Putumayo Presents: Brazilian Lounge
(2006)

Putumayo's latest excursion into chill-out features twelve urbane tracks that, even at their most laid-back (and Brazilians have raised this state of being to an art form) are saturated with a languid, sweaty tropical ardor. Icy, metronome-like beats and electronica are powerless against a Carioca heat-wave, just as a cold Brahma cerveja (beer), while momentarily refreshing, cannot affect prevailing weather patterns. But the irrepressively creative mixmasters of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro seem to revel in these very incongruities, frosting florid acoustic sounds and warmly human vocals with subtle yet transformative computer-generated wizardry. Notable tracks include "E Depois" by singer/actor Seu Jorge (City Of God, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zizzou) and emerging star Luca Mundaca's "Há Dias." In Bebel Gilberto's "August Day Song," romance is compared to a drenching downpour; her slightly nostalgic style often evokes that of her father, sixties icon, João Gilberto. --Christina Roden

Putumayo Presents: Brasileiro

Brasiliero, a wonderfully diverse introduction to Brazilian music, is a sophisticated blend of folk-pop and cool jazz, as embraced by artists both well and little known, in the most popular styles: samba, bossa nova, and MBP (musica popular Brasileira). As with Cuban music, the greatest influence on Brazilian music came from African slaves who were imported to farm sugar, tobacco, and cotton plantations. With that influence comes a complex rhythmic structure and a prevailing sense of melancholy. Bearing this out, "Danca de Solidao" ("Dance of Solitude") is deliciously thick as performed by the dusky-voiced Beth Carvalho. Chico Cesar's "Mama Africa" is a perfect sociopolitical pop hit, blending hard-hitting lyrics with bouncy percussion and Jamaican reggae. Other standouts include Jorge Ben's wiggly feel-good romp "O Namorado da Viuva" ("The Widow's Boyfriend") and Joao Bosco's dancing guitar on "Vatapa," which pays homage to the traditional dish of the same name. --Paige La Grone
 

Putumayo Presents: Acoustic Brazil

With its amazing mix of Portuguese, African, and Indian musical genres, dances, and instruments, Brazil's pop scene is unique because so much of it is acoustic. This disc is a pleasing potpourri of mostly non-electronic tunes sung by some famous and not-so-famous artists. Of course, the samba--the country's most dominant genre--and its offshoots are well represented here. The disc includes some well-known, previously released selections, including the Bahian, Tropicalismo pioneer Caetano Veloso's existentially poetic "Cajuina," guitarist Marcio Faraco's festive, Nordeste-nuanced "Ciranda," with the superstar vocalist Chico Buarque, and the perky, Maranhao-born Rita Ribeiro's samba-reggae number "Tem Quem Queira." Some lesser-known artists include the Arab-Brazilian vocalist Glaucia Nasser, Lula Queiroga, and Monica Salmaso, whose "Moro Na Roca" is a powerful, Angola-derived lundu/jongo homage to the legendary Clementina de Jesus. This disc adds credence to the phrase, "keep it real." --Eugene Holley, Jr.
 

Putumayo Presents: Samba Bossa Nova

This eclectic compilation shows the syncopated and seductive evolution of the African-derived Brazilian samba and its offspring, the bossa nova. The CD features a new-wave series of moods and grooves tailor-made for the 21st century. There's angel-voiced Rosa Passos and her silky version of the Ary Barroso/Luiz Peixoto song "E Luxo So." Guitarist-vocalist Márcio Faraco's remake of Noel Rosa's samba-canção "Feitiço da Vila" is just as tasteful. The elegant, classically tinged Quarteto Jobim-Morelenbaum, led by cellist Jacques Morelenbaum, skillfully mixes Ravel-like harmonies with Afro-Brazilian beats on "Eu e o Meu Amor/Lamento No Morro" from the film Black Orpheus. The London-based group Da Lata swings the sacred syncopations of "Cores" in a club-friendly, secular rendition. And the talented Moreno Veloso, son of the great Caetano Veloso, turns in an intimate and atmospheric version of Olodum's "Deusa do Amor" (Goddess of Love). These tracks show that the bossa nova and the samba can still give us new musical surprises. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Putumayo Presents: Brazilian Groove

Samba and bossa nova hop on the International electronica wave, and also add a bit of funk and soul, as the new generation of Brazilian musicians shake up tradition. Rosalia de Souza stays rooted in the traditional sounds of Bilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, but mixes things up with contemporary club beats; Zuco 103 creates a totally new sound keeping a bossa nova back beat, but stirring in pop melodies, trip-hop ambience, and smoky jazz trumpet; Aleh introduces a bright electric guitar back drop, a surprisingly successful combination; Barrio Jazz Gang offers a mellow jazz-infused bossa nova track laced with surreal electronic dubs. Tracks range from traditional sounding to pop-like to jazzy-funky-carribean mixes, such as Electro Coco's danceable "Coco do Mundo." --an Amazon reviewer

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Also See:

Pure Brazil CD Series
Brazilian Music Collections
 

Chill Brazil CD Series
 

Brazilian Love Affair Series

Brazil Classics Series

Brazilian Music Index

The Brazilian Sound (U.S.)