:: Reviewing Brazilian Music We Like Since September 7, 2002 ::
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All about Bossa Nova When Wanda Sá, born in São Paulo (1944) but living in Rio since she was one month old, released her first album, Vagamente (1964), Brazil had its personification of Bossa Nova. With her soft, sultry voice, … Continued
Modern Tradition When I heard the second album of Conversa Ribeira (Águas Memórias, 2013), I was struck by the beautiful sound of the trio. At least for one third, the voice of Andrea dos Guimarães was responsible for that. The … Continued
The Democracy of Bossa Nova It was on July 10th, 1958 when “Chega de Saudade” had its final recording as title track on João Gilberto’s album. The composition by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes is marked as the … Continued
Continuing… Maria Bethânia’s backyard is full of Brazilian tradition. Just like Brazil’s backyards. As one of the country’s most popular vocalists, she loves to share with her audience a repertoire that represents the social and ethnic diversity of Brazil. At … Continued
A Noteworthy Debut Raised in Miami and now living in the San Francisco Bay Area, Sherie Julianne recently released her first solo album, 10 Degrees South, with solid arrangements by Brazilian pianist Marcos Silva, who has been her mentor for over … Continued
A Love Journey Just in time for a Valentine’s celebration, Paulinho Garcia’s new album, Beautiful Love, presents us with the various complexities of love. Beautiful Love is a collection of Brazilian, Latin American and U.S. standards performed in a very intimate and … Continued
The Birth of Brazilian Contemporary Music Composer, maestro and cellist Heitor Villa-Lobos (Rio de Janeiro, 1887-1959) is internationally known as Brazil’s most important composer. Ethnomusicologist Gerard Béhague described Villa-Lobos as “the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian … Continued
Vinícius de Moraes: A Centennial Celebration! This podcast was produced to honor the centennial birthday of Vinícius de Moraes. He was born in Rio de Janeiro, RJ, on October 19, 1913, and passed away in Rio de Janeiro, RJ, on … Continued
Intimately Refreshing Continuing its Piano Masters Series, Adventure Music has now released the fourth installment in the series. This time, the Fazioli piano is played by none other than Jovino Santos Neto. Readers of MB have seen a few … Continued
The Seduction of Piano and Voice. I have seen and heard several releases of piano and voice through the years. The minimalist approach is always very seductive, especially when one artist seems to be an extension of the other. … Continued
Unpretentious Craftsmanship Pianist Kenny Barron and Brazilian Music — the two go well together. Kenny’s love for Latin Music was fueled by working with Dizzy Gillespie (on, among others, Jambo Caribe in 1964 and The Melody Lingers On from 1966 on which they … Continued
An Ode to Amazonia The Amazon rainforest has been a center of attention for decades because of its infinite resources and sustainability issues for our planet. It is truly a region of superlative dimensions and significance. With over two million … Continued
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