Search - Artistes Divers, Toquinho & Vinicius, Elizeth Cardoso & Cyro Monteiro :: Brasil: A Century of Song, Vol. 3: Bossa Nova Era

Bossa Nova - Samba collection

Papetti | Mexico City | 01/30/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love this album, it compliments several other Bossa Nova albums in my collection; some people expected nothing but Bossa Nova out of this album, but probably overlooked the word ; in other words, a new Bossa era. This is, includes some fantastic Bossa Nova gems like Joao Gilberto's "A Felicidade" or Toquinho-Vinicius de Moraes' "Canto de Osanha"; and at the same time includes more recent Bossa Nova-ish recordings. The interpretations and Artists are fantastic such as Quarteto Em Cy, Leni Andrade, Toninho Horta, etc. Worth checking if you are into Bossa Nova - Samba, Brazilian Jazz and/or Brazilian music in general."

Brazilian 'pop' with quite a taste!

Phil Rogers | Ann Arbor, Michigan | 07/23/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Generally speaking, bossa nova is a little bit more 'pop' than my personal tastes run. But then, generally speaking, Brazilians tend to do a lot of things better than their corresponding equivalents here in the States, so pop doesn't track so cheesy there as it might here. There is an easygoing-ness in this music that one's hard put to find in ours, which, except in some of its best moments, tends to be/have a bit of a harder, hollow commercial edge, except in its most soulful moments. By contrast, bossa nova very often has a rather soft, smooth, delicious quality to it. I'll comment some on the 5-star efforts here:#4: Gorgeous, sultry slow vocal, with acoustic guitar accompaniment.#6: Tremendous horns, strings, and backup singers.#7: Male duet with acoustic guitar accompaniment.#9: Vocal quartet, spread evenly across the stereo field, with studio electric guitar accompaniment. This one's jazzy but mysterious, with seamless, shifting meters and terrific background percussion. #11: Starts (uncharacteristically for bossa) with a full 'samba school' percussion section, then segues into a section with guitars, and awesome choral fanfares in the minor mode, before all the instruments and singers come back in. This one's an awesome dance number.#14: Amazing stereo mix, with especially well-played horns; tremendous female lead singing, and, really, all the instrumentalists cook in a very jazzy way. Great cuica riffs (cuica is a 'friction drum', i.e. one which has a stick through the middle of its drumhead - it's played by rubbing the stick with a soft, damp cloth, thereby creating the barking and whining "dog" sounds characteristic of the instrument)!#15: Sophisticated vocal harmonies with scat ostinado. Then, tenor singers double the electric bass. Percussion includes drum kit and congas.Even the [4 stars] (= #'s 1, 3 and 5) and the [3 stars] (= #'s 2, 8, 12 & 16) and #13 [2 stars] are not without their good points.

#8 is a male/female duo, with accordion and percussion accompaniment. #12 sports a very full arrangement for a progressive jazz piece, including old-style samba flavorings provided by cuica 'barkings', cavaquinho ostinados (cavaquinho is a small ukelele-like guitar), and berimbau beats (berimbau is a musical bow, or, technically speaking, a one-string bow zither). This song is potential fodder for astoundingly articulate and soulful solo (or group) dance improvisations and/or choreography. #13 is almost Flamenco-like. Let's not forget that Brasil as a nation is as large as is the U. S., both geographically and in terms of population. Please take this opportunity to feast your ears, and every other part of you!"

Great Bossa Nova

D. Smith | Baltimore, MD United States | 08/29/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is great Bossa Nova. In the past, I have listened mostly to Soca, Calypso, Reggae, and Light-Brazialan Jazz. This CD gave me a new appreciation of music of Brazil. My first CD got damaged by a CD player gone bad/mad. So I had to get a new one. I had a few of the tracks on other CD's from the original artist. But, there is nothing like having all these tracks on the same CD, blasting while driving on open road; with the sunroof open. Again Great, Great, Great CD!!!!"