Brasil: A Century of Song, Vol. 3: Bossa Nova Era

Various Artists - Intl. - So. & Central America - Brazil/Bossa Nova/Samba | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 6, 1999)
• Original Release Date: October 17, 1995
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Blue Jackel
• ASIN: B000005AHL
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #437,743 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #82 in Music > Indie Music > World Music > South & Central America

Track Listings

1. A Felicidade - Joao Gilberto

2. O Orvalho Vem Caindo - J.T. Meirelles/Chico And Sergio Batera...

3. So Quero Ver - Beth Carvalho

4. Dindi - Sylvia Telles And Rosinha De Valenca

5. Desacato - Antonio Carlos And Jocafi

6. Ela Desatinou - Chico Buarque De Hollanda

7. Canto de Ossanha - Toquinho And Vinicius

8. Quando Eu Penso Na Bahia - Elizeth Cardoso And Cyro Monteiro

9. Pedro Pedreiro - Quarteto Em Cy

10. Aqui, Oh! - Toninho Horta

11. Oh What a Sight - Oscar Castro-Neves And Imperio Sertano

12. Finale: Berimbau/Cuica/Cavaquinho/Tristeza - Edu Lobo/Sylvia Telles/Rosinha De Valenca/Jorge Arena/Chico Batera...

13. Pescador - Baden Powell And Trio

14. Rapaz de Bem - Leila Pinheiro

15. Vrap - Groupo Beijo-Coralusp

16. Rio - Leny Andrade

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brazilian 'pop' with quite a taste!, July 23, 2002

By 

Phil Rogers (Ann Arbor, Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brasil: A Century of Song, Vol. 3: Bossa Nova Era (Audio CD)

Generally speaking, bossa nova is a little bit more 'pop' than my personal tastes run. But then, generally speaking, Brazilians tend to do a lot of things better than their corresponding equivalents here in the States, so pop doesn't track so cheesy there as it might here. There is an easygoing-ness in this music that one's hard put to find in ours, which, except in some of its best moments, tends to be/have a bit of a harder, hollow commercial edge, except in its most soulful moments. By contrast, bossa nova very often has a rather soft, smooth, delicious quality to it.

I'll comment some on the 5-star efforts here:

#4: Gorgeous, sultry slow vocal, with acoustic guitar accompaniment.

#6: Tremendous horns, strings, and backup singers.

#7: Male duet with acoustic guitar accompaniment.

#9: Vocal quartet, spread evenly across the stereo field, with studio electric guitar accompaniment. This one's jazzy but mysterious, with seamless, shifting meters and terrific background percussion.

#11: Starts (uncharacteristically for bossa) with a full 'samba school' percussion section, then segues into a section with guitars, and awesome choral fanfares in the minor mode, before all the instruments and singers come back in. This one's an awesome dance number.

#14: Amazing stereo mix, with especially well-played horns; tremendous female lead singing, and, really, all the instrumentalists cook in a very jazzy way. Great cuica riffs (cuica is a 'friction drum', i.e. one which has a stick through the middle of its drumhead - it's played by rubbing the stick with a soft, damp cloth, thereby creating the barking and whining "dog" sounds characteristic of the instrument)!

#15: Sophisticated vocal harmonies with scat ostinado. Then, tenor singers double the electric bass. Percussion includes drum kit and congas.

Even the [4 stars] (= #'s 1, 3 and 5) and the [3 stars] (= #'s 2, 8, 12 & 16) and #13 [2 stars] are not without their good points.

#8 is a male/female duo, with accordion and percussion accompaniment.

#12 sports a very full arrangement for a progressive jazz piece, including old-style samba flavorings provided by cuica 'barkings', cavaquinho ostinados (cavaquinho is a small ukelele-like guitar), and berimbau beats (berimbau is a musical bow, or, technically speaking, a one-string bow zither). This song is potential fodder for astoundingly articulate and soulful solo (or group) dance improvisations and/or choreography.

#13 is almost Flamenco-like.

Let's not forget that Brasil as a nation is as large as is the U. S., both geographically and in terms of population. Please take this opportunity to feast your ears, and every other part of you!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bossa Nova - Samba collection, January 30, 2003

By 

Papetti "papetti" (Mexico City) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Brasil: A Century of Song, Vol. 3: Bossa Nova Era (Audio CD)

I love this album, it compliments several other Bossa Nova albums in my collection; some people expected nothing but Bossa Nova out of this album, but probably overlooked the word <era>; in other words, a new Bossa era. This is, includes some fantastic Bossa Nova gems like Joao Gilberto's "A Felicidade" or Toquinho-Vinicius de Moraes' "Canto de Osanha"; and at the same time includes more recent Bossa Nova-ish recordings. The interpretations and Artists are fantastic such as Quarteto Em Cy, Leni Andrade, Toninho Horta, etc. Worth checking if you are into Bossa Nova - Samba, Brazilian Jazz and/or Brazilian music in general.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Bossa Nova, August 28, 2000

By 

D. Smith "derald_s" (Baltimore, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Brasil: A Century of Song, Vol. 3: Bossa Nova Era (Audio CD)

This is great Bossa Nova. In the past, I have listened mostly to Soca, Calypso, Reggae, and Light-Brazialan Jazz. This CD gave me a new appreciation of music of Brazil. My first CD got damaged by a CD player gone bad/mad. So I had to get a new one. I had a few of the tracks on other CD's from the original artist. But, there is nothing like having all these tracks on the same CD, blasting while driving on open road; with the sunroof open. Again Great, Great, Great CD!!!!