It was only this past March when The Midnight Hour’s Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge released the first compilation of their new imprint, Jazz Is Dead. This compilation set the tone for what JID was going to be, and who would be hearing from. The idea, of course, was that Muhammad and Younge wanted to provide a space for older jazz musicians to come in and record an album of all new material, with their assistance and promotion. So far this year, we’ve gotten albums from Roy Ayers and Marcos Valle. Now JID is back with Brazilian ensemble Azymuth for JID004.

Azymuth is a Brazilian trio from Rio de Janeiro formed in 1973, consisting of Jose Roberto Bertami on keyboards, Alex Malheiros on bass and guitar, and Ivan Conti on drums and percussion. They developed a sound that they called “Samba Doido,” or “Crazy Samba,” which in a practical sense means that they took samba and added doses of soul, funk, jazz, and prog, making it all their own. They’ve had success over the years, mostly in Brazil and Europe, but never had much crossover success in the states. Real jazz heads will know who they are, but they never had any sort of vocal collaboration or worked with American musicians to give them that introduction to American audiences and achieve crossover success. Although one such jazz head who has worked with one of the members is Madlib, who made an album in 2008 with Ivan Conti under the name of Jackson-Conti, Sujinho. Unfortunately, Bertami passed away in 2012, but since that time, Conti and Malheiros recruited Kiko Continentino to fill in on keys.

For this particular album, Younge and Muhammad aren’t trying to fix what ain’t broke, they’re just giving them the setup to record like it’s the mid ‘70s, and filling out the instrumentation as needed, whether it be with sax, flute, additional keys, or percussion. The key here, though, is that Azymuth know exactly what they’re doing, and Jazz is Dead is just helping them fill things out and make the best album they can make. If you’re not familiar with Azymuth, you’re in for a treat, because this album is smooth as hell. It’s got grooves for days, and it’s just impossible to sit still while you’re listening to it. The musicianship is also spectacular – the kind that’s so good that you don’t notice it at first because everything is lining up perfectly and no one is playing in a flashy style. It’s all about the vibe, and this is some music for some warm summer nights when you don’t have a care in the world. So maybe you can put this album and escape to your happy place for a while.

Jazz is Dead has had a short lifespan so far, but they’ve already made quite an impact. Azymuth marks their third act to release an album with them, and it’s a gorgeous, soulful effort that will hopefully give them more American ears that can appreciate what a great group they are.