Waldir Calmon – Airport Love Theme

While relatively unknown abroad, Waldir Calmon was an enormously popular pianist and band leader in his native Brazil. His recording career began in 1941 and he would go on to release dozens of albums throughout the fifties and sixties, with performances scheduled as often as three times per day in Rio. He was a pioneer of early synthesizers and also took an early interest in Hammond organs.

Released toward the end of his career in 1970, E Seus Multisons is for the most part a rather uneventful collection of the easy listening that was popular at the time. The standout here, however, is a wonderful and bizarre cover of composer Alfred Newman's "Love Theme" from the film Airport. Featuring electric guitar, a brass section and wordless choir over a loose, funky beat, by the time Calmon begins to mimic steel drums on his beloved Hammond B3, one can only wonder how this track even came to be.

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