Bossa Nova: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1999 Film)

No other musical import has seduced Americans like the suave syncopations of the bossa nova and the samba, with their gentle blend of West Coast jazz, Afro-Brazilian rhythms, and Portuguese lyrics. This soundtrack makes an excellent bookend to the soundtrack of the late-1950s film Black Orpheus and contains several samba classics by Antonio Carlos Jobim, including "How Insensitive," "Quiet Nights and Quiet Stars (Corcovado)," "The Girl from Ipanema," and "The One Note Samba." Another bonus is the Grammy-winning pianist-composer-arranger Eumir Deodato, whose own composition "Suddenly" is rendered by vocalists Claudia Acuna and Carol Rogers. Add Sting, Stan Getz, Djavan, and Joao and Astrud Gilberto, and you have a soundtrack that stands on its own and beautifully shows off Brazil during its 500th birthday in the year 2000. --Eugene Holley Jr.