Brasil Brasil Tracklisting

Yemanjá - Virginia Rodrigues

Virginia Rodrigues combines the choral traditions of Catholicism with the sounds of Candomblé with her completely unique voice soaring over the delicate African influenced rhythms - her sound is at the very root of Brazilian music.

Try: Virginia Rodrigues' album Nós particularly the mesmerising Uma Historia De Ifa.

2. Pescaria - Dorival Caymmi

Dorival Caymmi is famous for capturing the beauty and simplicity of Bahia, in particular his songs about the fisherman.

Try: Some more of his lovely songs and Brazilian standards are Samba da minha Terra and Saudade da Bahia.

3. Disseram que Voltei Americanizada - Carmen Miranda

This is her masterpiece, a witty riposte to those who accused her of selling out to America.

Try: Another gem from the mistress of the Syncopated Samba O Que é Que a Baiana Tem? Written by Dorival Caymmi, it describes the traditional dress of the Bahian woman that was part of her iconic image.

4. Forró Número 1- Luíz Gonzaga

The undisputed king of northeastern music here at his best with this upbeat song dedicated to his homeland the Sertão, the dry lands and played as the programme takes the viewer along the highway named after him.

Try: Some more Luíz Gonzaga favourites O Fole Roncou and Hora do adeus; his contemporary and master of percussion, Jackson do Pandeiro. Or Alçeu Valença for a more modern take on the northeastern sound, particularly his brilliant song Morena Tropicana.

5. Salve a Mocidade - Elza Soares

The question of who is the queen of samba is a hotly contested issue. Elza Soares has diva credentials but for many it would be Clara Nunes whose epic Tristeza Pé No Chão features in this programme as the music for the end credits.

Try: Other famous Samba songstresses like Alcione or Beth Carvalho.

6. Foi Um Rio Que Passou Em Minha Vida - Paulinho da Viola

Paulinho da Viola has written some of the country's most beautiful and lasting Sambas, like this one and could justifiably be called the king of Samba. Other famous Sambistas are Martinho da Vila and Zeca Pagodinho who are well worth checking out.

Try: Paulinho's album Meu Tempo é Hoje

7. Desafinado - João Gilberto

It was João Gilberto's style of playing and soft singing that defined the Bossa Nova sound, heard at its best on this track. Any musician in Brazil can you tell you about the moment they first heard him play, how they had never heard anything like it and how it changed how they would think of music forever.

Try: Chega de Saudade, the other defining song of Bossa Nova or Manhã De Carnaval from the soundtrack to the 1959 film Black Orpheus.

8. Aguas de Março - Antonio Carlos Jobim (Tom Jobim)

João Gilberto may have defined the Bossa sound but it was Tom Jobim who was the greatest composer. In his early career he collaborated with the poet Vinícius de Moraes, a hugely successful partnership which produced amongst other things, Chega de Saudade and Desafinado. Aguas de Março comes from a later period and shows his genius for capturing the spirit of Brazil.

Try: More songs by Jobim and Vinícius, A Felicidade, Agua de Beber and of course the hugely famous Garota de Ipanema. Other Jobim songs like One Note Samba, Corcovado (Quiet Night of Quiet Stars) and don't miss Elis Regina's beautiful version of Aguas de Março.

9. Canto de Ossanha - Vinícius de Moraes & Baden Powell

Vinícius de Moraes and Baden Powell began to explore a more rootsy sound in a partnership after their initial careers in the Bossa Nova movement. Their lyrics refer less to the sea and the sun and more to the gods of Candomblé as on this track. Baden Powell, although a fringe member of the Bossa set, was undoubtedly its finest guitarist.

Try: Os Afro Sambas, an album released by the pair in 1966 and Solitude on Guitar, arguably Baden Powell's finest work.

Back to Tracklisting index