. This album has some semblance of the laid-back funk of Zapp, but it kinda reminds me more of Earth, Wind & Fire. Given its 1976 date that makes perfect sense, but Roger's excellent sense of melody while still giving his songs rhythmic anchors can be seen in nearly all of his future output. This is where our Roger journey begins . . .

Oh honey oh heartache

Ah Delegation... this is some supreme euro-boogie. Hailing from England and big in France they never really busted out in the US. I got this picture sleeve 7" at a garage sale from a guy who had a lot of interesting foreign singles. I don't really know which side was intended to be the single, they are both pretty jammin'

Delegation - Put a Little Love on Me

Delegation - You and I

Also here is what most people would consider their "main jam"
Delegation - Heartache Number 9 (off their album "Delegation")

Why I'm Going To California . . .

1. Women, er woman (she's originally from N. California)
2. Wine
3. Sunsets
4. Mine the lyrics of the next three songs for some other compelling reasons . . .

Why I Came To California - Leon Ware









California My Way - The Main Ingredient











California Sunset - The Originals

Brazilian Fire or Fizzle?

I'm gonna make this a quick post . . . In honor of my good friend Bradley who will be heading down to Brazil soon for a great journalistic expedition, I'm posting some tunes from a forthcoming mix that I'm working on. I personally love all four of these songs, but if you feel like chiming in let me know if you like, really like, kinda like or don't like these songs. Strong suggestions either way will influence my decision to include them on the upcoming mix.

Emilio Santiago - O Amigo de Nova York
I was considering bidding on this one when the bidding was in the $30 range, but then it got kinda crazy.





Abaete - Pisa no Tabuado
An all-time favorite of mine that I got off an early Greg Caz comp then managed to track down in Brazil on the vinyl.






Taxi - Melo da Garrafa
Smooth Brazilian funk produced by Lincoln Olivetti. Love the groove here.







Jorge Ben(jor) - Para Que Digladiar
One of the last great Jorge Ben albums and my favorite track off of this album.

Boogie Brasiliero

DJ Set: the ambassador - Boogie Brasileiro

This is my first trepadatious divulgence of my Disc Jockey skills . . . I got this really cool little device awhile back called iKey, which processes an analog signal into a digital recording which goes on a USB flash drive. You can use it to record just about anything and I use it to also record my records at home. I had some failed attempts at recording previous DJ sets, but for whatever reason it worked really well the other night at my friend Yasha's (aka Eleonore) farewell party. She loves her some Brazilian music and I was happy to oblige, so herein you have a 80 minute mix of Brazilian soul, funk, samba, pop and whatever else I brought in my gig bag.


The recording is far from perfect, but its very listenable and there are no embarrassing mixes or transitions. There ARE however the occasional tunrtable bump from an overly enthusiastic dancer and some general rumbles here and there from some serious dancefloor vibrations!

Enjoy and no, a track list will not be provided, but I imagine many of these songs will find their way onto the site before too long.

allen aka the ambassador