Orfeu

by John BushOrfeu is the soundtrack to Cacá Diegues' remake of 1959's Black Orpheus, an award-winning movie that introduced contemporary Rio de Janeiro composers like Antonio Carlos Jobim, Luiz Bonfá, and Vinícius de Moraes to mainstream Americans. As such, it's fitting that Brazil's most famous musical export during the last few decades of the century, Caetano Veloso, was chosen to compose the soundtrack. Alternately reliant on orchestral strings and Carnaval percussion, Orfeu is a delightful soundtrack that merges Veloso's recent take on Brazilian pop with more traditional rhythms. He has no qualms about taking chances, such as adding a rapper (in Portuguese, of course) to the percussion-heavy opening track. Accompanying him on "A Felicidade" is Maria Luíza Jobim, the teenage daughter of Antonio Carlos himself.