Tuesday August 28, 2001 |

Gil & Milton

(Atlantic)

Grade: A-

Two superstars of Brazilian music teamed up for this breezy stroll down Jazz Lane.

Milton Nascimento has written and recorded more than 30 albums, including 1999's Crooner, which received one of the first-ever Latin Grammy awards for its strong rhythms.

Gilberto Gil has been dubbed "Knight of Arts and Letters" by France's Minister of Culture. Gil also has also released more than 30 albums, and brings a Caribbean-influenced bossa nova.

When the two join forces, the sound is as multi-textured and multicultural as Santana's smash hit Supernatural.

The album itself is a collection of cover songs with five new originals co-written by Gil and Milton for this record. The covers range from tracks written by artists such as Luiz Gonzaga to Jorge Ben. The highlight - a cover of George Harrison's "Something" - is spiced with strong reggae flavor and is bouncy and warm.

The heavy Latin influence is apparent on tracks such as the spiced-up "Lar Hospitalar" and the Santana-sounding "Xica da Silva." The opening track, "Sebastian," has both Gil and Milton taking turns with the vocals, which makes for a strong duet with an even stronger hook.

This disc does not run short on ballads, with the sultry "Bom Dia" sounding almost like a lullaby and the suave "Maria" that plays like good background music to an even better dinner with your own Maria.

The fact that both artists are talented guitar players and vocalists does not hurt this album one bit. They especially demonstrate their talent when they add a female vocalist for the dusky and swinging "Duas Sanfonas."

All in all, this is the perfect record for many occasions, especially those sunny Sunday afternoons lying by the pool.