Marcelo Salazar - Tropical Lounge Project

All Music Guide

Musically, Americans and Brazilians have been enjoying a mutually beneficial relationship for a long time. Brazilian music (especially samba, but some choro as well) has affected many American jazz musicians, and American funk, soul, jazz, dancepop and rock have all been influential in Brazil. Of course, different Brazilians will look to different areas of American music for inspiration; Brazilian pop star Daniela Mercury and Brazilian hard bop trumpeter Claudio Roditi both have American influences, but certainly not the same American influences. So where does Brazilian percussionist Marcelo Salazar's The Tropical Lounge Project fit in? Relevant to Brazilian pop andon occasionBrazilian jazz, this 2005 release gets its inspiration from samba as well as funk, soul, jazz, dance/club music and hiphop. Salazar (whose guests include singer Ithamara Koorax, pianist/keyboardist Paula Faour and the late percussionist Dom Um Romão) is quite unpredictable. Koorax has a memorable spot on the gentl...e, caressing bossa nova "Smoke in the City," although much of this 62minute CD is funkier and more uptempoand a party atmosphere asserts itself on the jazzfunk instrumental "Salsa with Beans" as well as vocal offerings like "People Say" and "Brazilian Grace." It should be noted that unlike many similar albums that have come from Brazil, The Tropical Lounge Project doesn't try to balance Portugueselanguage and Englishlanguage vocals. The vocals are mostly in English (except for some wordless Brazilianstyle scat singing), and so are most of the song titles. Regardless, Salazar gets a lot of rhythmic inspiration from Brazilian music, and his appreciation of funk, soul, hiphop and jazz certainly doesn't mitigate his appreciation of the samba. Salazar's outlook is multicultural, and that outlook serves him well on this pleasingly diverse effort. - Alex Henderson, All Music Guide Read more Less