MandolinMan Plays Bossa Nova

As their name might suggest, the Belgian quartet MandolinMan are all mandolin players. Their first album, Old Tunes, Dusted Down, showcased imaginative arrangements of traditional Flemish tunes given a jazzy polish. For the follow-up, the group have taken a surprising swerve into the music of Brazil.

Nobody would mistake this for an authentic Brazilian bossa nova set but that plainly is not MandolinMan's intention. On ‘Caramel’ the mandocello of Maarten Decombel puts on a cunning jazz double bass disguise for a slinky, blues-tinged track with plenty of sly chromatic twists and turns. ‘Ni Bossa Ni Tango’ is similarly moody and even more effective, with something of a Henry Mancini spy film soundtrack to it; while it claims to be neither bossa nor tango, it slithers with all of tango's shadowy appeal. ‘Choromanda’ and ‘Desconocida’ also distinguish themselves via some unexpectedly jarring lead notes from Andries Boone: there's something almost balalaika-like about his spindly playing. At least, one assumes the lead is being played by Boone - he is the group's founder and ostensible leader - but it is hard to tell when all play the same instrument. The album's cheerier numbers err on the bland side but when they keep things subtle, subdued and minor-key those mandolin men make satisfying music.