The inclusion on this CD of one of the excellent 4 tracks from the 12" that came out last Christmas called 'The Sound Of Club Brasil, Limited Edition Vinyl Sampler Vol. 1' as selected by Nik Weston. Could the rest of the CD be this good? The other problem was that the wait to find out was extended by logistical postal problems resulting in its arrival so much later than it should been, the old BBC consumer programme 'That's Life' could have included a regular weekly feature on it under the title 'Where is it now!' (Not the record company's fault though, ED)

The reference to the 70s is not particularly out of place. Club Brasil's Michael 'Mitch' Mitchell took off to Rio last year, met up with keyboardist Tomas Improta and other local musicians and recorded new versions of some of his favourite Brazilian tunes of the last 30 years. Of the eleven tracks, I would split them up 50/50. Almost alternating each track as they appear on the CD with one 'exception' to the rule.

The five stand out selections kick off with the opener being the one Nik picked for above-mentioned 12", 'Take It Easy My Brother Charles' with Mariana Feo on vocals. The original Jorge Ben track already getting the Hectic vote on the compilation 'Essential Brazilian Flavas'. Equally superb is her performance on track 3, 'Crickets Sing for Anamaria'. Whilst she might not pull off track 5 ('Te Caliente') like a Flora Purim, the flute, horn section and Robertinho Silva's percussion are enough to keep your samba fusion dance fans happy. Valeria Lobão takes over the vocal duties on Azymuth's 'Toque de Cuica' (track 9) that doesn't quite match the original but we can overlook this as she and the rest of the band nails Milton Nascimento and Ronaldo Basto's classic 'Cravo e Canela' (track 7).

The other intervening even numbered tracks are generally slower. Feo sings 'Waters of March' and 'Sei La'. The former is sung in English and you'll either love it or hate it (personally, I would have preferred a Portuguese version so I didn't understand the lyrics) but I've got to admit, both are catchy. Lobão's pair is the Portuguese Fado of 'Terez Guerreira' and samba-reggae influenced 'Tago Mago'. And there's the funky instrumental of 'You're Starting Too Fast' where even the short Carlos Santana guitar solo can't spoil the groove. I wouldn't say any of the above is poor, but they are just that little less than my 'expectations' compared to the other half of the album.

Any of these five could be your 'exception' but my personal odd ball is the cover of Stevie Wonder's, 'Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing' which was apparently made popular by Sergio Mendez & Brazil '74. Whilst it's the only track sung by England's Victoria Beebee, it's not that's it is a bad version of a classic soul-pop hit but as it sits on the edge of the 30 year limit, as good as the song is; why this one?

Having got that rant out of the way, this is a good album and an excellent project. Check out the Club Brazil web site for their other releases, the Finn Peters tracks on the Sangue Latino series are excellent and Nik Weston's, The Sound Of Club Brasil, Vol 2 (which he tells us is coming out in the Spring).

Links:
The Ipanema Set – Classic New Grooves Recorded in Rio by Legendary Masters of Brazilian Music (Club Brazil CB05) & Club Basil
The Sound Of Club Brasil, Limited Edition Vinyl Sampler Vol. 1' as selected by Nik Weston (CB1201)
Mr Bongo