During my short break in Valencia, I couldn’t resist popping into a record shop, as usual. As well as a few new releases, I bought an album that I used to own a long time ago but never got back after lending it out. Prelude, the debut album by the Brazilian pianist, arranger and composer, was released in 1983 and is rightly regarded as a milestone in fusion jazz/rock.
It’s an album I discovered before punk and new wave changed everything. I was able to get to grips with some of the music in that genre, but I never became a proper fan. Even the opening track – Deodato’s adaptation of the introduction to Richard Strauss’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra – sets the tone for what’s to come.
A hypnotic piano riff opens the track, which, over the course of nine minutes, develops into a funky, grooving monster. Alongside a solid brass section, guitar solos are interspersed throughout, giving the song just the right kick. A song that was ahead of its time back then and still is today.
Deodato - Also sprach Zarathustra
