Chico Buarque's fifth album for Philips is a classic, where nearly all the songs became hits. Buarque was featured in an acoustic setting, almost completely aloof from the tropicália movement (the courageous orchestration of Construção is very reminiscent of the influential work by Rogério Duprat). He delved into the Brazilian tradition of sambas and romantic or doleful songs, coming up with "Deus Lhe Pague" and "Construção," both having strong lyrics subliminally criticizing the military dictatorship; "Cotidiano," existentially thematic, revolving around the man-woman relationship routine; "Olha Maria" (written with Tom Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes), a sad separation farewell; "Samba de Orly," a reference to the French airport and city that became paradigms of the exiled Brazilians; "Valsinha," a beautiful love story; and other immortal songs in which the genius of the composer meets sensitively and reverently the heart of the Brazilian feel.

Astrud Gilberto's entry in the nicely appointed Verve Jazz Masters compilation series shows exactly why the Brazilian singer is deserving of such an accolade. In her '60s heyday, Gilberto was often derided by jazz purists for her vibrato-less "desafinado" (deliberately slightly off-pitch) singing style and deadpan, childlike voice. But the diminutive bossa nova star has since been a huge influence on dozens of jazz and pop singers. VERVE JAZZ MASTERS is less of a greatest hits package than it is a smartly balanced retrospective of many of Gilberto's best performances. Her biggest hits, "Call Me" and "Summer Samba," are not included, and her signature tune, "The Girl From Ipanema," is only represented by a live take from a 1964 Carnegie Hall concert. The collection places equal emphasis on Gilberto's bossa nova-style interpretations of jazz standards and on her signature Portuguese-language sambas.

The second recording and first studio set by the L.A. Four matched together Bud Shank on alto and flute, guitarist Laurindo Almeida, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Shelly Manne for a diverse yet consistently enjoyable program. The selections range from "Dindi" and "Manteca" to "St. Thomas" and a 13-minute exploration of "Concierto de Aranjuez." As usual, the band mixes together bossa nova and Brazilian jazz, some touches of classical music, and cool-toned bop. Recommended as a strong example of the group's appealing sound.

Astrud Gilberto has never been properly anthologized by Verve Records; although they've released a number of compilations over the years, none of them have been definitive, and most of them have been rather skimpy. 1987's The Silver Collection, originally released only in Europe but later imported to North America, is an idiosyncratic selection. It omits "The Girl From Ipanema," her biggest hit, includes all 11 tracks from her 1965 release The Astrud Gilberto Album, and adds on a selection of singles and album tracks recorded from 1965 to 1970 with no particular logic. All that said, however, it's still one of the best compilations available of this idiosyncratic but brilliant singer's '60s material. Jazz purists turn up their noses at Gilberto, correctly pointing out her near total lack of technical ability. However, the Brazilian songbird's appealingly plain voice, with its deliberately wobbly pitch (the "desafinado" style celebrated in Antonio Carlos Jobim's song of that title), total lack of vibrato, and deadpan phrasing, is a delight for those attuned to its charms.

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.

Finally Blue Note issues a Latin collection from its Italian (Italiana SPA) and Brazilian (EMI-Odeon) vaults that reveals the true diversity of its catalog and exploits some of the serious sensuous grooves that DJs have been spinning for over a decade. This is the first of three volumes, all of which feature the rarest most representative tracks from the various trends in jazz that grew out of Brazilian pop in the '60s, '70s, and even '80s. For starters, there's the mean brass swagger of Luis Amuda Perez on "Upa Neguinho," which was written by Edu Lobo. Besides being a popular dance tune (you can hear that in the opening measures), it is a masterpiece of Brazilian big band arrangement. Also featured is the stellar "Noa Noa," a trademark of Sergio Mendez. This is a tough bossa nova trio jam, with arpeggiated piano figures cutting right through the rhythms in the tune. In addition, Mandrake Som's "Beriambu" was the first to utilize in a swinging pop jazz context the use of the one string percussion instrument – there's also a very soul-jazzy sax solo in the break. This set's full of warm, frighteningly good examples of bossa, samba, and even the MPB and Joven Guarda rhythms as they inform folk and jazz melodies and modal figures.

So Far So Close is the fourth studio album by Brazilian jazz artist Eliane Elias. This album is great. It is mainly straight ahead jazz with touches of fusion due to the use of synthesizers along with her fantastic piano playing. Like most of her earlier albums her signing is minimal and mainly adds another musical sound more than anything else. Surprisingly, this album has barely a hint of Latin or Brazilian flavor.

Marcos Valle was the Renaissance man of Brazilian pop, a singer/songwriter/producer who straddled the country's music world from the early days of the bossa nova craze well into the fusion-soaked sound of '80s MPB. Though his reputation in America never quite compared to contemporaries like Caetano Veloso, Milton Nascimento, Gilberto Gil, or even Tom Ze, Valle is one of the most important and popular performers in the history of Brazilian pop.

Telecommunication demonstrates Azymuth's ability to occasionally get into trouble when resorting to hi-tech gimmickry for its own sake, but also illustrates how rewarding the Brazilian trio can be. With its vocoder-ish hijinks, the funk-influenced "May I Have This Dance" is a dated and corny bit of silliness unworthy of Azymuth. But there's also much to admire on this CD, including the haunting "The House I Lived In," the sensuous "Country Road," and the sentimental "Last Summer in Rio." Though keyboardist/pianist José Roberto Bertrami and bassist/guitarist Alex Malheiros do not always stretch out enough, the results are quite appealing when they do.

America/Brasil is a rollicking, celebratory album that keeps Herbie Mann on the winning streak he started with the release of Peace Pieces in 1995. Recorded during a week of concerts to mark his 65th birthday in April 1995, this disc is much stronger than its immediate predecessor, Celebration, also taken from the same week of live concert performances at New York's Blue Note jazz club. The material here is superb, and the playing top-notch. As the title implies, the emphasis here is on Mann's Brazilian side, but there are touches of the non-Brazilian with Bill Evans' "Peri's Scope" and Miles Davis' "All Blues." "Summertime" is recast in an Afro-Cuban mode with Paquito D'Rivera sharing the solo space on alto sax. However, lengthy Brazilian showstoppers are placed at the beginning, middle, and end of this wonderful disc. The opening "Keep the Spirits Singing" is propelled by the polyrhythmic pulse of percussionists Cyro Baptista and "Café," and the 17-minute title track finale features trumpeters Randy Brecker and Claudio Roditi, trombonist Jim Pugh, and guitarist Romero Lubambo.

A superior Brazilian jazz singer, Ana Caram takes a slight detour on this CD, stretching her repertoire while mostly still performing in a style influenced by bossa nova. One does not get to hear such songs as "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You," "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head," "Smile," and "As Time Goes By" in a bossa nova setting that often. Also unusual is that Michel Freidenson plays all of the instruments other than the reeds (which are performed by Lawrence Feldman), and most of his electronic instruments sound real enough not to be an issue. The focus throughout is on Caram's lovely voice and she excels on this material, showing that it really is not what you sing but how you sing it. Recommended.

This Fusion gem puts one of the most underated vocalist together with a few 70's fusion heavyweights and out comes a very enjoyable recording. George Duke, Alphonso Johnson, Airto and friends put out some of the hippest fusion in the 70' & 80's. Flora uses their musical abilities to the max on "That's What She Said." Using a variety of wordless vocal technics layered over electric keyboards and driving rhythms, these songs capture the fun and freedom that fusion later lost as it grew more commercial. Flora's entire catalog is ripe with music like this.

Astrud Gilberto, the Brazilian canary with the voice like honey and diction that defied belief, has been compiled many times on Verve, but rarely as well as on her entry in 2003's The Diva Series. A 21-track of her prime decade, the '60s, this one includes all of the classics associated with her: "The Girl From Ipanema," "Agua de Beber," "Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)," "So Nice (Summer Samba)," and "Dindi." Not all of her LPs have been reissued on CD (in the States), so the compilers also added tracks that may surprise a few Gilberto fans, like "Eu e Voce" and "Canto de Ossanha (Let Go)."