Brazilian music is held in the highest regard by aficionados throughout the world for many reasons. There are many qualities in the music that shine through from this country, with its diverse population and geography. Though there are many genres of music that have originated in Brazil, it is the overwhelming emotional content of the music that has hooked generations of listeners.

“It’s probably fair to say that only Cyro Baptista could concoct a mix of music to include Brazilian, Mexican, and Afro-Cuban forms with hints of jazz, funk, and whatever else may fit, sometimes with multiple forms within the same song. Yet, even while you may not detect the particular style or have a total grasp on what he’s up to, he somehow makes it accessible and infectious.” Jim Hynes, Glide Magazine

As one of the most loved jazz vocalists, modern jazz heroines, and prolific vocalists, Rosemary Clooney gives a very beautiful and feminine side to Brazilian jazz on Brazil, a sensitive musical feeling of 16 ripe standards. This wonderful collection is dedicated to Antonio Carlos Jobim, Frank Sinatra, and Nelson Riddle through her amazing ambience of sensitive phrasing, lovely nuance, and splendid rhythmic shadings. Rosemary Clooney is joined by the lovely Diana Krall on "Boy from Ipanema" in a stunning vocal duet accompanied by Oscar Castro-Neves on guitar. John Pizzarelli sings "Wave," with the light, airy brilliance of a light kept burning throughout the night, and duets with Clooney on "Desafinado," "One Note Samba," "Let Go," "Dindi," and the reprise of the title track, "Brazil"…

Willie Bobo's 1965 LP, Spanish Grease, has been combined with his Uno Dos Tres 1-2-3 LP from 1966 on one CD reissue. One pass through the title cut of Spanish Grease and you know that Carlos Santana was listening. The easy R&B/Latin jazz shuffle on this Bobo original, with its mix of Spanish and English vocals, is an obvious touchstone to cuts like "Evil Ways" on Santana's first two albums. What a shame, then, that the rest of the record is primarily comprised of covers of pop hits of the day like "It's Not Unusual" (a vocal and an instrumental version!) and "Our Day Will Come." The timbales player and his band lay down respectable grooves, but "Spanish Grease" is the only original on the album, and by far the most rewarding number. Similarly, the toughest and most memorable track on Uno Dos Tres 1-2-3 is the one Bobo original, "Fried Neck Bones and Some Home Fries." Its creeping Latin soul groove was, like "Spanish Grease," an obvious inspiration for Carlos Santana. But on most of the rest of the recording, Bobo coasts through interpretations of period hits like "Michelle," "Goin' Out of My Head," and Jay & the Americans' (!) "Come a Little Bit Closer," with some jazz and pop standards as well.

Collectables combines two very different back-to-back recordings made by guitarist Charlie Byrd for Columbia in the mid-'60s. Travellin' Man (issued in 1965) is a live gig at the Showboat in Washington D.C., a club he was playing in - and owned - 36 weeks out of the year. He is featured with his bass playing brother Joe, and the rather astonishing drummer Bill Reichenbach. The program consists of everything from originals like the title cut and the country and bluegrass tinged opener "Mama I'll Be Home Someday" to Michel Legrand's "I Will Wait for You." With tunes like the Richard Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim standard "Do I Hear a Waltz," Billy Strayhorn's "U.M.M.G.," and Django Reinhardt's "Nuages" sandwiched in between. It' is a hard swinging date where Byrd, a great melodic improviser, turns original arrangements inside out and pours his love for bossa and blues into everything he plays…

A collection of sexy, steamy soul bossa tracks with the sounds of Brazil. With some of the most-recognizable names, not to mention many of the others present from the many wonders of Brazilian music, this is the perfect compilation to chill out to!

Almost 30 years after their first concert together, and after the release of three superlative albums that have cemented a unique relationship, Michel Camilo & Tomatito return with a new album: SPAIN FOREVER AGAIN. A new work by the Dominican pianist and the Andalusian guitarist where the understanding between them reaches unique heights, the conversation between piano and guitar is constant, intimate and playful. A journey that we must savour with luxury, calm and voluptuousness, given that we are approaching a universe that aspires, above all, to offer an oasis of order and beauty.

This was Ammons' final recording before "being made an example of" and getting a lengthy jail sentence for possession of heroin; his next record would be cut over seven years later. The music is surprisingly upbeat, with Ammons joined by two guitars (Bucky Pizzarelli and Kenny Burrell), a fine rhythm section (pianist Hank Jones, bassist Norman Edge, and drummer Oliver Jackson), and the bongos of Al Hayes for a set of Latin-flavored jazz that was masquerading as bossa nova.

A legend of Brazilian guitar, emerging on the cusp of the bossa nova boom of the 1960s. Baden Powell is a Brazilian musician with a solid international reputation. A gifted instrumentalist and composer, he bridges the gap between classical artistry and popular warmth and was a key figure in the bossa nova movement.

This is as close to Latin purist Mongo as we have heard in recent years, an eight-piece salsa band – including several members of the 1997 Tito Puente ensemble, like trumpeter Ray Vega, altoist Bobby Porcelli and tenorman Mitch Frohman – playing a brace of Mongo classics and Latin jazz pieces live before a hushed crowd in Seattle's Jazz Alley. There are no pop covers, one electric instrument (a bass), lots of extended jazz solos (Porcelli and Frohman really burn on the pioneering Afro-Cuban classic "Manteca"), and an unusual (for Mongo) emphasis on the timbales on many tracks, which shoves the rhythms closer to the salsified Puente manner.

An excellent Brazilian guitarist, Baden Powell has played with his share of American jazz greats (including Herbie Mann and the late Stan Getz). But there's no jazz to be found on Seresta Brasiliera, which was recorded for the Brazilian Caju Music label in 1988 and released in the U.S. on Milestone/Fantasy in 1994. The title Seresta Brasiliera translates to "Brazilian serenade," and an unaccompanied Powell embraces the Brazilian serenade style on personal, introspective versions of Pixinguinha's "Rosa," as well as songs he wrote with his frequent partner, the late Vinicius De Moraes (including "Velho Amigo," "Cancao Do Amor Ausente" and "Serenata Do Adeus"). A melancholy mood defines much of the CD, and Powell's playing is often as beautiful as it is sad and remorseful. Seresta Brasiliera is an album with little optimism and plenty of soul.

When it was originally released in 1964, this set of music was a bit of a hit, selling over 100,000 copies. In the early '60s when many Brazilian musicians brought bossa nova to the United States, classically trained guitarist Baden Powell took his guitar to France. Hence, the rest is history, as this Brazilian artist infused his hybrid jazz/classical/bossa nova articulations into the European scene. On various works, Powell melds a distinct sense of classicism with buoyancy and sophistication.

The 1970s were banner years for Airto Moreira–not only because of his association with Chick Corea's Return to Forever and his work on wife Flora Purim's Milestone dates, but also, because of the generally superb work he did under Creed Taylor's supervision at CTI from 1972-74. One of the five-star gems that the Brazilian percussionist recorded for CTI was Fingers, which employs Purim on percussion and vocals, David Amaro on guitar, Hugo Fattoruso on keyboards and harmonica, Jorge Fattoruso on drums and Ringo Thielmann on electric bass. Produced by Taylor and recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's famous New Jersey studio, this LP demonstrates just how exciting and creative 1970s fusion could be.

Issued nearly a year after Jobim's death, this three-CD set is ground zero, the place to start if you don't have any Jobim in your collection or for anyone who wants a single package of his multifaceted art. The set encompasses not only Jobim's own sporadic work for Verve from 1963 until his final 1994 Carnegie Hall concert and the two A&M albums of 1967 and 1970, but also sessions led by Stan Getz, Joao, and Astrud Gilberto in which Jobim appeared as a sideman. Guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves, who selected the music for this set, follows a unique game plan, devoting disc one to vocal renditions of Jobim's songs, disc two to instrumental versions, and disc three to multiple comparisons of a few Jobim standards by different performers…