Need a little latin joy in your otherwise musically miserable life? This disc is your answer. Mandolinist Mike Marshall teams up with Andy Connell/cl-as, Colin Walker/7-strg and Brian rice/perc for 17, count ‘em, 17 bon bons of Brazilian love. A cheerful tune such as “Bole Bole” has a lovely lyrical alto, while Connell’s clarinet saunters blue on “E Do Que Ha”. Dainty fingerwork with guitar and mandolin is felt on the pizzicato “Tnebroso” and the precious “Uma Noite no Sumare” and the percussion gets feisty on “Bola Preta.” Walker’s guitar does some impressive work on “Mistura e Manda” while the clarinet veers in and out, while lusty sounds come from the stick on “Evocacao de Jacob.” The playfulness and insouciance is infectious here, always with an optimistic gleam in the eyes of the artists. Nary a nanosecond of negativity.
Adventure Music