Why does bossa nova make everything better?
Think you’ve heard The Beatles every way possible, well, here’s a new one, and it’s fantastic. Vocals by Orlando Haddad, Patricia King Haddad and Jordan Haddad harmonize and solo with aplomb to the luscious samba pulses and horns provided by Jim Stager/b, Tom Cohen/dr, John Swana/EVI-fh-tp, Andrew Neu/sax-fl, Cyro PBaptista/perc and Rob Hyman/acc, taking on the Beatles Songbook. The result is an album that succeeds even if you don’t know the difference between The Beatles and the Dave Clark Five, as the music succeeds on its own.
Some of the tunes are reminiscent of vintage Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66, with a soulful take of “Can’t Buy Me Love” , a pretty “Eleanor Rigby” and a mix of slick guitar and tenor sax for “Day Tripper”. There’s even a dash of the exotic lands with the berimbau and sitar like capoeira on “Within You Without You” while flute and piano get breezy on “Norwegian Wood”. Swana’s horn is suave on “She Loves You” and Stager digs a deep rivulet on “Come Together”. The girl from Ipanema gets a tan in London.