MC Buchecha "MC Buchecha" (Universal-Mercury, 2003)
Super-perky, lightweight pop, with a token veneer of hip-hoppish production. Not much to write home about, really.

Elton Medeiros & Paulinho Da Viola "Samba Na Madrugada" (RGE/Premier, 1966)
A delightful album, and a landmark of the early acoustic samba renaissance, reuniting these two sambistas after a trio of fine albums with the Conjunto Rosa De Ouro. Da Viola and Medeiros alternate singing lead, sing one duet, and take turns on the verses of a longer medley "pot-pourri" track. This is perhaps less distinctive than some of Da Viola's later work, but it's still quite lovely... Highly recommended!

Elton Medeiros "Elton Medeiros" (EMI-Odeon, 1973)

Elton Medeiros "Elton Medeiros" (Eldorado, 1980)

Elton Medeiros "Mais Feliz" (Leblon, 1995)
Straightforward acoustic sambas, in the early pagode mode... Medeiros is one of the great samba traditionalists, along with the likes of Nelson Sargento and Paulinho Da Viola (who guests on this album...) This is one of the few full albums which showcases Medeiros as a solo artist -- all the songs on here were written or co-written by him, and they all feature his trademark simplicity and matter-of-fact joyfulness. A few tracks slide into drippy territory, for instance when a Toots Thielmans-ish harmonica drifts to the fore, but for the most part this is very solid and listenable. Worth tracking down.

Elton Medeiros/Mariana De Moraes/Ze Renato "A Alegria Continua" (MPB/Universal, 1997)

Elton Medeiros & Marcia "Cartola 90 Anos" (SESC, 1998)

Elton Medeiros "Aurora De Paz" (Rob Digital, 2001)

Elton Medeiros "Bem Que Mereci" (Biscoito Fino, 2005)

Meirelles & Os Copa 5 "O Som" (Phillips, 1964/Dubas, 2001)
Saxophonist J.T. Meirelles leads a powerhouse band in one of the best Brazilian jazz albums of the early 1960s... Luiz Carlos Vinhas and Eumir Deodato sit in on piano; Edison Machado and Dom Um Romao split the drumming; Roberto Menescal plays acoustic guitar, and Waltel Branco plugs in on electric. Add bassist Manoel Gusmao and trumpeter Pedro Paulo, and you've got one heckuva an all-star band. There's a strong musical debt to Miles Davis and Bill Evans, particularly their work on Kind Of Blue, with some lighter, melodic influences as well. Personally, I'm not enough of a straight jazz fan to really get into it (I wouldn't listen to this recreationally) but I can certainly recognize that these guys were playing with more passion and earnest musicianship than the vast majority of their contemporaries. At a time when the overly-perky, clattersome "bossa trios" dominated the Brazilian jazz scene, this ensemble played with a lot more depth and tonal texture than was the norm. Certainly worth checking out if you're delving into the classic Braz-jazz scene. (Note: the 2001 reissue includes three bonus tracks taken from Meirelles' next album, O Novo Som.)

Meirelles & Os Copa 5 "O Novo Som" (1965/Dubas, 2003)

Meirelles & Os Copa 7 "Tropical" (1967/Whatmusic, 2005)

Meirelles "Brasilian Explosion" (London-EMI, 1973)
I don't get it. Why anyone would want to reissue this tepid easy listening fusionfest is beyond me... Sure, there are goofy, outlandish reinterpretations of classics by Ary Barroso, Pixinguinha and Jorge Ben... but they're *sucky* reinterpretations... At its best, this has a "Thus Spoke Zarathusa"-meets-"Who's That Lady" sound, but it's rarely that creative. Mostly, it's just muzaky moosh.

Meirelles "Serie Raizes Do Samba" (EMI, 2000)
This collection covers Meirelles' career from a hyperactive, Vegas-y samba bandleader (1967) to a purveyor of proto-disco orchestral pop in the early '70s. A bit scary, but those of a more ironic pop-culture bent may get into the cheesieness of his later stuff. The earlier stuff has some great percussion, but is somewhat undone by the blaring, casino floor-show horn arrangements.

Helena Meirelles "Raiz Pantaneira" (Eldorado, 1998)
An unusual, but uncompelling, record from the Brazilian back-country. Meirelles is a little old lady who plays a shiny, metallic guitar that looks like a dobro. Her musical style is atypical: it sounds a lot like Mexican corridos, but is also rather static and monotonous.

Luciana Mello "Assim Que Se Faz" (Trama, 2000)
Super-slick, ornately produced soft soul that follows the template set by other Brazilian pop-soul artists. Not my cup of tea, but fans of Marisa Monte and Bebel Gilberto will probably want to check this out. Mello is apparently the daughter of the great samba balladeer, Jair Rodrigues, whose stuff in the early '70s I like a lot.

Luciana Mello "Olha Pra Mim" (Universal, 2002)

Luciana Mello "L.M." (Universal, 2004)

Luciana Mello "Nega" (2007)

Luiz Melodia - see artist discography

Fernando Mendes "Fernando Mendes" (EMI, 1974)
Soporific, ephemeral soft-pop with occasional glimmers of life... Mendes seems to have been ready to take up the Roberto Carlos's long-discarded mantle as a Brazilian teen heartthrob, but boy, is this snoozy. There's one song, "Nao Vou Me Entregar," that has some mildly wild electric guitars on it, but for the most part the arrangements are rather static and slow. You're not missing anything here, trust me.

Fernando Mendes "Fernando Mendes" (EMI, 1975)
There's a lot more stylistic variety from his previous album -- maybe a touch of Santana-esque guitars to spice things up -- but it's still pretty dull material. Leif Garrett and Shawn Cassidy seem like pimpin' mackdaddies compared to this wuss!

Sergio Mendes - see artist discography

Roberto Menescal - see artist discography

Orq. De Frevo Jose Menezes "Os Maiores Sucessos Do Frevo" (PolyGram, 1983)
I'm not exactly sure I could describe to you what the style of music known as frevo is all about -- according to the modest liner notes on this album, it was first noted as an offshoot of the capoeira bouts, as early as the 1850s... So it's a rhythm or style of music that predates the maxixe and samba by several decades... But I still don't know enough about it to fairly describe its characteristics or significance. In this incarnation, as played by Jose Menezes's band, it's a fairly glitzty, hyperactive marching band music: if your local college brass band was really, really, really creative, they might come up with something like this.

Margareth Menezes - see artist discography

Os Meninos Do Rio "Os Meninos Do Rio" (Sony/Carioca Discos, 2000)
An absolutely gorgeous set of old-school acoustic pagode samba, honoring the work of composers such as Ivone Lara, Jair Do Cavaquinho, Elton Medeiros and Nelson Sargento. A bunch of these old-timers are pictured and named on the front cover, and make guest appreances thoughout, although the album is anchored by a group of younger musicians who, I assume, go by the name of Os Meninos Do Rio. At any rate, this is a super-lovely record. Fans of Beth Carvalho or the Velha Guarda Da Portela owe it to themselves to track this one down.

Daniela Mercury - see artist discography

Mestre Ambrosio "Mestre Ambrosio" (Tratore, 1997)

Mestre Ambrosio "Fua Na Casa De Cabral" (Sony/Chaos, 1999)
Challenging modern music from this youthful mangue beat band out of Recife. A truly weird, psychedelic, distorted take on the street samba sound, mixing spacy electric guitars with clattering percussion and other non-rock instruments, such as pife flutes, an accordeon and a violin, and a wild mix of rock, forro, maracatu and other styles. It's kind of like hearing the Quinteto Violado on acid. (I bet they're amazing live.)

Mestre Ambrosio "O Terceiro Samba" (Sony, 2001)
Their third album... another odd, compelling offering from this eclectic regional band... This time around their sound is much more stripped down, in some ways even static, yet the combination of a modern sensibility with antiquated regional styles such as coco and maracatu makes this album sound unique and fresh... The instruments are all acoustic, with a scratchy violin at the center of many songs, and a bit of accordion and forro-style percussion... You can tell instantly that this is a modern band, but their approach is so unlike their rock and samba-oriented contemporaries that it's really quite delightful... Highly recommended!

Mestre Caicara "Academia De Capoeira De Angola Sao Jorge Dos Irmaos Unidos Do Mestre Caicara" (EMI-Copacabana, 1973)
Stark-sounding capoeira of the "Angola" school, which is slower and less flashy than "regional" capoeira. This band was led by Antonio Carlos Moraes, aka Mestre Caicara, a Recife native who delved into the African roots of Brazilian capoeira, and was one of the first artists to record the Angola style. The rhythm is a slow, heavy beat, spanked out on a tambourine, with the berimbau leading the melody and pushing the movement. The vocals are also slow and deliberate, but also passionate and intense. Recommended, particularly for students of the art...

Mestre Marcal "A Incrivel Bateria Do Mestre Marcal" (Polydor, 1987)
A groovy collection of samba enredo Carnaval percussion, culled from various parade albums from the '70s and '80s. Drummer Nilton Defino Marcal, who died in 1994, apparently worked with several different samba schools, including Portela and Mangueira, with invariably great results. This disc should make batucada fans quite happy. The CD version includes liner notes that explain the role of all the various instruments in the bateria. Nice stuff.

Mestre Marcal "Samba Enredo De Todos Os Tempos" (Velas, 1994)

Mestre Marcal "Serie Aplauso" (BMG-Brasil, 1997)

Hendrik Meurkens "Amazon River" (Blue Toucan, 2005)
A slew of heavyweight Brazilian jazz players -- including guitarist Dori Caymmi, percussionist Duduka Fonseca and album co-producer Oscar Castro-Neves -- back German-born harmonicat Hendrik Meurkens on this sometimes-lively exploration of Brazilian themes... Naturally, comparisons to two other Braz-oriented harmonica virtuosi come to the fore: like Toots Thielemans and Rildo Hora, Meurkens gets pretty mellow, but he also plays it fast, and in both cases comes up against the limitations of his instrument... (Slow sounds gooey, fast a bit goofy...) Nonetheless there are some elegant numbers, generally the vocal tracks, where the harp fades from the lead and becomes more of an accent, and these are pretty nice. Overall, this style of jazz is way too soft for me, but Meurkens does a fine job exploring various aspects of the Brazilian sound, and works in a wide range of styles... Smooth jazz fans will find this album quite lovely.

Brazilian Music - More Letter "M"

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