Nana Vasconcelos - see artist discography

Sarah Vaughan "Brazilian Romance" (CBS, 1987)
My appreciation of this album is hampered by a few small details: I'm not a big fan of Sarah Vaughan, or of Milton Nascimento (who duets with her one one track, and who wrote two others...) Nor am I a big fan of guitarist Dori Caymmi (who co-wrote half the tracks on here, and performs throughout...), or of Sergio Mendes (who produced the album), nor especially of the syrupy jazz-pop production style this is produced in. All that being said, if -- perhaps -- you are someone who does like listening to Kenny G-ish dinner jazz and does like Sarah Vaughan, and you're looking for a mellow, watered-down, English-language take on the Brazilian sound, this might actually be a good record for you to check out. No, really... you might like it.

Sarah Vaughan "I Love Brazil" (Pablo, 1987)

Vi Velasco & Zoot Sims "Cantanto Bossa Nova" (Colpix, 1962)

Claudia Villela & Ricardo Peixoto "Inverse Universe" (Adventure Music, 2003)
Vocalist Claudia Villela scats and croons her way through a fine set of glossy, '70s-fusion tinged tunes, very reminiscent of Flora Purim's work with Airto Moreira and their modern jazz clique. Multi-instrumentalist Ricardo Peixoto guides an able, retro-oriented band. Jazz elder Toots Thielemans plays his harmonica on a couple of tunes, lending an air of utter authenticity to the proceedings. This style isn't for everyone (I'm not fond of it), although the musicianship is of a high calibre; Villela is most striking on more focused, conventional melodies, although her uptempo scatting produces several dazzling passages, with lightning-fast phrasing that puts her at the top of the game. Several tunes are a bit meandering and tinny, but others have real lyrical depth. Fans of old-school fusion will be dazzled to hear the music alive and well in the new century; other listeners may want to tread more lightly. (For more information on these San Francisco-based Brazilian expatriates, check out their websites, www.claudiavillela.com and www.ricardopeixoto.com.)

Claudia Villela & Kenny Werner "Dreamtales" (Adventure Music, 2004)
A strong set of rather challenging jazz vocal-piano duets, suffused with varying degrees of Brazilian-ness. It's a remarkably uncommercial set, with Brazilian expatriate going through some wide-ranging, wildly dynamic vocal explorations... It's certainly not for everyone, but for those who like their jazz hard, I imagine this is a set worth checking out.