This eclectic compilation shows the syncopated and seductive evolution of the African-derived Brazilian samba and its offspring, the bossa nova. The CD features a new-wave series of moods and grooves tailor-made for the 21st century. There's angel-voiced Rosa Passos and her silky version of the Ary Barroso/Luiz Peixoto song "E Luxo So." Guitarist-vocalist MĦrcio Faraco's remake of Noel Rosa's samba-can§£o "Feiti§o da Vila" is just as tasteful. The elegant, classically tinged Quarteto Jobim-Morelenbaum, led by cellist Jacques Morelenbaum, skillfully mixes Ravel-like harmonies with Afro-Brazilian beats on "Eu e o Meu Amor/Lamento No Morro" from the film Black Orpheus. The London-based group Da Lata swings the sacred syncopations of "Cores" in a club-friendly, secular rendition. And the talented Moreno Veloso, son of the great Caetano Veloso, turns in an intimate and atmospheric version of Olodum's "Deusa do Amor" (Goddess of Love). These tracks show that the bossa nova and the samba can still give us new musical surprises. --Eugene Holley Jr.
