A Night In Rio

Performer: Various Artists
Distributor: Select-O-Hits

Notes: This double CD of Brazilian music suffers from an absence of hard information as to when most of the tracks were recorded and released. It seems likely that most of them were done in the ten or 15 years or so prior to its 2005 release date, but some clearly come from earlier, one (Chico Buarque's "Pedro Pedreiro") getting a copyright date of 1966. Whatever the exact chronologies are, it's another of the Union Square/Metro Doubles series' wide-ranging volumes devoted to world music from a specific region, even if it's not all that exciting. Bossa nova, samba, and alterations of those forms with influences from funk and contemporary dance music are all represented, though the overall mood is pretty even-tempered, and rarely too hot-blooded. Some veterans make appearances on tracks cut decades after their first recordings, including Elza Soares and (in a number co-billed to Japanese trombonist Shigeharu Mukai) Astrud Gilberto. It's not entirely Brazilian in origin (though wholly Brazilian in musical form), actually, not only by virtue of Mukai's appearance, but also with the inclusion of British band Mr. Hermano and New Yorker Eliane Elias. You also get a chance to hear singer/songwriter Seu Jorge, who might be better known to international audiences for his acting role in the acclaimed Brazilian film City of God, on "Carolina." Plus there's an almost unrecognizably rearranged ballad arrangement of the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night," by Joyce. Time-wise it's certainly good value for a double CD, containing almost two hours and 15 minutes of music. ~ Richie Unterberger

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