A Bela Vida

It's not ofen that the oboe takes the lead in any genre and its pinched tone can sometimes be too much of a good thing, but the latest of Jean-Luc ‘Oboman’ Fillon's explorations of the Brazilian choro tradition is a delight from first note to last. Like its two predecessors, A Bela Vida features Fillon's virtuoso oboe playing, which is deftly and sympathetically accompanied by Edu Miranda's ten-string mandolin and Tuniko Goulart's seven-string acoustic guitar. This time, however, a third Brazilian musician proves a welcome addition; Zé Luis Nascimento's variegated and understated percussion enhances the subtle instrumental interplay, adding body.

Naturally, much of the music on the album is improvised and choro has been labelled as the New Orleans jazz of Brazilian music. The quartet mainly interprets numbers by old masters of the genre like Pixinguinha, Jacob do Bandolim and Ernesto Nazareth, but there's also room for a little Jobim, Hermeto Pascoal and Egberto Gismonti. All 13 tracks, though, sound bright and contemporary, not at all fixed on retrospection. They interweave sinuously into the seamless equivalent of a dance piece. Each individual musician is at the top of his respective game and together they leave the listener with an uplifting sense of festivity.