:: Reviewing Brazilian Music We Like Since September 7, 2002 ::
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The Sum of Its Parts With years of experience in the New York City Brazilian jazz scene and having played with a who’s-who list of Brazilian artists, three very talented musicians got together to release Forests, a heavy Brazilian … Continued
A Concert Review Some concerts are just not to be missed. When singer, guitarist and composer João Bosco is around, one knows one has to go! Brazil’s musical icon was on a modest tour in Europe, visiting the smart venues … Continued
Multi-Instrumentalist Shines Two of André Mehmari’s previous works have been featured here — Piano & Voz and Continuous Friendship — but with De Árvores e Valsas, André shows yet two more fascinating sides to his music and artistry: multi-instrumentalist and composer. Though he had … Continued
New Names in a Strong Debut What is known as Brazilian Popular Music (MPB, música popular brasileira) is an ever-growing market. Just when one thinks the market has exhausted its influence in Brazilian music, a new name appears on … Continued
Unpretentiously Pleasing The first time I heard about Paulinho Garcia was with his 2000 choro CD with Julie Koidin Dois no Choro, a nice release with some Brazilian classic choros. Following that release, Paulinho’s name continued to appear in … Continued
After the appearance of a more than satisfying debut album, it’s always a thrill to see how things evolve. This is one of those occasions. The follow up of the self-titled first album from À Deriva invites for a speculative curiosity. The music on their first cd sounded very personal and inspired and showed a high level of professionalism. Here is the sequence: À Deriva II.
Extraordinary Women Caetano Veloso’s “Gatas Extraordinárias” song captures the essence of Simone and Zélia Duncan’s live recording Amigo É Casa very well. The two performers have had a solid career with their individual albums. With this 2008 CD and … Continued
A Few Surprises The repertoire in Live at JazzBaltica might not be totally brand new, but the sound Trio da Paz creates with guest vibraphonist/composer Joe Locke is all smooth and captivating. The Trio pulls a few … Continued
Standard and New Bossa Sergio Augusto deprived us listeners from his acoustic guitar and soothing vocals far too long. In 2005, he made a triumphal come back with Tudo Que Arde, Cura. Four years later, he gives us an … Continued
A Tribute to the Music of the 1940s & 1950s Some things are definitely worth waiting for. Samba Meets Boogie Woogie was recorded in May and June 2006, but post-production took nearly two years. Finally, the album was released in … Continued
An Interview with Alexandre Eisenberg Composer Alexandre Eisenberg is a native of Rio de Janeiro, and studied composition there and in the United States at Indiana University. His works have been featured at the biannual festivals of contemporary music … Continued
Revisiting Possibly Neglected Moments of His Career Even with a career that spans 35 years, singer Alceu Valença still comes up with nice ideas. His idea for this album is to brush up some older songs that in … Continued