Mares Profundos

1	Canto de Pedra Preta Black Rock's Song 3:03
2	Tristeza E Solidão Sadness and Solitude 3:34
3	Bocochê 2:31
4	Tempo de Amor The Time of Love 3:10
5	Canto de Iemanjá Song of Yemanja 4:34
6	Labareda Burning Flame 3:51
7	Canto de Xangô Song of Shango 4:00
8	Canto de Ossanha Song of Ossain 4:18
9	Lapinha 4:18
10	Consolação Consolation/Morning Song 4:24
11	Berimbau 4:09
12	Lamento de Exu 3:30

Barnes & Noble

The third album from Brazil's Virginia Rodrigues is a canny set indeed. Matching her otherworldly contralto with the classic Afro-Sambas of Baden Powell and Vinicius de Moraes, Rodrigues and producer Caetano Veloso submit what the liner notes justifiably dub the authoritative versions of these storied songs. Rodrigues is, in many ways, the material's ideal interpreter. From Bahia, Brazil's most African city, she is steeped in the Afro-Brazilian religions of Candomblé and Umbanda, which are the subjects of Powell and de Moraes's cycle. And the very singularity of her voice -- with its near perfect fusion of concert-hall grandeur and down-home roots -- heightens the remove of these songs, which, after all, allude to the sacred material without actually being sacred. The versions of "Canto de Xango" and "Canto de Pedra Preta" here are possessed of a jazzy, even chamber-music sensibility that perfectly mirrors the circumstances of their composition in the '60s. Powell and de Moraes came from outside the tradition; as musical explorers they single-handedly brought the vocabulary of Afro-Brazilian religion into homegrown pop music, where it has flourished ever since. For good measure, Rodrigues adds some standards from outside the Afro-Sambas cycle -- de Moraes and Powell's "Berimbau," "Consolação," and "Lambareda" (in duet with Veloso), as well as Powell and Paulo Cesar Pinheiro's "Lapinha." The mix of glorious production, gorgeous material, and Rodrigues's glorious voice make this an essential volume in any serious Brazilian-music library. Mark Schwartz

All Music Guide

Brazilian contralto and Caetano Veloso protégé takes a conceptual route on her third record -- her first for the Deutsche Grammophon label -- and delivers one of the most engaging albums of the year. She focuses her otherworldly voice -- a delicious stew that's part Amalia Rodrigues, part Odetta, and all bliss -- on the legendary Afro-sambas of Vinícius de Moraes and Baden Powell, the team responsible for "Girl From Impanema." Rodrigues, who is a member of the polytheist Afro-Bahian candomblé cult and a fierce supporter of the African culture of Bahia, reverently interprets these 12 meditations on divinity and ceremony with stunning grace. Producer/guitarist Luis Brasil, along with Veloso and executive producer Joe Boyd, creates warm, blue-as-the-ocean soundscapes that wrap subtle percussion, shimmering guitars, and mid-'60s string sections around the always-present Rodrigues like a rainbow, showcasing her peerless segueing from folksinger to operatic chanteuse. One can only marvel at the lush, serpentine arrangements on "Canto de Ossanha," "Lamento de Exu," and "Bocoche" -- the latter would sound right at home on Milton Nascimento's '70s masterpiece Clube Da Esquina. Her two previous records, Nos and Sol Negro, were gorgeous, moody soundtracks to the Brazilian netherworld that bristled with tropical darkness. Mares Profundos, despite its seemingly weighty subject matter, is by far her most accessible, danceable, and easygoing effort, and likely made many a critic's year-end list and carved out a third impressive notch in her young, remarkable career. Reverend Lee Power