So, the year is 1989, on any Sunday afternoon at the Dingwalls Club in Camden Town & the DJ is a young Giles Peterson. And the tune that has just sent the sweating, speeding crowd in this tiny, packed, darkened club into orbit? That'll be Aldeia de Ogum, a rare Brasilian track by Joyce, which was doing the business on both the dancefloor & the record stores, changing hands at well over £100.

The rush of interest by the (then) new Jazz scene, saw the emergence of shops and labels such as Talkin' Loud, Mr Bongo's, Soul Jazz & Acid Jazz. This led to a whole new generation of record buyers/collectors seeking out the hard to find back catalogues of artists such as Joyce. Her albums have been extensively bootlegged in the UK & Europe but The Essential Joyce is the first album to cover her recording career.

The Essential Joyce covers the sounds of an extraordinary & resilient artist over 4 decades & for almost 30 years as a recording artist. Over time, Joyce's music has spanned both musical & cultural divides, from 60's psychedilia to Brasilian dancefloor jazz & Joni Mitchell style folk through to anti-government revolutionary politcal songs (Brasil's military dictatorship persecuted many artists, Joyce included, having their material censored and banned).

The process of discovery taken by UK record collectors since the late 80's has unearthed many classic tracks previously almost unknown in the UK. Include amongst these the massive Aldeia de Ogum, Feminina which is a womans anthem (in a country not known for its progressive attitudes to women), & Docura Forte/ Agua E Luz which is an epic & beautiful ballad. Her popularity was finally established at an incredible celebratory concert at the Brixton Fridge in 1993, packed to the rafters & again with Giles Peterson as DJ.

This is the ninth release on the Mr Bongo label which has been compiling, unearthing, and discovering music from Latin America. The original inspiration for this album was when Mr Bongo discovered that he had lost his copy of Docura Forte Luli and in desperation to hear it again decided to include it in a compilation covering the career of one of his favourite Brasilian artists.

Joyce has written the accompanying sleevenotes to this collection which puts her importance as a recording artist into both musical & cultural context. Enjoy...

Buy this release here