The Undiscovered: Carlos Barbosa-Lima

Carlos Barbosa-Lima has long spearheaded the revival of the classical Brazilian forms of music, including samba, chorinho and choro, and on his latest CD, Carioca, he arranges thirteen of the eighteen tracks in these characteristic styles. Nearly all instrumental (save three vocal tracks), the album bristles with the familiar, yet awes in the face of Barbosa-Lima's talent and grace on acoustic guitar. One listen to a track such as "Samba De Orfeu", with its unusual percussion backing, melodically evocative guitar and infectious rhythm is enough to convince any jazz fan to keep listening. Another standout, "Um Amor De Valsa" ("A Love Of Waltz"), is a traditional Brazilian Serenade Waltz, composed by Paulo Bellinati, which Barbosa-Lima deftly handles with style and exquisite taste (and provides a great lead in to the energetic "Um A Zero". A must-have for current (and future) lovers of Brazilian jazz.

For almost four decades, Carlos has been regarded as one of the most creative and versatile guitarists on the world stage. Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, he began studying the guitar at the age of seven - among his teachers was the legendary Andre Segovia - and made his concert debut five years later. He began his recording career while still in his teens. Since his US debut in 1967, he has enjoyed a global concert career marked by numerous distinguished recordings on the Concord and ZOHO labels. The breadth of his repertoire and his unique ability to integrate diverse musical styles - from classical to Brazilian and jazz - are strong features of his work. Many important composers have written music for him, and he has premiered such landmark works as Alberto Ginastera's Sonata, opus 47. Barbosa-Lima plays a guitar made by Richard Prenkert (2002).

Thus far Barbosa-Lima's releases have found him exploring the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim, George Gershwin, Scott Joplin, Luiz Bonfa, Cole Porter, Leonard Bernstein (songs from "West Side Story") and a variety of lesser-known Brazilian composers.

Jim Eigo
United States

Web site: www.carmapro.com/cbl/cblindex.htm