Dutch guitarist
Christian Sievert -- part of the same Low Country bossa nova scene as
Lars Albertsen and Nelson de Lamotte -- debuted in 2002 with the straightforwardly titled
Samba Collection. Perhaps surprisingly,
Sievert wrote 9 of the 14 tracks; even more surprisingly, his originals are the better tracks on the album, far more interesting than the umpteenth renditions of
Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Agua de Beber" and
Milton Nascimento's "Cravo e Canela." (The latter song does score points with Kaspar Winding's excellent clavinet work and some sterling percussion by
Miguel Duarte.)
Sievert's vocals are agreeably gruff and tossed off. Although he sounds nothing like
João Gilberto, he sounds as if
Gilberto is his biggest vocal influence, as a similar diffidence permeates his vocals. In true bossa nova style, the European jazz influences are present as well as the Brazilian ones; the fluid, fast-paced guitar solos on tunes like the hyperkinetic "Samba Sim" owe as much to the gypsy jazz of
Django Reinhardt as they do to carnival.