Cru Seu Jorge

Brand new album of this Diva, comemorating her 75 year age. Special participations of the singers: Rodrigo Amarante, Seu Jorge, Rubel, Silva, Criolo, Antonio Zambujo, Ze Ibara, Tim Bernardes, Zeca Veloso e Jorge Drexler.

With its potpourri of native Brazilian genres and bits and pieces grabbed from elsewhere, all of it living happily together under one rhythmic roof, Farofa Carioca's Moro No Brasil, recorded in 1998 but unreleased in the United States until 2006, brings to mind the wild, progressive Brazilian tropicalia movement of the late '60s – not that it's a psychedelic sounds by any means, but rather that it bucks convention and goes wherever it wants to go without concern for categorization. Elements of hip-hop, funk (lots o' funk), Latin and rock clash with samba, reggae and whatever else seems to fit at the moment, and somehow it meshes seamlessly, a solid groove at every turn. The eight-piece band, formed in 1997, was led by singer/guitarist/songwriter Seu Jorge, who would later go on to a successful solo career as both musician/singer and actor (City of God and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou).

Beth Carvalho is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, cavaquinist, and composer whose name is synonymous with samba, particularly the Mangueira school. Though she began recording with Os Gatos in the mid-'60s, her run of solo albums between 1974's Pra Seu Governo and 1988's Alma Do Brasil is almost unparalleled in Brazilian MPB for their consistently high quality. She has recorded the works of now-legendary samba composers such as Nelson Cavaquinho, Guilherme de Brito, and Cartola, supporting them long before the listening public did; she assisted mightily in making them household names in Brazil. Though she is a long-established member of the Mangueira school of samba, she has also recorded dozens of songs by composers associated with the Portela school, as well as the work of songwriters from the pagode style such as Almir Guineto and Jorge Aragão…

The original Banda Black Rio were one of the great Brazilian bands of the 1970s and 80s. Formed by saxophonist Oberdan Magalhães, they were pioneers of the country’s soul, samba and funk movement, and played a key role in Rio’s black music scene in the days of the military dictatorship. The band stopped playing after Oberdan’s death in 1984, but have now been revived by his son William, a singer and multi-instrumentalist who wrote or co-wrote every track on a set that’s remarkable mostly for the number of celebrities who agreed to join in. Left to themselves, as on the title track, the band play cool, tight and rhythmic jazz-funk with a Brazilian edge, mixing brass with keyboards and guitar.

Cafe Ipanema is a compilation of 42 musica popular brazil tracks released as 3-CD on 1 Jul 2011. Cafe Ipanema includes a.o. the following tracks: "Caetano Veloso - Samba Em Paz", "Seu Jorge - O Samba Tai", "Ituana - Garota De Ipanema", "Lizette & Groove Da Praia - Beat It" and more.

On his OKeh debut, Sergio Mendes uses the same large, star-studded formula he employed on 2006's Timeless, 2008's Encanto, and 2010's Bom Tempo, but goes a few steps further by engaging new material in co-writes with a number of his collaborators. Produced by Mendes (who plays piano in fine form throughout), and recorded in Los Angeles, Bahia, and Salvador, the set features a number of brand new songs rather than reimaginings of his own hits or bossa nova's most legendary songs done in contemporary style. There are a lot more Brazilian guests this time out, but that is not to say there isn't a fair share of American star power on the date: John Legend's vocal graces the shimmering 21st century bossa arrangement on "Don't Say Goodbye."