(Folk) Salome de Bahia - Brasil - 2005, 320 kbps

Salome de Bahia has been making records since 1958, owning the classic smoky vocal qualities that are reminiscent of the better-known Shirley Bassey. But with this release's modern house and electronic productions by Parisian Bob Sinclar, Brasil will hopefully become a converter of a newer generation of music fans.
This collection reads like a Brazilian standards song book by including such familiar melodies as "Pais Tropical," the insanely busy cavaquinho rooted "Fiesta Para Um Rei Negro" and "Cada Vez," the latter made popular in the house circuit by Negrocan. There's nods to tunes North of the border with Bahia's take on Stevie Wonder's "Another Star," listed as "Sambala," and on "Taj Mahal" there's the familiar signature riff from another song that told us that if we thought Rod Stewart was sexy, we should just let him know. And there's even a cover of Barry Manilow's "Copacabana" that is certainly classier than the original but still sets off the cheese sensors slightly.
Not all the tracks are club thumpers, with calming interludes of such guitar and string-based ballads as "Lanco Perfume" and "Bosso Rio." And then there's one of the album's highlights of "Mambo Becan," that if only the timbales were a little more prominent you'd think it was a classic Tito Puente cut from the mid 1950s. Overall, Brasil is a solid collection of Latin staples that should transcend the tastes of several generations, whether they be fans of Masters at Work or Carmen Miranda.