Agustín Pereyra Lucena is a reminder of the border-defying quality of music. Born in 1948 in Buenos Aires, he started playing the guitar at 14 and quickly found his calling in Brazilian music. While performing at a nightclub in his early twenties, he was approached by record producer Jorge Delmonte and soon found himself recording this very album, his debut, for the Tonodisc label.

Now reissued by Far Out Recordings, the album features Agustín alongside fellow Brazilian music lovers, bassist Mojarra Fernandez and drummer Zurdo Roizner (both of whom had recorded with Vinicius de Moraes), and singer Helena Uriburu, a friend of Agustín’s who had never recorded in a studio before.

The album comprises an array of bossa nova classics, such as ‘Consolação’ and ‘Canto de Ossanha’ by Baden Powell and Vinicius de Moraes, ‘Samba do Avião’, ‘Pro Forma,’ and ‘Chuva’ that were popularised by Tom Jobim, as well as one of Agustín’s own compositions, ‘Niña No Divagues’, which fits perfectly in between.

Agustín’s warm, energetic, and bold playing gives even the best known classics a new character and energy. He shows many musical sides—the calmness of some bossa moments is complemented with a daring way of playing, matched well by Mojarra’s groovy bass, Zurdo’s sometimes fierce drums, and Helena’s airy vocals. There’s a great balance between each musician’s own characterful playing and their interaction. The album climaxes with a wild yet beautiful arrangement of ‘Berimbau,’ which starts with Agustín playing guitar as if it were a berimbau.

The reissue from the original tape transports us to a moment in 1970 when Agustín’s long career hadn’t happened yet – he went on to travel around the world to play his style of bossa nova, releasing nine studio albums and performing with many of Brazil’s and Argentina’s greatest musicians until his death in 2019.

A hint of this future may have been in the liner notes of the original album, which featured a photo of a handwritten note by Vinicius de Moraes himself: “I think I never saw, with the exception of Baden Powell and Toquinho, anyone more linked to his instrument than Agustín Pereyra Lucena.”

Agustín Pereyra Lucena's eponymous album was reissued by Far Out Recordings on 26/01
You can listen to and purchase your copy HERE