Search - Various Artists :: Ary Barroso Songbook V.1

Fabulous compilation!

Jeffrey T Ihara | San Juan Capistrano, CA USA | 03/12/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The depth, artistry and diversity of sound on this album combine to make this the best of all single-composer compilations that I know of. Beginning with Antonio Carlos Jobim's throaty and slightly out-of-tune voice singing his somewhat modified lyrics for "Na Batucada da Vida" the collection immediately follows with two radically different "voz e violão" numbers--Gal Costa sings a haunting "No Rancho Fundo" with the accompaniment of what sounds to me like a seven-string guitar, then João Bosco and Daniela Mercury pair up for the absolutely hippest "No Tabuleiro da Baiana" imagineable. And it just goes on with gem after gem, climaxing with Monarco's "Eu Nasci no Morro" in his classic "Voz do samba" style.If you know Ary Barroso as the composer of Carmem Miranda hits, this album will stun you with how perfectly his songs fit the contemporary sounds of so many performance styles. To anyone unfamiliar with Barroso specifically but with some knowledge of or interest in Brazilian music, it will come as a surprise how early he came in the chronology--his musical genius was simultaneously well-received during his own time and also way ahead of its time in melodic and rhythmic innovation."