Home » Jazz Musicians » Marcos Valle

Marcos Valle

Marcos Kostenbader Valle (born in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian singer, instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. He has produced works in many musical styles, including bossa nova, samba, and fusions of rock, soul, jazz, and dance music with Brazilian styles.

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 such as Edu Lobo and Dori Caymmi, and his composition "Sonho de Maria" was included on the Avanco album by the influential Tamba Trio in 1963. With his brother Paulo Sergio Valle as his lyricist, he had already built an impressive portfolio of songs, prompting Odeon Records (a subsidiary of EMI) to sign him as a singer. His debut album Samba "Demais", was released in April 1964. His reputation quickly spread, and his fellow musicians (including Wilson Simonal, Elis Regina, and Nara Leão) lined up to record his songs. A second album, O Compositor e o Cantor, followed in 1965, and featured what would become his most recognisable song, "Samba De Verão" – known in English as "So Nice (Summer Samba)" – along with other hits such as "Deus Brasileiro," "Gente", and "A Resposta".

Nineteen sixty-six brought Valle's first trip to the United States, where he and his then-wife Anamaria briefly teamed up with Sérgio Mendes in an early version of what would later become Brasil '66. The threat of being drafted and sent to Vietnam caused Valle to return quickly to Brazil, although the following year saw him back to the United States and enjoying some success, including the release of his U.S. debut album, 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 featuring English-language versions of songs from his earlier Brazilian releases.

Shortly thereafter, feeling homesick, Valle returned to Brazil and entered a new creative phase. Viola Enluarada (1968) was more mature and introspective, far removed from the frothy feel of Samba '68. The title track was a duet with Milton Nascimento and became one of Valle's signature compositions in Brazil. It also betrayed a political consciousness largely absent from Valle's previous work – he would become more overtly political in the years to come. The album as a whole pointed to a broader range of musical influences (particularly the Northeastern Brazilian styles he had enjoyed listening to since his childhood days) that moved him out of the "strictly 'bossa nova artists' club."[1]

Read more

Tags

5
Album Review

Marcos Valle: Braziliance!

Read "Braziliance!" reviewed by Chris May


First released in 1966 on Warner Bros., Marcos Valle's third album was his debut US release. An instrumental set, it is packed (if a 29-minute album can be so described) of great tunes composed by Valle with his brother Paulo. Like Antonio Carlos Jobim's own-name US debut, The Composer Of Desafinado Plays (Verve, 1963), another instrumental set, Braziliance was likely conceived as a showcase for the brothers' songwriting, with a view to generating covers by US artists. Valle plays understated ...

287
Album Review

Ithamara Koorax: Love Dance: The Ballad Album

Read "Love Dance: The Ballad Album" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


Ithamara Koorax has released several albums in Brazil and Japan, but Love Dance is only the second US album for this star from Rio, the follow-up to her debut Serenade in Blue.

With her unmistakable voice, Koorax sings English, Portuguese, and Spanish love songs composed by such masters as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Luiz Bonfá, Marcos Valle and Ivan Lins, plus songs by Claus Ogerman and Jurgen Friedrich (in German). Her voice manifests this diversity to its advantage: ...

Read more articles
2

Recording

Backgrounder: Eumir Deodato Plays Marcos Valle

Backgrounder: Eumir Deodato Plays Marcos Valle

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

In 1964, Brazil's Equipe label released Impulso!, an album by a 20-year-old studio keyboardist and arranger named Eumir Deodato. Today, Deodato is probably best known for his 1973 album Prelude and his work for producer Creed Taylor and his CTI label in the 1970s. Back in Brazil in the early 1960s, Deodato played organ in the style of many bossa nova players such as Walter Wanderley. Impulso!, along with Deodato's Inutil Pasisagem (Forma) and Ideias (Odeon) were similar in terms of ...

Interview

Interview/Preview: Marcos Valle at Birdland

Interview/Preview: Marcos Valle at Birdland

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Next week, if you are in New York, you will have a rare opportunity to see and hear a genuine bossa nova legend from Rio de Janeiro. After a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, Marcos Valle is performing again at Birdland, from September 13 to 17. Marcos is the composer of So Nice (Summer Samba), The Face I Love, Crickets Sing For Anamaria, If You Went Away, The Answer, Chup Chup I Got Away, She Told Me She Told ...

1

Interview

Interview 2018: Marcos Valle

Interview 2018: Marcos Valle

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Next week, the legendary bossa nova pianist, singer and composer Marcos Valle will make his only New York appearance this year at Birdland. Joining him will be singer Paula Morelenbaum and cellist Jacques Morelenbaum. They toured with Antonio Carlos Jobim between 1984 and 1994. The BossaBrasil spectacular at Birdland—from May 29 to June 2—is being produced by the exceptional Pat Philips-Stratta, who each year brings Marcos and other bossa legacy artists to the club for a taste of toasty Rio ...

1

Performance / Tour

BossaBrasil Marcos Valle & Carlos Lyra "Bossa Nova History At Birdland" From May 26- 30

BossaBrasil Marcos Valle & Carlos Lyra "Bossa Nova History At Birdland" From May 26- 30

Source: Michael Ricci

Delta Air Lines presents BossaBrasil Marcos Valle and Carlos Lyra With Patricia Alvi (vocals), Renato Massa (drums), Itaiguara Brandao (bass) Jorge Continentino (sax & flute) Forty years after it swept the world, Bossa Nova stands as as one of the enduring musical forms of the 20th century! MARCOS VALLE, legendary Brazilian Composer/Keyboardist says, “CARLOS LYRA is my idol. It is my great pleasure to join with him at my favorite Jazz Club, Birdland.” While many of its architects—the creators of ...

1

Performance / Tour

Birdland Presents Marcos Valle And Stacey Kent December 9-13

Birdland Presents Marcos Valle And Stacey Kent December 9-13

Source: Michael Ricci

To celebrate his 50th career anniversary as a Songwriter, Arranger, Instrumentalist, and Singer, Brazilian artist Marcos Valle, joined American singer Stacey Kent's sweet beautiful voice to express a repertoire of half a century of successes. This reunion of these two artists has resulted in a CD titled Marcos Valle & Stacey Kent LIVE, which is being released by Sony, in USA, Canada, Europe, and Asia, in November 2014. This unique collaboration comes to Birdland Dec. 9-13 to present this incredible ...

Video / DVD

Interview: Marcos Valle

Interview: Marcos Valle

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

I'm a huge fan of Marcos Valle's music. Who isn't? If you love Samba de Verão—known in the U.S. as Summer Samba (So Nice)—then you know what I'm talking about. As soon as I heard Marcos was going to be making a rare New York appearance at Birdland May 27-31 with the legendary Roberto Menescal, I just had to chat with him for The Wall Street Journal. In today's paper, I interview Marcos on his beach-side apartment in Rio de ...

70

Interview

Interview: Marcos Valle (Part 3)

Interview: Marcos Valle (Part 3)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Upon his return to Rio in 1968 following an extended American tour, Marcos Valle began to record with a new confidence. His music also took on a more percussive and rock feel as Brazilian music changed and developed over the decades. But he also retained his knack for passionate ballads and spirited songs with catchy melodies. In Part 3 of my three-part interview with Valle, the legendary singer-songwriter talks about his mentor Antonio Carlos Jobim, his rediscovery by young European ...

38

Interview

Interview: Marcos Valle (Part 2)

Interview: Marcos Valle (Part 2)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Marcos Valle has a way with a melody, whether he's singing in Portuguese or English or simply playing the piano. Three albums are perfect evidence of his poetic ability: Braziliance! (1967) Samba '68 (1968) and Viola Enluarada (1968). In each case, you hear how Marcos baits a melody line to seduce the listener. Even songs with titles such as Crickets Sing for Anamaria or Chup Chup, I Got Away remain in your head long after the songs have finished playing. ...

24

Interview

Interview: Marcos Valle (Part 1)

Interview: Marcos Valle (Part 1)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

The bossa nova was conceived in Rio in the mid-'50s by a generation of highly gifted singer- songwriters who loved West Coast jazz and adapted its lyrical approach to cool off and personalize the samba. Among these Brazilian innovators were Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joao Gilberto, Luiz Bonfa, Joao Donato and Vinicius de Moraes. By the early '60s, the demand in the U.S. and Europe for new catchy bossa nova melodies began to outstrip the supply, and new Brazilian composers were ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Braziliance!

Mr. Bongo
2020

buy

Jazz Is Dead 1

Jazz Is Dead
2020

buy

Jazz is Dead 3:...

Jazz Is Dead
2020

buy

Ao Vivo

Som Livre
2013

buy

Marcos Valle

Som Livre
2013

buy

Garra

Som Livre
2013

buy

Videos

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.