Written by Djavan

Djavan Caetano Viana is simply known as Djavan. He is a legendary Brazilian singer/songwriter. From his debut in the second half of the seventies up to now, Djavan’s music is a landmark in terms of sophisticated songwriting and meaningful lyrical content. He is a star in his own country, but his music quickly became loved by singers, musicians and audiences around the world.

In the early eighties, Djavan’s art was discovered in North America with thanks to the help of people including guitar great Lee Ritenour, Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones. Everyone that experienced Djavan’s art fell in love with his music and became ambassadors of his talent. Djavan was also quite influenced by the best sounds coming from Los Angeles and those factors lead to a string of albums recorded there including Luz, Bird Of Paradise and Lilas. Those three records were chocked-full of wonderful songs delivered by Djavan with the help of the best musicians in the world. In this writer’s opinion, Lilas was the best Al Jarreau (1940-2017) album never recorded by the late Milwaukee singing legend. Lilas was recorded in L.A. between February and March of 1984 with Erich Bulling co-producing and Humberto Gatica in the control room. Djavan co-produced Lilas and surrounded himself with absolute geniuses including David Foster and Greg Phillinganes on keyboards and doing arrangements, Michael Landau and Paul Jackson, Jr. playing guitars, Nathan East and Mike Porcaro (1955-2015) accompanying on bass, John Robinson and Carlos Vegas (1956-1998) hitting the drums, Jerry Hey arranging the strings and horns plus many more. As already mentioned, the sounds of Lilas was along the same sophisticated lines of the magical Jarreau’s recordings with Jay Graydon and could rival any quality pop album. As always, Foster arranged a few numbers and worked his trademark magic on keyboards and synths.                                                                                                                            

These pages already saw past reviews of gems like “Liberdade” and “Iris.” This week the spotlight is on a gorgeous mid-tempo entitled “Infinito.”

Beautifully crafted by Djavan with Phillinganes, “Infinito” featured all the most treasured elements of sophisticated pop. Hear a sweet carpet of keys and synths arranged by Foster, a Michael Landau solo to die for and Jerry Hey’s classic horn licks. Djavan’s voice was perfectly at ease with such an elegant musical background and delivered a great performance. 

Material from Lilas was eventually covered by several singers around the world including his compatriot Simone who sang “Liberdade” and “Esquinas.” Italian pop star Loredana Bertè performed “Iris,” “Transe,” “Infinito” and “Esquinas” and Manhattan Transfer sang “Esquinas” with English lyrics under the title “So You Say”.

Listen

• Lead Vocals & Acoustic Guitar: Djavan
• Keyboards & Synths: Greg Phillinganes & David Foster
• Guitar: Paul Jackson, Jr.
• Guitar Solo: Michael Landau
• Drums: John “J.R.” Robinson
• Bass: Nathan East
• Percussion: Paulinho Da Costa
• Synth Programming: Erich Bulling

• Rhythm Arranged by Djavan & Greg Phillinganes
• Synthesizer Arrangement by David Foster
• Horns & Strings Arranged by Jerry Hey

• Produced by Djavan with Erich Bulling

Lyrics

Tô perdido por alguém
Não consigo ver nada além
Do que eu digo nada sei
Compreender o amor
Não é de hoje
Já vai longe
E nem sinal

Hoje
Estou longe
Preso a você
Livre na prisão
Sem castigo
Faz chorar
Distraído rói devagar
É pedindo que Deus dá

Por falar no amor
Acho que vou buscar
Viver por você
Ou me acabar
Quem mandou me acorrentar
Fazer-me refém
Nas grades do amor

Vou buscar
Viver por você
Ou me acabar
Quem mandou me acorrentar
Fazer-me refém
Nas grades do amor

Te vejo lá no luar
Te espero lá do sol
Te vejo lá no luar
Te espero lá do sol

Tô perdido por alguém
Não consigo ver nada além
Do que eu digo nada sei
Compreender o amor
Não é de hoje
Já vai longe
E nem sinal

Hoje
Estou longe
Preso a você
Livre na prisão
Sem castigo
Faz chorar
Distraído rói devagar
É pedindo que Deus dá

Por falar no amor
Acho que vou buscar
Viver por você
Ou me acabar
Quem mandou me acorrentar
Fazer-me refém
Nas grades do amor

Vou buscar
Viver por você
Ou me acabar
Quem mandou me acorrentar
Fazer-me refém
Nas grades do amor

Te vejo lá no luar
Te espero lá do sol
Te vejo lá no luar
Te espero lá do sol

Te vejo lá no luar
Te espero lá do sol
Te vejo lá no luar
Te espero lá do sol

Te vejo lá no luar
Te espero lá do sol
Te vejo lá no luar
Te espero lá…

When a beautiful melody was put in the capable hands of David Foster, the result was a work of art. “Liberdade” was such a ballad. Written by Djavan, one of Brazil ’s most revered musical minds, “Liberdade” (that translates to freedom, liberty or independence in English) was recorded in 1984 for Djavan’s Lilas album. Foster was a key figure on Lilas along with top sidemen Greg Phillinganes, Nathan East, Mike Landau, Jerry Hey and John Robinson.

These super-talented performers brought an elegant west coast approach to Djavan’s superb material. Under the noted direction of Erich Bulling and with Humberto Gatica in the control room, gorgeous soul/pop tunes like “Iris,” “Esquinas” and “Infinito” were enriched by ingenious arrangements from Foster, Phillinganes and Hey. These songs became gems of the most exquisite sophisti-pop. Musically, the tunes sounded like a Brazilian-tainted version of Al Jarreau’s albums of the early eighties. But, “Liberdade” ended Lilas and revealed a shining moment. Here, Djavan penned a delicate melody and matched it with some evocative, tender lyrics delivered by an intense vocal performance. “Liberdade” proved to be a joy to listen to with its synthesizer-laden intro, a memorable refrain and a slow, lush finale. Foster fueled the song’s emotional impact with a spectacular instrumental arrangement built by his work on the keyboards and synthesizers like a gifted architect. “Liberdade” musical scenario was absolutely sublime with East’s smooth performance on bass and Robinson’s precise drumming. Listening to this song and the whole Lilas album shows an appreciation for Foster’s work and helps savor the art of Djavan, one of Brazil ’s most gifted singer/songwriters.

Listen

[audio:https://www.fozfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Liberdade.mp3|titles=Liberdade.mp3|artists= Djavan]

Lead Vocals: Djavan
Keyboards: David Foster
Bass: Nathan East
Drums: John Robinson
Percussion: Paulinho DaCosta
Keyboards Programming: Erich Bulling

Rhythm Arrangement by David Foster
Keyboards Arrangement by David Foster

Produced by Djavan & Erich Bulling

Lyrics

Um amor
Ou um gen da mesma cor
Cintila em mim
O chão a tremer
Conduz a luz

Meu amor
E quer me matar de amor
Que seja assim
Por obedecer
Viver por mim

E voar
Onde o longe é pouco
Cruzar os muros do além E assim pousar na terra

E amar
Muito mais que poucos
Pousar a vida em tuas mãos
E assim cruzar a terra

Liberdade
Vai na poesia
Traz meu destino
Que eu vou sair

Djavan is a true legend in the brazilian’s music world of the past 25 years. Through the years several of Djavan’s compositions have crossed the borders of his native country to become universal classics, sung by people like Manhattan Transfer, Dionne Warwick and Kevyn Lettau. Together with Ivan Lins, he is the brazilian singer/songwriter that has appealed the most to north american producers, musicians and audiences, especially for the strong jazz flavors of his music. During the eighties he recorded a few project in the USA, with guests like Stevie Wonder, Michael Franks and George Duke. “Lilàs” was one of them, released in 1984 with David Foster and many other great musicians adding their unmistakeble touch to Djavan’s music. This album echoes some of Jarreau’s finest stuff of those years, mixing Djavan’s south american roots with the classiest R&B and quality pop.
It’s hard to pick just one song out of the album, cause “Lilàs” is a wonder from start to finish, with its gorgeous ballads, “Esquinas” and “Libertade”, up-tempos like “Infinito” and “Transe” and more traditional brazilian stuff like “Obi” and “Canto Da Lira”. “Iris” is our choice and from its intro all built on synths and keyboards, the Foster fan really feels home.
The track is quality pop at its best, an up-tempo song that finds Foster and the other cats (John Robinson, Nathan East, Mike Landau and Ernie Watts at the sax solo) groovin’ behind Djavan’s vocals and scats. Foster arranged the tune with help by Erich Bulling for the string arrangement and you can just envision the song sung by EWF or Boz Scaggs, it is classic Foster. We suggest you to look for this cd and also check out the rest of Djavan’s work. He truly is a gifted musician and he still makes great records today with beautiful melodies and sophisticated rhythms.

Listen

[audio:https://www.fozfan.com/archives/clips/iris.mp3|titles=Iris|artists=Djavan]

Lead Vocal: Djavan
Keyboards: David Foster
Bass: Nathan East
Drums: John Robinson
Guitar: Michael Landau
Sax Solo: Ernie Watts
Arranged by David Foster
Strings Arranged by Erich Bulling
Produced by Djavan

Lyrics

Mil anos luz
Um instante estelar
No prisma de toda luz
Seu olhar
Tem a coisa que o laser traz
E não diz
Bate e reduz
Quebra a viga do sentimento
Expõe à luz do tempo
Me atrai
E me distrai
E ainda faz um fogo em mim
Chama que eu vou
Chama que eu vou
Chama que eu vou
Desce do ar
Pela cisma que a noite cria
E vem criar o dia
Que eu não conto a ninguém
O que foi que eu vi
Traz no olhar
Um encanto de arco-íris
De tanto mar na íris
Me atrai
E me distrai
E ainda faz um fogo em mim
Toma que eu dou
Toma que eu dou
Toma que eu dou
Por você eu deixo o meu viver
Pra me encantar por ti
Só voce pra me fazer sofrer
E me deixar feliz.