CD Bossa 65, by Egidio Leitao – www.musicabrasileira.org

The other release to add to your summer listening pleasure comes from the hands and mind of Antonio Adolfo. With a career spanning nearly 60 years and over 25 albums, Antonio Adolfo is a mainstay in Brazilian music. This new album, Bossa 65: Celebrating Carlos Lyra and Roberto Menescal, pays tribute to two giants in the Bossa Nova era, Carlos Lyraand Roberto Menesacal. Cool as a pleasant summer's eve, Bossa 65 needs no introduction for these ten wonderful tracks. This is part of the soundtrack that helped shape what became known worldwide as Bossa Nova. I have said here time and time again that no other arranger and performer in Brazilian music is able to record old standards in a completely new sound. Adolfo delivers it all with a master's expertise.

Bossa 65 comes out on June 23, 2023, and you can already hear the album's opening track, "Coisa Mais Linda," in all streaming services. As in previous albums, Adolfo produced and arranged all music we hear. He is also surrounded by a class-act team of instrumentalists: Lula Galvão (guitars), Jorge Helder (double bass), Rafael Barata (drums & percussion), Jessé Sadoc (trumpet & flugelhorn), Danilo Sinna (alto sax), Marcelo Martins (tenor sax & alto flute), Rafael Rocha(trombone), and Dadá Costa (percussion).

Although the music we hear all have unforgettable lyrics, Bossa 65 is all instrumental — except for some brief scat vocals Adolfo does in the opening track. There is something to say about Adolfo's marvelous arrangements. He is capable to use the skills and expertise of all guest musicians to create a typical scene one would find in the famous Beco das Garrafas area in Rio de Janeiro in the 1960s. In particular, the brass solos are elegant and alluring. You will be blown away when you hear "Samba do Carioca" and "Bye Bye Brazil," for example. In "Rio" and "Nós e o Mar," you may as well close your eyes and imagine sailing on Guanabara Bay. Bossa 65 goes beyond a well-deserving tribute to two giants of Bossa Nova. The album ingeniously brings an era to our present day. It cannot get any better than that!