Grupo Um

Formed in 1975 and lasting until 1983, Grupo Um operated as a Brazilian jazz fusion trio built around brothers Lelo Nazario on keyboards and Ze Eduardo Nazario on drums and percussion, with bassist Zeca Assumpção completing the lineup. While serving as the rhythm section for Hermeto Pascoal’s ensemble, they came together in 1974 under his guidance and began exploring their own compositional, arranging, and improvisational abilities. Their first recording sessions remained shelved until 2023, yet every later release earned widespread critical praise.

Viajando Com o Som, captured during their time with Pascoal, surfaced only in 2017 and offers one vivid illustration of that period. Over two days at Vice-Versa Studios, the trio laid down what would become Starting Point, working with engineer Renato Viola in a facility equipped with cameras and monitors that allowed total focus on performance. Although the album stayed unreleased, Brazilian musicians who heard copies expressed astonishment; Lelo Nazario, certain of its value, stored the masters safely in his home studio vault for 47 years.

Undeterred, the group tracked Marcha Sobre A Cidade in late 1978, issuing it the following year with saxophonist and flutist Mauro Senise. In 1981 Philips released Reflexões Sobre a Crise do Desejo by an expanded lineup that included electric keyboardist Felix Wagner and bassist Rodolfo Stroeter (who replaced Assumpção except on one track), while Senise stayed aboard. The esteem of fellow players helped make Grupo Um a major live draw across Brazil.

A Flor de Plastico Incinerada appeared in 1983, the same augmented ensemble now pushing into fresh territory by fusing their signature samba-infused jazz with vanguard improvisation, funk, classical elements, and Brazilian folk traditions. A remastered, expanded edition followed in 2010. Unable to secure lasting industry support at home, the band dissolved soon afterward, though all original members and several later participants built lasting careers as in-demand session musicians.

The core trio reconvened in 2015 for a performance at the Jazz Festival a Fábrica do Sesc Pompeia, delivering a charged set that merged their funky, samba-tinged fusion with modern free jazz and electro-acoustic textures and drawing a standing ovation. Selo SESC SP documented the concert and issued it in 2016 as the much-collected Uma Lenda ao Vivo.

England’s Far Out Recordings finally brought Starting Point to light in 2023, revealing the trio’s bold, electrified, and borderless musical identity. Their work alongside Pascoal supplied sonic and stylistic foundations that shaped subsequent projects, among them Marcos Resende & Index’s self-titled debut, Cesar Mariano & Cia’s Sao Paulo Brasil, and Azymuth’s 1976 self-titled album.