Brazil305

Gloria Estefan has not released an album since 2013s Standards. In the interim, the world of Latin pop music has exploded in popularity (again). Its not uncommon to see Latin artists topping terrestrial and streaming charts and breaking YouTube viewing records. Estefan pioneered the first Latin pop explosion, paving the way for artists like Ricky Martin, Draco Rosa, and Shakira. Her best records radically fused pop, R&B, salsa, and Latin funk. Brazil305 reminds listeners that, five decades into her celebrated career, Estefan remains both a virtuoso and visionary. Years ago, she felt the African continents connective tissue joining Cuban and Brazilian musics in her bones. She imparts that link to fans here via re-envisioned and re-recorded versions of 14 catalog hits and four new tunes, played by an enormous international cast in studios from Brazil to Greece to both North American coasts. Samba, is an aural manifesto; a new version of Conga, its burning salsa meets the sambas complex polyrhythms via an army of caixa drummers, cavaquinho, whistles, and killer horn charts by Laercio da Costa and Anselmo Lima E Azeitona. New song Un Nuevo Mundo is a Spanish adaptation of Brazilian composer Gonzaguinhas O Homem Falou. (Theres also an Anglo-language version included.) Estefan recontextualizes the carnival anthem with a danzon orchestra and percussion army. Single Cuando Hay Amor, written by Emilio Estefan, weds batucada, samba, and cha-cha, while Tuy Y Yo (We Are Here) is a bolero filtered through the sensuality of Brazilian jazz. Gian Marco Zignagos Hoy is a perfect fusion of Afro-Brazilian percussion and Afro-Cuban guaguanco. Set in the middle of the record are two Estefan classics: Rhythm Is Gonna Get You is a scorching salsa jam retranslated through the seamless interplay between the percussionists, a nasty funk bass line, and maestro Luis Bonillas dark, imposing trombone. The new take of Mi Tierra remains a son montuno dancefloor killer, but its lusher, and arguably more danceable, as cavaquinhos, cuicas, jazzy strings, and truckloads of Afro-Brazilian percussion pulse through hard-swinging horns. Hasta Siempre, always a steamy bolero, is rendered no less so here, as the Macedonian Symphony Strings create a pillowy backdrop for Azymuth drummer Luis Mamao Conte to conjure his percussive magic. Get on Your Feet retains its dance-pop hook, as layered horns, staggered cuicas, and repiniques frame Estefans resonant singing. Closer Magalenha is an oft-remixed dance hit composed by Carlinhos Brown (Tribalistas). He duets with Estefan on the sets most joyous track. Driving samba and carnival rhythms meet brazenly funky horns amid call-and-response vocals and chants to carry the rhythms onto the streets. Estefan has outdone herself on Brazil305: By re-recording her hits, she illustrates the Brazil/Cuba/Africa argument, while welcoming fans along for the ride. She bridges these cultures in an inspiring, polished program that explores new sounds and contexts, while reasserting the eminently translatable appeal and transcendent power of her own music. ~ Thom Jurek