Pra Gente Fazer mais um Samba

In his liner notes, Chico Buarque describes this collection by one of the greatest samba singer-songwriters as ‘ songs full of people’s wisdom’. Das Neves’ eight-decades-old soulful voice is a beautiful blend of watercolour tones of brown (a clear influence on Seu Jorge, who shares with him membership of Orquestra imperial). He glides over bars and rhythms as effortlessly as Sinatra but with added carioca languor. He’s shifted from the guitar-led bias of his group, Os i panemas, to turn the melodic focus onto piano, trombone and occasional sax and flute, in a line-up featuring some of Rio’s best solo instrumentalists and musicians, several of them from Buarque’s band. Guitarist Jorge Helder drops in for the bracing, jazz-based ‘Assedio’, but otherwise, it’s Vitor Santos’ velvety trombone solos which transform the texture of the songs, and Claudio Jorge’s shuffling and intricate guitar chords which create an underlying constancy. Of course, nothing from Rio works without percussionists and the three relatively restrained sambistas here are in their element. But it’s the swoony female choruses blending with das Neves’ still sure singing which sprinkle the collection with sublime moments, particularly on ‘Pra Gente Fazer mais um Samba’.