Fazendo as Pazes com o Swing

Before rock'n'roll there was swing – with big bands fronted by musicians like Benny Goodman introducing African-American syncopation and jazz styles into popular music. The music and the associated dance swept across the world along with nylon stockings and American servicemen. It was huge in Brazil and never really died out. Swing was incorporated into ballroom or gafieira samba, it inspired the lilt which, when played by Jo£o Gilberto, became the gentle bossa nova, and it underscored the funk of artists like Jorge Ben and Sandra de Sá. Orquestra Imperial's second CD is a loving tribute to swing music and its Brazilian legacy, and to the band's late founder Nelson Jacobina, who loved swing. Like the band's first release, the music is upbeat and joyful, simultaneously retro and modern: it fuses big band with bossa, marijuana-misted samba canç£o with electronica, compressed fuzz guitars with mandolin and introduces the younger generation of post-club producers such as Kassin to old-time samba session players like Wilson das Neves.

However, the album lacks the freshness and originality of their first release. That album's spontaneity and energy has been somewhat lost in a percussive potpourri of musical encounters between friends. But it is joyful listening nonetheless – from the psychedelic anthem ‘Mocotó em Tijuana’ to the neo-chill-out gentle samba sway of ‘Fala Chorando’.