Tam Tam Tam Reimagined is the second instalment to come from Gilles Peterson’s Sonzeira project. Overseen by the legendary DJ and record collector, Sonzeira aims to take apart and reassemble the pieces of what makes Brazil’s music so unique. This album focuses on a key moment in the country’s history and represents a reimagination of a classic Brazilian record made at a crucial moment.
The album Tam Tam Tam by little-known José Prates celebrates a distinctly Afro-Brazilian culture that was later suppressed following a coup in the early 1960s that led to a military dictatorship. The music was arranged in the 1950s to accompany a touring dance show financed by the Brazil Culture Ministry and was created to promote the country’s culture to the world. When the show toured Europe in 1958, the tracks were released as an album (which included ‘Nana Imboro’ heralded as a prototype to Mas Que Nada – the track that became Sergio Mendes’ mega anthem). So obscure is Prates today that Gilles Peterson made a Channel 4 news TV appeal for a copy of the LP (see below).
Having eventually managed to source a fresh copy, Peterson assembled a distinguished team to dissect the original album and pick out phrases and snippets to build songs around. The result features many Peterson trademarks: there’s jazz, in the form of drummer of the moment Moses Boyd, featured on three tracks; there are contemporary Brazilian influences, courtesy of producer Kassin, and there’s a strong club flavour with Will Horrocks from UK bass-meddling duo LV and Rob Gallagher from 2 Banks of 4 also lending their production skills. We’ve picked out our favourite track from the album:
You can listen to the full Tam Tam Tam Reimagined LP here.