Young Brazil is definitely on the rise and Rita Ribeiro might well be its best female singer. Having worked with artists like Chico CÃ©sar and Zeca Baleiro, she's now strutting her own stuff very

Perolas Aos Povos

Young Brazil is definitely on the rise and Rita Ribeiro might well be its best female singer. Having worked with artists like Chico CÃ©sar and Zeca Baleiro, she's now strutting her own stuff very effectively, moving beyond the samba and bossa nova to create some playful pop music that draws on funk, dance beats, and forro (sometimes in the same song) as much as the music that people usually associate with the country. "Ha Mulheres" is the perfect example, beginning with an Afro-Brazilian chant and Carnaval samples, then moving through Kenny G jazz, before exploding into a song whose melody owes a great deal to the Who's "You Better You Bet." The title track brings Bob Marley and the Wailers to mind. It's eclectic and fun loving, acknowledging five centuries of tradition but still skipping determinedly into the future. --Chris Nickson

Perolas Aos Povos