:: Reviewing Brazilian Music We Like Since September 7, 2002 ::
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Brazilian Music Digest Is it possible to summarize a century of Brazilian music in one hundred recordings? After reading André Domingues’s enjoyable book Os 100 Melhores CDs da MPB (The 100 Best CDs in Brazilian Music), you might just think … Continued
Pure Relaxation One thing that amazes me in Rosa Passos recording career is the ability she has to add more life to Brazilian classics. With 13 songs in Curare to prove that, Rosa shows why critics and other artists … Continued
Coffee with the Trio There’s probably nothing more Brazilian than coffee and soccer. With Trio da Paz’s fourth release, Café, you will experience at least half of what is intrinsically Brazilian. This album is a knock-out production full … Continued
To João, With Love An unabashed tribute to her idol João Gilberto, Amorosa is Rosa Passos’s latest work. Still hot on the trails of her successfully acclaimed 2003 collaboration with Ron Carter (Entre Amigos), Passos selected gems from the João … Continued
Paradise Found The first time I heard Pamela Driggs was in Brasília’s album River Wide (Kokoppelli Records KOKO 1304, 1995). Brasília was based in New Mexico and included, besides Driggs, her husband Romero Lubambo on guitars, Phil Markowitz and Phil … Continued
A Sure Pleaser I have always been a fan of Brazilian vocal groups. In the 1970s, names such as Quarteto em Cy and MPB-4 were common household names. Their tight harmonies and sometimes exquisite multi-layered vocal arrangements were captivating … Continued
Wishing for More The year was 1962. Prior to the historic Carnegie Hall Bossa Nova concert, that same year, Oscar Castro-Neves met a young American musician named Paul Winter. An instant kinship, as Castro-Neves defines it, was formed. Brazil’s … Continued
Good Samba & Choro Samplers One of the most frequent questions I hear when people are trying to buy their first Brazilian CD is what album I would recommend for someone not yet very familiar with Brazilian music. Choosing … Continued
Getting in the Groove of Brazilian Music I will say right up front that I dislike compilations for the sole reason of their being a big marketing ploy in Brazil. However, I am yet to hear a compilation by Putumayo … Continued
Magnificent! I often think that what makes a song Brazilian goes beyond melody, instrumentation, and rhythm. There is also that special Brazilian way, the jeitinho brasileiro, to capture music and make it distinctly Brazilian. Furthermore, there are lyrics. Yes, … Continued
For Lovers An excellent Bebu Silvetti production, who also wrote the arrangements, Dos Enamoradas only has the unfortunate mixture of some Brazilian songs added along with the original project. Blame it on the recording label to think about … Continued
— Antônio Carlos Gomes Belchior Fontenelle Fernandes, or Belchior, as he was simply known in the Brazilian musical scene, was born in Sobral (Oct. 26, 1946) in the northeast state of Ceará, Brazil. He was a founding member of the … Continued
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