Salome de Bahia has been making records since 1958, owning the classic smoky vocal qualities that are reminiscent of the better-known Shirley Bassey. But with this release's modern house and electronic productions by Parisian Bob Sinclar, Brasil will hopefully become a converter of a newer generation of music fans.
This collection reads like a Brazilian standards song book by including such familiar melodies as "Pais Tropical," the insanely busy cavaquinho rooted "Fiesta Para Um Rei Negro" and "Cada Vez," the latter made popular in the house circuit by Negrocan. There's nods to tunes North of the border with Bahia's take on Stevie Wonder's "Another Star," listed as "Sambala," and on "Taj Mahal" there's the familiar signature riff from another song that told us that if we thought Rod Stewart was sexy, we should just let him know. And there's even a cover of Barry Manilow's "Copacabana" that is certainly classier than the original but still sets off the cheese sensors slightly.