Rediscovering Brazilian Ingredients

With tangos and Ellingtonia under his belt, this ever-curious occasional crossover classicist takes another break from the Berlin Staatsoper, the Chicago Symphony, and Bayreuth to dabble in an unfamiliar (to him) idiom. Though the results are about as spontaneous as a sunrise, this collection does cover a wide range of brief bits of Braziliana from inevitable tunes by Ary Barroso, Luiz Bonfá, and Antonio Carlos Jobim to songs by Milton Nascimento and Caetano Veloso and classical selections by Heitor Villa-Lobos and Darius Milhaud.

"A Brazilian Love Affair" is a labor of love, something I have believed in for a long time but have not had the means to bring to life until now. It is not a pure Brazilian recording bur rather a blend of Brazilian musical concepts with the diverse musical ideas of my mind. For most of the selections, I have intermixed Brazilian artists with American artists to archieve a true fusion of the styles. ~ George Duke

Jazz pianist Kenny Barron celebrates the music of Brazil on his 2013 studio album, Kenny Barron & the Brazilian Knights. Here, Barron performs a variety of songs from the late Johnny Alf, as well as composer/harmonica player Maurício Einhorn, who also joins Barron on the album. Also joining Barron are such luminaries as trumpeter Claudio Roditi, saxophonist Idriss Boudrioua, drummer Rafael Barata, guitarist Lula Galvão, bassist Sérgio Barrozo, and keyboardist Alberto Chimelli. This is highly engaging Brazilian jazz.

Putumayo Presents: Brazilian Beat features 11 tracks that cover the spectrum of MPB, or Brazilian popular music, in its current forms. Of course, bossa nova and samba are here, virtually part of the nation's musical DNA by now. Some of it's not even Brazilian – BungaLove, for example, are Italian, but play perfectly convincing Brazilian music, while singer Monica da Silva was born in the U.S. yet manages a laid-back, suave groove on "Ai Então." There's plenty of Brazilian-flavored funk, with both Bruna Caram and Rogê carrying on and updating the '70s sound, adding more beats to the mix. What's apparent from this selection is that there is plenty of good Brazilian music around, building on the traditions that have been forged over the years, and that in artists like Tita Lima and Fino Coletivo the future is in sure hands.