manfredo fest: brazilian dorian dream
Francisco Espregueira
In 1976, after moving to the USA to work with fellow countrymen Sergio Mendes, Manfredo Fest recorded and self-released a golden nugget of Brazilian music: Brazilian Dorian Dream, now reissued by Far Out Recordings. The album is influenced by American jazz, funk, and music of the European baroque and romantic era, preserving in its seven tracks a distinct Brazilian approach. The coming together of these intergenerational and intercontinental styles coupled with Fest’s visionary use of the Fender Rhodes, Clavinet, Arp and Moog synthesizers (plus a whole load of effects units), makes for an album light years ahead of its time.
Accompanied by Thomas Kini (bass), Alejo Poveda (drums, percussion) and Roberta Davis (vocals), Brazilian Dorian Dream builds on the principle of the modal diatonic scales of the Dorian mode, with Davis’ vocals being highlighted by Fest itself on the album’s liner notes for its virtuosity in nailing such precise intervals so accurately. The keys and synths are mind-bending, sounding almost alien for 1976, for 2020. Manfredo passed away in 1999, with his music never reaching the audiences it deserved. Due to the independent nature and limited run of the original release, Brazilian Dorian Dream has to this day remained almost impossible to find on vinyl. Far Out Recordings’ public service makes this masterpiece available to new audiences with a remastered vinyl, CD and digital reissue.