Roberto Menescal

Bossa Nova translated as the "new beat" or "the new style", grew out of Rio De Janeiro in 1958. The instigators were a handful of artists with a desire to break from tradition, developing the samba rhythms with the influence of cool American jazz to find a music with such a warm soul and natural rhythm that no-one can help but tap and sway to its beat. Bossa Nova is palm trees swaying, it is like melting sugar in hot coffee, it is the setting sun and warm sand underfoot. It is the sound and beat of Brazil, it is one of the world's coolest musical styles and it remains to this day one of the world's great musical treasures.

Bossa nova is a genre of Brazilian music, which developed and was popularized in the 1950s and 1960s and is today one of the best-known Brazilian music genres abroad…

Wanda Sa's debut album was born a classic. Produced by Roberto Menescal in 1964, it introduced not only a new generation of composers and musicians, but also one of the emblematic voices of Bossa Nova.

Three decades after Azymuth made their first tentative steps into bossa nova society, Brazilian Soul is a return to their blistering form of the early '80s. The new album sees them borrowing from the musical vocabulary that has always been one of the most exciting narratives of Brazilian music, as well as indulging their enthusiasm for new sounds that still makes them heroes and inspirations to a generation of 21st Century producers, from 4Hero to Masters At Work. They have linked up again with a truly great cast of celebrated Brazilian performers, some who were there at the genesis of Azymuth, and some who hitched a ride during the last 30 years – any history of Brazilian music that didn’t include names featured on the album like Roberto Menescal, Fabiola, Emilio Santiago and Marcio Lott wouldn’t be one to be trusted.