Caboclo

As a high-profile singer-songwriter with his own TV show, the French-born, Brazil-raised Pierre Aderne would seem to be living proof that a section of Brazilian society does indeed still identify with, and delight in, unreconstructed bossa nova with nary the merest nod to contemporary music. Caboclo, his first UK release, is an album for cocktail bars and hardcore aficionados only – if hardcore isn’t too strong a word for the unrelentingly mellow strumming Aderne faithfully whispers along to here, with an obligatory cover of ‘Berimbau’ and all.

Yet there's certainly no faulting the careful elegance and note-perfect musicianship, and Aderne almost approaches the verve and dynamism of bossa's big guns on ‘Minha Praia é Daniela’, a link-up with the legendary singer Vinicius Cantuária. ‘Abraço de Mãe’ flirts with a few cheeky snatches of güiro and electronic effects, while ‘Limoeiro’, an evocative duet with Melody Gardot, is enriched by electric piano and, somehow, Cape Verdean melancholy. In sum, Caboclo is a decent album but perhaps too ensconced in its genre to offer broader appeal.