Bossa Nova & the Rise of Brazilian Music in the 1960s Soul Jazz****

The sound of a young, innocent Brazil before the military dictatorship began to throw their weight around, bossa nova was a breezy, bright and slinky sound inspired in part by US jazz of the 1950s. While most people's initial encounter with bossa nova is still probably The Girl from Ipanema(the genre's gold standard), there was a much greater depth to the music than that song and, indeed, the popular image of it as a soundtrack for louche cocktail bars. Soul Jazz's two-CD set (which includes a 76-page booklet on bossa nova's history and its place in Brazilian culture) is a superbly curated pick-and-mix outline of all sides of bossa nova's coin, with contributions from Jorge Ben, Elis Regina, Joao Gilberto, Tamba Trio, Milton Nascimento and many others. Sunny and exotic pop music. See souljazz records.co.uk

Download tracks: Tamba Trio, Mas Que Nada; Elis Regina, Menino das Laranjas; Sergio Mendes Bossa Rio, Primitivo