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Way more than just your standard bossa collection -- as the set's overflowing with fresh gems from the global underground -- a really great array of contemporary bossa nova numbers, a good deal of which we've never heard before! Despite the "nu-bossa" in the title, most instrumentation ...

An amazing record -- one we'd easily rank right up there with some of our favorite 60s albums from Brazil -- including work by Baden Powell or Elis Regina! This session has echoes of the best of both of those artists, but also predates their key moments too -- a groundbreaking record that combines ...

Brazilian funk from Curumin -- a contemporary set, but one that features a fair bit of old school influences as well! In a way, Curumin's music is sort of an update of the 70s samba soul sound with a bit more beats -- taking the older Brazilian styles into a 21st Century range, and dropping in ...

Beautiful work from Suely Mesquita -- one of the most compelling Brazilian singer/songwriters we've heard in years, sounding even more fully formed here than on her great debut from a few years back! The album's got a sensitivity that really comes through right away -- a complexity in the ...

An overlooked gem from Brazilian singer/songwriter Suely Mesquita -- a record that's hardly the pure sex implied by the title, given the deeper thought that goes into the music! Suely's vocals are certainly seductive enough, but they're cast here in some beautifully understated musical settings, ...

A brilliant debut from Brazilian singer Glauco Lourenco -- an artist who dedicates his first album to Joni Mitchell, but who's got a really rich sound that's all his own! Like Mitchell, Lourenco definitely has a lot of jazz in his ears -- but he's also got a beautifully personal way of putting ...

An album that's as sonically striking as the image of Kali C spattered in paint on the cover -- funky rhythms, soulful vocals, and some really offbeat production -- almost like a Brazilian take on the sorts of grooves we've been digging from Tru Thoughts over the years! There's definitely a hip ...

Brilliant stuff -- the first album ever by samba singer Orlandivo, a great talent who had a knack for blending samba, bossa, jazz, and a bit of soul -- surfacing here with a sound that's quite different than most other singers of his generation! The record features organ by the great Ed Lincoln, ...

Lovely work from Bebel Gilberto -- her debut for Verve -- which in a way, brings her home, given that Verve released so many great records in the 60s from Brazilian artists with boundary skirting appeal! Bebel's work has never lacked warmth, but she's bringing even more of it to this set, with ...

Sweet and jazzy pop from early 70s Brazil -- a great little album that we'd rank with our favorites by Marcos Valle and Edu Lobo! Arthur Verocai isn't nearly as well-known as those two, but he works in a similar territory -- taking jazz, large arrangements, and nice touches of electric funk -- and ...

A rare French session by bossa guitarist Luiz Bonfa -- recorded in Paris at the height of his best early years! The album's got a feel that's really great -- dreamy guitar over lightly dancing arrangements, in a mode that's slightly different than the usual Rio style of recording at the time. ...

Fantastic! Normally this sort of "big pop star-meets-big pop star" album is nothing to write home about -- but this killer double-length set by Gilberto Gil and Jorge Ben features both artists at the top of their form, playing in stripped-down styles that sum up their best work of the ...

A real classic from Sergio Mendes -- probably most famous for its funky bits! The record pushes past the formula of the earlier Brasil 66 albums, and goes for a more sophisticated approach that adds in some sweet electric moments, more complicated grooves, and an overall sound that's even hipper ...

Very groovy bossa tracks -- very much in the mode of some of the Verve hit recordings of the mid 60s! After the success of the Astrud Gilberto/Joao Gilberto work with Stan Getz, it's clear that Philips and Luiz Bonfa wanted to get in on the act -- and they've paired Bonfa's guitar with vocals from ...

The start of a legend -- and the very first album by Sergio Mendes' Brasil 66 group, proudly brought to the world through the godlike talents of a young Herb Alpert! Sergio was no stranger to the recording studio by the time of this set, but the record marked a real shift in his music -- a change ...

Early live work from Baden Powell -- a set recorded for Elenco in Brazil, but done with some of the best stripped-down, intimate modes of his later European recordings! Baden's acoustic guitar is firmly in the lead on most tracks, and the sound is almost solo, in a way -- as the added piano of ...

Smoking live work from Seu Jorge -- a set that follows nicely from his studio album America Brasil -- with grooves that are as full and soulful as that one! Gone are the sparer, more folksy modes that Seu Jorge used in the past -- and in their place is a more rounded approach to samba soul -- one ...

Beautiful solo work from Sivuca -- but done with a really full sound overall! Given that Sivuca's probably one of the greatest accordion players of the past century or so -- a Brazilian equivalent of Astor Pizzaolla, both in terms of technique and rich breadth of imagination -- a solo setting is ...

Trio Mocoto were the legendary Brazilian rhythm group who worked with Jorge Ben at the start of the 70s, and who put out a rare few albums on their own -- all great groovers with a really excellent blend of samba and soul! This reissue appears to be one of them -- and it's not the more famous ...

Ostensibly an album of songs for children, but a groovy groovy set that has plenty more to offer for adult lovers of contemporary Brazilian music! The songs are often repetitive, lyrically -- which makes they very catchy, and a bit playful -- yet they're also given some deeply sensitive ...

A stunning batch of early tracks from one of Brazil's greatest artists! The album includes loads of Jorge's choppy bossa-styled tracks, all driven by his tight acoustic guitar playing, and haunted by his deeply soulful voice! The album's a masterpiece that has Jorge breaking out in a hip new ...

One of Milton Nascimento's darker LPs, with a great set of tracks that have a deep rock feel to them, yet which maintain all of the soulful spirit that was in Nascimento's earlier recordings. Nascimento's working here with a great set of musicians that include some of Brazil's most farthest-reachin ...

One of Chico's strongest albums of the late 70s -- a masterful set of sophisticated tunes, recorded with some great guest help from Milton Nascimento, Zizi Possi, and Elba Ramalho! The album's got a slightly melancholy feel overall -- not completely somber, but a slightly world-weary sound that ...

One of the most mindblowing albums ever recorded -- anywhere, anytime! This 1969 set stands as one of the greatest records ever cut by Gal Costa -- done at the height of the Tropicalia movement, and featuring a sublime mix of styles that really gets the spirit of the movement right. Arrangements ...

One of the greatest albums ever cut by Brazilian soul singer Tim Maia -- a set that's more ambitious and more expressive than his famous 70s work for Polydor, but a record that has none of the too-smooth sounds of Tim's later years! There's a really trippy feel to most of the instrumentation and ...

Fantastic jazzy funk! This is the second record by Azymuth -- and it's way way better than anything they ever cut in America! It's got a wonderful vibe that mixes Brazilian fusion influences with the tight grooves of a Maurice White-inspired generation -- and the result still sounds amazingly ...

An excellent album by one of the greatest Brazilian funk bands ever! Band Black Rio were the stuff of legends back in the 70s -- an all-funky powerhouse, with inspiration from American groups like Kool & The Gang and Ohio Players, but a uniquely Brazilian approach that also threw in some added ...

One of the most heavenly albums ever recorded -- a sublime post-60s session by Joao Gilberto, one with even more fluid grace than his original bossa nova classics! The setting here is extremely spare -- Joao on vocals and acoustic guitar, backed by only a slight bit of percussion -- and recorded ...

An excellent 70s electric album by Joao Donato -- one with a funky samba groove that sets it apart from much of his earlier work! The album's got elements of Joao's other 70s electric set -- the great Quem E Quem, recorded around the same time, and which was one of Joao's first moves into spacey, ...

A wickedly funky album from Joao Donato -- quite different than his earlier bossa sessions, and recorded in LA with a sweet jazzy bounce! The album's overflowing with great keyboard work -- and Joao plays both piano and organ, in a group that includes percussion from Emil Richards, who also ...

An incredible album by this Brazilian singer -- possibly the best she ever did! The great Joao Donato handled the arrangements and orchestrations, and the music is a swirling blend of strings and Brazilian rhythms, augmented by Donato's haunting keyboards. Other musicians on the session include ...

A stone 70s classic from Emilio Santiago -- and a set that really marks a big step forward in his music! Although coming from indie roots, Santiago's in richly sophisticated territory by the time of this record -- working with both soul and sensitivity that really set a new standard in Brazilian ...

Seminal early work from The Golden Boys -- a killer harmony quartet whose music had a definite influence on the sound of popular music in Brazil! From the start, the group clearly borrowed a lot from American quartets of the 50s -- such as the Four Lads or Four Freshmen -- but they also directed ...

A landmark bit of bossa -- one of the first albums ever recorded by Joao Donato, the Brazilian pianist whose styles would go onto influence many in the coming years! Joao's got an incredibly fluid touch on the keys -- gentle but jazzy, filled with lots of warm and soulful overtones that were ...

A stunningly beautiful album from Gilberto Gil, and a record that mixes tight funky samba arrangements with Gil's usual soulful vocals -- in a way that's a bit similar to some of the Jorge Ben material from the same time. One of the main highlights is Gil's "phase guitar", which jangles ...

An excellent mid 70s album by Gilberto Gil -- done with some sweet electric arrangements that push his samba soul to the next level! The record borrows heavily from American funk and soul of the time, and takes Gil's tight songwriting and infuses it with an even catchier edge than ever before. ...

Certainly one of the greatest albums by this excellent (and oft-overlooked!) group from the 70s! The band of young Bahians deliver a great mix of tracks tinged with bits of rock, funky samba, and even a few psychedelic influences -- with alternating male and female vocals, and some excellent ...

Fantastic samba from Clara Nunes -- mostly recorded in the 70s, but with a sound that's about as classic as you can get! Clara's rich voice is perfectly suited to match the driving arrangements on the album -- most of which are punctuated by tight bandolim playing, which creates these nice jagged ...

A stunning early bossa session by Wanda Sa -- the singer who recorded for Capitol in the US under the name Wanda De Sah -- but who sounds even better here in her native Brazil! Roberto Menescal put the session together, and it's filled with all of the inventive twists and turns of his own 60s work ...

A wonderful concert from 1990, featuring Jobim performing the work of Vinicius De Moraes in an intimate small group setting. Jobim's on a grand piano, which gives the tracks a lot of depth and sorrow --a nd he's backed by Paulo Jobim on guitar, Danilo Caymmi on flute, Jacque Morelenbaum on cello, ...

70s work from Wilson Simonal -- a killer batch of samba soul numbers, most of which aren't as well-known as his 60s classics for EMI! The groove here extends out a bit more than Simonal's original work -- still very much in a samba-informed mode, with plenty of groovier touches too -- a definite ...

The rare soundtrack for Brazil's version of Sesame Street in the 70s -- but way groovier than the American records from the same time, thanks to keyboards, vocals, and original tunes from the great Marcos Valle! The record takes off nicely from the playful feel of some of Marcos' later work on ...

Sweetly jazzy, funky, and soulful work from Caetano Veloso -- a great departure from some of his headier work of the early 70s -- and proof that he still sounds great, even when in sweetly melodic territory! The album's got some full backings from Perinho Albuquerque, but the sound is never ...

Some of the most beautiful work ever recorded by Caetano Veloso -- an album that carries on the style of English language lyrics used on his session in exile in 1971, but which also introduces him back to the world of Brazilian popular music! The album's a great transition for Veloso -- a set that' ...

One of the greatest albums ever from Toninho Horta -- a set that's head and shoulders above most of his later work, and a record that we'd easily rank right up there with the best 70s albums from Milton Nascimento or Lo Borges! Like both of those artists, Toninho works here in a spacious, majestic ...

A beautiful document of the warmth and magic that flows between Brazilian singer Joyce and her jazz drummer husband, Tutty Moreno -- featured here together in a project that was recorded privately in the early 80s, and not released to the public until many years later! The style here is a bit ...

A strange one -- but nice! We have no real idea when this material is from, but the overall sound is distincly late 60s, and the feel is very similar to some of Gil's early work, or to the Domingo album by Caetano and Gal. The overall style is late bossa and light samba, and all tracks are quite ...

One of the most beautiful albums we've ever heard from Rosinha De Valenca -- a record that still features a fair bit of her lovely work on acoustic guitar, but which also sometimes expands the sound out a bit more -- in keeping with some of the best modes on the EMI/Odeon label at the time! More ...

Marcos Valle might look a bit sad and forlorn with all those fruity drinks on the cover -- but the record itself is a wonderfully upbeat session, and one that's very much in the same modern soul mode of Vontade De Rever Voce! As on that record, the sound here shows strong traces of Marcos' early ...

Fernando Porto's very much at the top of her groove here -- stepping out with the same sort of hip rhythms and electric elements that made us love her early work on Trama Records! Porto's way more than just another Brazilian female singer -- as she definitely digs a wide variety of 21st Century ...