Uakti

The music on this disc represents one of several collaborations between American minimalist composer Philip Glass and experimental Brazilian percussion group Uakti (say WOK-chee). The members of Uakti make their own instruments, both conventional and invented. Their collaboration with Glass is not simply a matter of performance – in this work, commissioned by a Brazilian dance company in 1993, they actually adapted Glass' materials for their own instruments. The first nine movements of Aguas da Amazonia (Waters of Amazonia) consist of the names of Brazilian rivers; the tenth movement, "Metamorphosis I," was added later, with instrumentation similar to the first nine.

Third Coast Percussion s Paddle to the Sea transports listeners into a realm of imaginative sounds and world-premiere recordings evoking the aquatic world. Anchoring the album is the Grammy Award-winning ensemble s original new collaborative composition Paddle to the Sea. The fearsomely talented foursome conceived it as a live soundtrack to the charming, Oscar-nominated 1966 film of the same name, based on a classic children s story about a Native Canadian boy who carves a wooden figure called Paddle-to-the-Sea and launches him on a solo canoe voyage to the ocean. The Dallas Morning News called Third Coast s concert performance arresting and enjoyable. TheaterJones called it unforgettable and said, There was something magical about the performance, but it is almost impossible to describe the experience in mere words.

Brasil was The Manhattan Transfer's tenth album.This album was a new foray for the group into Brazilian music. During the recording sessions they worked with many songwriters, including Ivan Lins, Milton Nascimento, Djavan, and Atlantic records Jazz recording artist Gilberto Gil. After the initial recording sessions, the songs were re-arranged and then fitted with English lyrics. This album won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.