“Meu Piao”: Disco Nova

In the late 1990s I took a chance on a CD at Marshall’s (from the cheap-o bins they use to keep near the registers) by Astrud Gilberto — the 1960s singer who helped popularize bossa nova.  The title of the disc, Gold, was not only misleading but annoying, since these ten songs had already been sequenced (differently) and released in 1977 as an album entitled, That Girl From Ipanema.

Image Records

(1977)

The standout track for me is “Meu Piao” — sounds like a club hit from the original disco era, and yet it appears never to have been released as a single, astonishingly:

“Meu Piao“

Astrud Gilberto (1977)

Song written by Alfredo Ricardo do Nascimento (a.k.a., Zé Do Norte)

I particularly enjoy the elegant disco stylings of the session bass player toward the end of the song.  I find it funny, though slightly maddening, that these extensive musician and production credits for this album list two notable session bassists – Ron Carter and Will Lee –  and yet still fail to name the artist responsible for the nice fretwork on the bass guitar for track A2, “Meu Piao”!  If I had to choose between those two musicians, I would guess that the bass lines on this recording belong to Will Lee.

LP Musician & Production Credits

Astrud Gilberto – Vocals
Joey Dee – Backing Vocals
Mary Eiland – Backing Vocals
Maureen McElheron – Backing Vocals
David Nadien – Concertmaster
Guy Lumia – Concertmaster
Allan Schwartzberg – Drums
Gary Mure – Drums
Ronnie Zito – Drums
Larry Washington – Congas
Dom Um Ramao – Percussion
Jim Maelen – Percussion
Jon Bates – Percussion
Rubens Bassini – Percussion
Vincent Montana, Jr. – Vibraphone & Percussion
Ron Carter – Bass [tracks: A3, A4, B2, B3]
Will Lee – Bass [tracks: A1, B1, B5]
Eli Tatarsky – Guitar
Elliot Randall – Guitar
Gene Bertoncini – Guitar
Jack Wilkins – Guitar
Jay Berliner – Guitar
Richard Resnicoff – Guitar
Stuart Scharf – Guitar
Cotton Kent – Piano
Frank Owens – Piano
Ben Aranov – Piano & Synthesizer
Warren Bernhardt – Moog Synthesizer
Phil Bodner – Alto Saxophone & Flute
David Tofani – Saxophone
Edward Daniels – Saxophone
George Marge – Saxophone
Lou Marini – Saxophone
Raymond Beckenstein – Saxophone
Arthur Kaplan – Tenor Sax
George Young – Tenor Sax
Harvey Estrin – Tenor Sax & Flute
Romeo Penque – Tenor Sax & Flute
Bernie Glow – Trumpet
Irvin Markowitz – Trumpet
Joseph James Shepley – Trumpet & Flugelhorn
Victor Paz – Trumpet & Flugelhorn
Dominick Gravine – Trombone
Jimmy Knepper – Trombone
Sam Burtis – Trombone
Urbie Green – Trombone
Wayne Andre – Trombone
Alan Raph – Bass Trombone
Joe Randazzo – Bass Trombone
Earl Chapin – French Horn
James Buffington – French Horn
John Trevor Clark – French Horn
Arranger – Al Gorgini
Arranger – Don Sebesky
Arranger – Ben Aranov
Arranger – Vincent Montana, Jr.
Engineer [Assistant] – Jon Bates
Engineer [Recording] – Bruce Gerstein
Recording Supervisor & Engineer – Fred Miller
Executive Producer – Hank O’Neal
Remix – Carl Paruolo
Producer – Astrud Gilberto & Vincent Montana, Jr.

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Discogs reports that recording and remix of the album took place at Downtown Sound and Sigma Sound.

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LINK to Brazilian +/- Bossa Nova on Zero to 180