Brasiliero, a wonderfully diverse introduction to Brazilian music, is a sophisticated blend of folk-pop and cool jazz, as embraced by artists both well and little known, in the most popular styles: samba, bossa nova, and MBP (musica popular Brasileiro). As with Cuban music, the greatest influence on Brazilian music came from African slaves who were imported to farm sugar, tobacco, and cotton plantations. With that influence comes a complex rhythmic structure and a prevailing sense of melancholy. Bearing this out, "Daca de Solidao" ("Dance of Solitude") is deliciously thick as performed by the dusky-voiced Beth Carvalho. Chico Cesar's "Mama Africa" is a perfect sociopolitical pop hit, blending hard-hitting lyrics with bouncy percussion and Jamaican reggae. Other standouts include Jorge Ben's wiggly feel-good romp "O Namorado da Viuva" ("The Widow's Boyfriend") and Joao Bosco's dancing guitar on "Vatapa," which pays homage to the traditional dish of the same name. --Paige La Grone

The soulful sounds of samba, bossa nova and popular Brazilian music have been invigorated in recent yers as DJs, remixers and fans of classic funk and soul have blended the best of many worlds. The underground dance and electronica scene is thriving in cities like Rio and Sao Paulo and DJs around the globe have used the captivating rhythms of Brizil as underpinnings for exotic musical cocktails that have been filling dance floors from London to LA.

Featuring remixed bossa nova classics, samba funk and hip beats from the Brazilian new wave, Brazilian Groove captures the spirit of this exciting musical movement. The result is a celebratory collection that will satisfy fans of classic Brazilian music, soul, funk and electronica.

In the USA

Leave it to the savvy impresarios of Rough Guides (home of the handy travel and discographical reference tomes) to bring armchair backpackers one of the finer single-disc anthologies of Brazilian music on the market. Rather than foolishly trying to encapsulate the stylistic breadth of Latin America's mega-populous country, this 19-song compilation largely covers the lighter, popular regional forms, like the samba and bossa nova of Rio de Janeiro, which, on occasion, surprisingly transcend their inherent cheesiness. Lively accordions and polyrhythmic drums represent the more hip forro and carnival grooves. But the real treats come in fresh Afro-European-American hybrids like Bahian rap ("Charles Anjo 45"), Latin-jazz funk ("Negada da Lapa"), Maranhaon bottleneck blues ("Isso"), an old choro on cavaquinho (mini guitar) and harpsichord ("Carinhoso"), and Marlui Miranda and Uakti's dazzling arrangement of "Tchori Tchori," a traditional fishing tune from the indigenous Jaboti peoples. --Sam Prestianni

A collection of 1938-vintage field recordings culled from the library of the Discoteca Pública Municipal (Municipal Public Recordings Collection) in São Paulo, Brazil. The Discoteca, which commissioned the Missão de Pesquisas Folclóricas (Folklore Research Mission), dispatched a team to six states in north and northeast Brazil to document regional folklore, ritual music, and dance. The cultural expedition gathered recordings, musical instruments, costumes, and ritual objects. The music they collected, much of which accompanied ritual, social, and dramatic dance, is primarily vocal, accompanied by various types of drums, bells, rattles, shakers, and other assorted Brazilian percussion, and strings. All material has been expertly re-mastered from the original source discs for this release.

The smash success of Bebel Gilberto's turn-of-the-century hit Tanto Tempo would lead many to believe that she was an overnight success. But this recording, released in Japan in 1991 and available now for the first time in the U.S., highlights her smooth, Sade-like sound. Joined by the legendary Brazilian bassist Luisão Maia, this project puts Gilberto's cool contralto in more traditional bossa-nova-style settings with synthesized string arrangements. The result is a snappy, Creed Taylor-sounding CD. The best selections are the title track, the "One Note Samba" syncopated composition "Amor Unilateral," and "Quando o Ceu Nao Estava Azul," which includes a silky Stan Getz-style tenor sax solo. Think of this recording as Bebel Gilberto's syncopated first draft. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

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 Márcio Faraco's remake of Noel Rosa's samba-canção "Feitiço 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.