Our list of summertime fan favorites from the Land of Samba and Sun.
Top Brazilian Summer Sambas ’22! Handpicked tunes for hot fun in the summertime, Ipanema-style!
Presented by Live365
Get Ready For Summer With Brazil’s Top Tunes
Amazingly, the calendar gives us only 13 magical weeks for summer. So, no matter what’s on your personal playlist right now, you can’t miss with this collection of hits from the land of samba and sun.
From breezy Bossas and Brazilian pop to MPB, Samba, and Brazilian jazz, these songs will keep you in the glow long after summer ends.
And here’s good news! These songs are already available on our streaming channels and on Connect Brazil’s always-live streaming station. Free to listen anytime, anywhere.
But wait, there’s more!
Watch for our Brazilian Day Bicentennial Music Showcase on September 1st!
Scott Adams, Midday Host
The Sounds of Brazil’s streaming station at Connectbrazil.com
Top Brazilian Summer Sambas ’22
Roberto Tola | ‘Flying To Sardinia’ from Kon Tiki
It’s a four-hour drive from Sao Paulo to the island of Ilhabela. High plains give way to green, rolling hills during a long, tight, and twisting two-lane descent to sea level.
Glimpses of aquamarine tease your expectations. Then you round that final curve, and the vista breaks open to reveal a coastal paradise.
That moment is perfectly captured in this breezy, getaway samba from Italian guitarist Roberto Tola. And just like our travel guide paragraph above, you’ll have to wait 10 long seconds for it to arrive.
From there, let your imagination chart its own course.
Even the song’s title reminds us that the beach in your mind is never far away when there’s a great melody to inspire the thought.
Buy it here: Amazon Music
Listen free on: XODO! | Brazilian Jazz | Bossa Nova Love Affair | Our Streaming Station
Toco featuring Rosalia de Souza | ‘Bom Motivo’ (S-Tone mix)
Everything old is new again when it comes to Toco’s latest offering from Milan-based Schema Records.
Or is it an S-Tone offering? Truth be told, this might be a musical distinction without a difference as Toco’s spotlight seems to shine exclusively on S-Tone’s stage these days.
But there’s no denying the creative results when they join up. S-Tone is all about the groove while Toco’s melodies have elevated Bossa’s contemporary sound for more than a decade now.
So, the idea came for an update of this Toco fan favorite from his Outro Lugar album. That’s a good enough reason for us. And it’s worthy of a place on Connect Brazil’s Top Brazilian Summer Sambas ’22 video showcase.
Where the original is buoyant, S-Tone’s vibe brings a down-tempo chill that really sets a late-summer night scene. Kudos all around!
Read our original review of Outro Lugar from 2007.
Buy it here: Amazon Music
Listen free on: New Music: Brazil | Cafe Copacabana | XODO! | Our Streaming Station
Minas | ‘Get Back’ from Beatles In Bossa
Summer news! Beatles In Bossa by the Philly-based group Minas is rapidly becoming a chart-topper for Brazilian jazz fans. While the idea is not new, both the approach and the inspiration for this album are unique.
“It was for our first Beatles In Bossa show,” recalls Minas’s Orlando Haddad as he looked back to 2017. “The concert was sold-out, and the audience loved everything about it. The songs, our arrangements, and the musicians. Afterward, fans asked for the album! The response was so impressive that Patricia and I got to work on the album soon after that.”
Taking on these 14 multi-generational pop classics is a daunting task. But Beatles In Bossa clears this very high bar with ease.
Arrangements sparkle and performances draw nuance from time-tested lyrics. The universe of Brazilian rhythms frames each song to help reset our expectations.
- What are the music experts saying? Click here for our Beatles In Bossa review roundup.
- Explore Beatles In Bossa, the music, and its fascinating story here.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
Buy it here: Amazon Music | Apple Music | From the Artist
Listen free on: Brazilian Jazz | New Music: Brazil | Bossa Nova Love Affair | Our Streaming Station
Exploring Rio de Janeiro’s Historic Past
Boney James | ‘Luna’ from Solid
Hidden within the saxophonist’s latest album is this instrumental masterpiece, a proto-Bossa rhythm to reflect the translucent surf best viewed at Copacabana after dark.
‘Luna’s’ ebb and flow tells its own story. Seductive, relaxing, mysterious.
James tapped the right musicians to help him bring this song to perfection. That’s Paul Jackson Jr’s guitar, along with keyboardist and co-composer Darrell Smith. Talented Omari Williams at the drums with Lenny Castro’s percussion while Jason Morales provides the vocals.
Ten years ago, this is a song that we might have expected from Leo Gandelman. Happily, those memories are elegantly expressed here with ‘Luna’.
Buy it here: Amazon Music
Listen free on: Bossa Nova Love Affair | The Sunday Brazilian Brunch | Our Streaming Station
Djavan | ‘Bein’ Cool’ from Puzzle of Hearts
For Brazilian jazz fans, the summer of 1990 belonged to this album by Djavan. And it was this sun-kissed samba that captured the spirit of that summer for thousands of new fans on this side of the equator.
For me, ‘Bein’ Cool’ was more than even all of that. It was a passport to my own newfound love of Brazilian music. One in which a few short years led me to create The Sounds of Brazil radio show here in Chicago.
Lorraine Feather supplied the English lyrics. Djavan’s regular keyboardist Luiz Avellar is here, along with Antonio Carlos Jobim’s favorite drummer, Paulo Braga.
Their names were still unknown to me at that point in my learning curve. But it’s fun to look back at this pivotal song – and share it with you – during The Sounds of Brazil’s 30th Anniversary year.
-Scott Adams
Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
Buy it here: Amazon Music
Listen free on: Brazilian Jazz | XODO! | Cafe Copacabana | Our Streaming Station
Antonio Carlos Jobim | ‘Batidinha’ from Wave
We’ve already written about it. 1967 was Brazilian music’s most amazing year. This is also true for Antonio Carlos Jobim, too. In the space of just a few months, the Brazilian recorded not one, not two but three exceptional albums.
The first of these came in January, the result of a long-distance invitation from Frank Sinatra.
March found him in a New York church several weeks later to record A Certain Mr. Jobim. Then finally, came Wave in late May for Creed Taylor’s CTI label with A&M Records.
It was no accident that Taylor would turn to Jobim for his first release. Taylor gave Jobim his first recording under his own name four years earlier.
Of course, the title track is the headline, but not here, not today. ‘Batidinha’ is our favorite here. Just like the title implies, it’s the almost-perfect Jobim song.
And kudos to you if you still have the original, red-covered album cloistered away in your hall closet record collection. It’s time to enjoy it again.
How about right now?
Buy it here: Amazon Music
Listen free on: BossaNovaville | Brazilian Jazz | The Sunday Brazilian Brunch | Our Streaming Station
Brazilian Music’s Most Amazing Year
Silva | ‘A Cor É Rosa’ from Brasileiro
As both a singer and songwriter, Lúcio Silva de Souza just keeps moving from strength to strength.
It was early days when he captured the attention and respect of Marisa Monte. It was a bold notion, executing a live MM tribute tour, without her. But the result was so impressive that he was invited to co-write several songs.
Soon his songwriting talents caught on with MPB’s rising generation. And when Tiago Iorc took his sabbatical, Silva was ready to fill the space. That’s when his reputation as a solo artist really took off.
Silva’s gifted with a pleasant voice, and it really shows with ‘A Cor É Rosa’. It’s a welcome addition to our Hot Brazilian Summer Sambas ’22 list.
Website| Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
Buy it here: Amazon Music
Listen on: XODO! | New Music: Brazil | Cafe Copacabana | Preciso Brazilian | Our Streaming Station
Music, Travel, Friends, And Fun! 2022 Marks Connect Brazil’s 25th Year
Top Brazilian Summer Sambas ’22
Stories like ‘Top Brazilian Summer Sambas ’22’ are what we do. Why don’t you join us? Sign Up for our e-letter. Listen to our ‘always live’ streaming station and our 12 streaming music channels, always free. Browse our Lifestyle Directory. Click here to like our Facebook page and here for Brazilian events coast to coast.
