Vinicius Cantu‡ria - Tucuma

Arizona Daily Wildcat

Brazilian musician Vinicius Cantu‡ria brings bossa nova back to life with his latest release, Tucuma. In the same way that the bossa nova of the 1960s fused Brazilian pop music with jazz, Cantu‡ria combines his native styles with American trends like ambient rhythms and samplings, creating a new genre: post-bossa nova.

Cantu‡ria has worked with Sean Lennon and DJ Spooky - Lennon, along with Bill Frisell, Laurie Anderson, Arto Lindsay, Nana Vasconcelos, and Joey Baron, appear as guest artists on the album.

Tucuma has that same fresh and calming tone that bossa nova greats like Stan Getz created, only with a twist; for example, "Aviso ao Navegante" has a haunting cello melody in between the Portuguese verses, and the percussion parts are chaotic and heavy.

Cantu‡ria not only sings and plays acoustic guitar, but he also plays electric guitar, the Indian wood flute, piano, drums, and keyboards on the album, which is a truly modern and evocative trip through Brazilian music and jazz. Bossa nova is not just for cocktail lounges anymore.

- annie holub