A great little record, and one that might be thought of best as a "Herbie Mann Plus" record – rather than a duet between the artists on the cover! Half the set features the American release of some great Joao Gilberto material from the early years in Brazil, with arrangements from Antonio Carlos Jobim – and the other half features excellent alto and flute solos from Mann, set to some sweet bossa backings by Jobim – with some additional guitar from a young Baden Powell! Given the Jobim arrangements on both sets of material, there's a great unified feel to the whole thing – and Herbie cuts include "Amor Em Paz", "Insensatez", "Consolacao", "Deve Ser Amor", and "One Note Samba" – which has a vocal by Jobim. Gilberto cuts include "Rosa Morena", "Samba Da Minha Terra", "Bim Bom", and "Desafinado". LP, Vinyl record album

Rosana Toledo's got some mighty hefty hair on the front cover – but the album is much less stiff and formal – as the singer really taps into her emotive depths throughout – showing us that although life goes on, as promised by the title, it's not without its melancholy moments! Arrangements are relatively full, with light percussion underneath larger orchestrations – all handled by Maestro Nelsinho, on titles that include "Nao Me Diga Adeus", "Salve Ogum", "E A Vida Continua", "Porque Fui Te Encontrar", "Desolacao", "Pra Que Mentir", and "Feitio De Oracao". CD

A beautiful musical discovery that we'd somehow never managed to hear all these years – the debut of (and possibly only album by) Appaloosa, a group who mix together gentle folk and a bit of strings – in a mode that's strongly resonant with some of Tim Hardin or Tim Buckley's best work of the late 60s! As you can guess from the cover image, the group is pretty young – but they work with a timeless quality beyond their years, a mode that mixes guitar, violin, and cello together as the core instrumentation for the tunes – topped by wonderful vocals from singer Robin Batteau, who has one of those "shoulda been huge" voices that really grab you right away. Al Kooper produced and contributed some instrumentation – but in a really subtle way that respects the band's sound strongly – and titles include "Pascal's Paradox", "Now That I Want You", "Georgia Street", "Rosalie", "Rivers Run To The Sea", "Glossolalia", and "Feathers". LP, Vinyl record album