Various

Azymuth were a Brazilian jazz-rock band, formed in '69, whose keyboard and percussion driven spacey samba was way ahead of its time — as has become evident with the many album reissues and number of contemporary artists singing the band's praises. Here, the second in the Misturada remix series to focus on an Azymuth album, songs from Woodland Warrior are remixed, reinterpreted and rewritten by producers such as 4 Hero, Jazzanova and Roc Hunter. The results are wide-ranging, respectful and brilliant, with a complete listen suggesting that the remixers are like minded artists of a newer generation, as well as admirers. "Laranjeiras" is covered twice, with 4 Hero offering the sumptuously smooth, super-jazzy “Afro Latin London” mix, and leaving the drum & bass interpretation to Flytronix who build their jazzy breakbeats around the song's original ideas and drop complete elements into the track. London Elektricity offer one of the year's strongest jazzy d&b cuts with "That's Today" artfully incorporating original bits, building skilfully around the bass line and growing purposefully to smash things up. House vibes are well represented by DJ Savannah's (Yellow Productions) incredibly deep, smooth and catchy rendition of "Ah Voce Nao Sabe," and Dan Jones' infectious samba-house take on "Xingo," where the prominent keys and vocal loops are hooky as heck. The collection wisely closes with Azymuth's own live rendition of "Zes Trip Mais Uma Vez," which puts all other tracks into context and shows off the group's considerable skill and sense of fun. One can almost hear their sweaty grins; an image that the remixers no doubt took into their own studios as inspiration.