Light as a Feather

by Thom JurekLight as a Feather is simply the first version, a little over half of what would become Azymuth's fine Outubro album. It opens with the weakest cut, the ten-plus minute faux disco "Jazz Carnival," with awful drum effects and popping, funky-yet clichéd basslines by Alex Malheiros. After this there is much to like, however, in the breezy execution of the title track that is nearly as beautiful as Return to Forever's, and features a fine jazz-samba number that evokes both Walter Wanderley and Tom Jobim in José Roberto Bertrami's "Fly Over the Horizon," as well as a beautiful version of Toninho Horta's "Dona Olimpia." Real Azymuth fans will need both this and Outubro because there are a number of cuts here that didn't make that version and vice-versa, including the aforementioned Bertami tune. "This Exists," "Amazona," "Young Embrace" are here, and the spaced out, live electric jazz of Montreux is included here as a bonus track).