Thanks for this album!
Liner notes:
Pé ante Pé's history can be traced back to the late 70's, a time when instrumental music was at its most effervescent in São Paulo. All founding members were young musicians who met each other while professionally playing at night clubs (drummer Caito Marcondes, for instance, took part in Hermeto Pascoal's combo between 1977 and 1978, playing with Lelo & Zé Eduardo Nazário and Zeca Assumpção, from the soon-to-be-created Grupo Um), besides studying composition and harmony together with legendary names such as Hans Joachin Koellreutter or Cláudio Leal Ferreira.
This ambitious convergence of instrumentalists from different backgrounds gave birth to an octet: Homero Lolito on piano, Caito Marcondes on drums, Teco Cardoso, Mané Silveira and Xico Guedes on saxes, Jarbas Barbosa on guitars, Betão Caldas on vibraphone and Gerson Frutuoso on the acoustic bass. They soon developed and original repertoire (mainly comprised of compositions and arrangements by Homero, with colaboration from Mané, Jaebas and Betão) and started presnting their work at places like the historic Lira Paulistana theather, literally and underground (it was a basement) venue which was the man showcase for "new music" groups such as Divina Increnca, Pau Brasil, Grupo Um, Freelarmônica, ZonAzul, Medusa and Arrigo Barnabé, among many others.
A few months later, 1980, they released their first (independent) LP featuring a new bass player, Tuco Freire. The condictions were far from ideal: eight musicians using only eight tracks, which was everything they could get back them. Anyway, the resulting album was amazingly good and commanded great respect from the critics and musical aficionados alike in a time when many others criative releases of the same high quality standards were also unleashed.
After two years of intense gigging, Xico, Mané and Betão lefr the group due to the increasing difficulty to schedule rehearsals and reach the desired experimentation level with the full band. So, with two invited bass players (Sylvio Mazzucca Jr., who stayed with the band till the end, and Nico Assumpção), they recorded their second and final album, "Imagens do inconsciente" ("Images from the unconscious"), which would rate as their definitive masterpiece. Now, the best technical conditions were available: two-inch tapes with 24 channels, a Steinway grand piano from Hamburg, Sonor drums and the best mikes and effects around - an authentic deluxe production.
Unfortunately, with the closing of the Lira Paulistana theather and the ever diminishing space for the instrumental music projects in the city, most of the band menbers secured professional appointments with others artists, leaving little space for the groups activities. So, the band dissolved, leaving a rich legacy of musical experimentation in both aestethic and improvisational fields and having been responsible for the development of part of a generation talented musicians who've kept producing quality instrumental music for the present day.
