*** Brasileirinho

TEMPERO BRASILEIRO/BRAZILIAN SPICE

(self-released)

Samba and lounge revivals have become all the rage, and this witty, sophisticated quintet breeze through both with a strong sense of the music's history. Brasileirinho ("Little Brazilian") draw on Brazil's classic pop book, making complex charts seem perfectly comprehensible and effortless. Leader Fernando Brandão (flute) and Sergio Costa, who plays a small mandolin called a cavaquinho, hail from Rio de Janeiro (as does guest vocalist Luciana Souza). They trade precision frontline duties with Evan Harlan (accordion). The rhythm section of Eric Galm (percussion) and Claudio Ragazzi (Argentina, guitar) is pitched high and textured light.

Together Brasileirinho flit through a gentle remake of tunes by Egberto Gismonti and a pretty folk melody by Hermeto Pascoal and Jacob do Bandolin. As this working group evolve (they've been together six years, but this is their first CD), they are loosening up, and their fascination with tight Franco-Argentine cabaret is ceding a little toward jazzier samba jams. They don't improvise much, but for all the music's preciousness, Brasileirinho play it with muito passion.

-- Fred Bouchard