Tasty, tasty, tasty. Though keyboardist
Ariel is one of Brazilian jazz's top forces over the past 15 years, and he infuses his share of rolling samba rhythms (including the fast and furious "Alice no Frevo") into the majority of these six tunes, this album finds its way into the super melodic heart of contemporary pop jazz. Especially likeable are
Ariel's mix of synth bass grooves and sweet acoustic work on "100 Anos Villa" and
Daniel Garcia's nice sax on "Lua Branca." With this, his American debut,
Ariel proves there ain't nothing like the Rio thing. ~ Jonathan Widran