Dirceu Leitte "Leitte De Coco" (Caju/Milestone, 1993)
A delicious and inventive modernization of the classic choro sound, inflected with a sleek jazz bounce, as well as a taste of the music of the Brazilian Northeast. Saxophonist Dirceu Leitte, of the group Choro So, leads this fine ensemble, which includes, among others, guitarists Dino 7 Cordas and Raphael Rabello, drummer Wilson Das Neves, and veteran choro mandolinist Deo Rian. The set presents the music as neither a museum piece nor as a slick, smooth jazz appropriation of this old Brazilian instrumental style -- rather, it's a lively, vital, fun update... And a nice record to tap your toes to!

Ivan Lins - see artist discography

Romero Lubambo "Lubambo" (Avant, 1999)
A surprisingly tame, rather disapointing, release for a John Zorn-related artist. Yes, this fellow's Brazilian, and he's been at the center of much of the Brazilian-related New York scene -- playing on albums by Marisa Monte and the like -- but this album is fairly standard-issue jazz-and-flamenco inflected classical guitar, closer to Andres Segovia than to Baden Powell, or even to Luiz Bonfa. He's a flashy, talented guitarist, and the music is beautiful, but there aren't any new ideas here.

Ze Luis "Guarani Banana" (Malandro, 1999)
An accomplished saxophone player who has toured on the road with Caetano Veloso and other giants of Brazilian MPB, Ze Luis has since moved to New York City, where he is firmly in the middle of the Big Apple's nascent Braz-Jazz revival. Joined by others on the NYC scene, such as Mauro Refosco, Romero Lubambo and Paulo Braga, Luis has put out his own solo album, a mainly-instrumental jazzfest which ranges from muscular Latin jazz reworkings of bossa standards to lighter, dreamier numbers that are reminiscent of Milton Nascimento's Clube da Esquina days (notably "Winds From Africa"). It's not my entirely my cup of tea, but for the territory, this ain't bad.