Jovino Santos Neto

World Music: Brazil

Brazil has an extremely rich and diverse musical heritage that has distilled the best of the world's music and has given it an unmistakable Brazilian identity, branching out into hundreds of rhythms and song forms, assuming regional accents and never failing to provide a unique blend of contagious syncopated grooves, lyrical and sinuous melodies, and a deep harmonic language. This process is still in action, with contemporary creative Brazilian artists incorporating many of the musical languages of the globe, and giving them back to the world with a defi nite Brazilian tinge. Samba and Bossa nova are some of the most popularly recognized forms, but there is a lot more music waiting to be discovered.