Various ArtistsStrictly SambaReview

Strictly Samba follows hot on the heels of Far Out’s recent Bossa Nova collection - and does the same stellar job of guiding listeners through the multifarious terrain that is Brazilian music.

While it's easy to stereotype samba as vivacious party music that helps keep nipple tassles swinging during carnaval, Strictly Samba showcases the genre's inherent diversity, reminding us there’s more to this century-old music form than thundering batucada and squeaky cuicas: it was, after all, slowed and bowdlerized to create bossa nova: a cool, jazz-influenced sound worlds away from samba's traditional exuberance.

That said, Strictly Samba has party tunes aplenty. Dom Um and Jadir de Castro's instrumental workout, Kaxcatribalim, and Grupo Batuque's Na Cadencia do Samba will have you dusting off the feathered headgear in no time, while Teresa Cristina and her Grupo Semente, who have been busy championing 'roots samba' in their native Rio, present two lascivious classics in the shape of Foi Um Rio Que Passou Em Minha Vida, (which features a deliciously woozy trumpet solo) and the uplifting No Pagode Do Vava.

Nereu Mocotó & Swing's busy Maria José also boasts rhythmic heft, but its joie de vivre is beautifully balanced with quivering, climbing flutes and soulful backing vocals. Roge's opener Swingue do Samba is yet more laid-back, yet equally infectious, and Seu Jorge's Carolina, and Trio Mocato's Beleza, Beleza, Beleza, (the searing title track from their 2001 comeback album) are as much about exploring funk and soul as Brazilian sounds.

Veterans Azymuth take these transmutations further, throwing in synths and electronics on Depois do Carnaval; and old school S-ambassadors The Ipanema's present the jazzy, insouciant Era Bom, which is more akin to bossa than samba. Thus this compilation provides compelling (and hip-swinging) evidence that samba is not only alive and well, but is versatile enough to adapt to a dizzying number of musical styles.