Paul Desmond's first genuine all-Brazilian album under the
Creed Taylor signature was a beauty, a collection of songs by the then-moderately known
Edu Lobo and the emerging giant
Milton Nascimento, then only in his early twenties. All
Desmond has to do is sit back and ride the Brazilian grooves while lyrically ruminating on whatever pops into his head. It sounds so effortless -- until you try it yourself. The swirling, often gorgeous orchestral arrangements are by
Don Sebesky (one CD edition mistakenly gives
Claus Ogerman credit on the cover),
Airto Moreira leads the samba-flavored percussion forces, and
Lobo and his wife
Wanda de Sah appear on three of
Lobo's four songs.
Lobo's "To Say Goodbye," "Circles," and "Martha and Romao" have exactly the brand of wistful sadness that
Desmond could communicate so well; on the former,
de Sah has to sing well below the register with which she is comfortable, and the strain is painfully obvious. Some of
Nascimento's best early tunes are here, including the tense title track, the popping "Catavento," and "Canto Latino." "Catavento" inspires a particularly inventive solo from
Desmond where he pulls out one of his age-old tricks, quoting "St. Thomas." [Universal issued a Japanese import edition in 2005.] ~ Richard S. Ginell