Amazonia

by Alex HendersonA charming young Brazilian singer/acoustic guitarist with a light, melodic Rio de Janeiro-ish approach, Ana Caram showed much promise on her debut American release, Amazonia. The clean-sounding collection of pop and pop-jazz, which draws on such influences as Astrud Gilberto and Gal Costa, may not be innovative, but it's definitely personal and heartfelt. In addition to contributing her own songs, Caram interprets the music of Brazilian artists ranging from Ivan Lins ("Illuminado") to Djavan ("Cigano" and "Aviao") to the revered Antonio Carlos Jobim ("Solitao," a fine song that isn't one of his better-known compositions). Most of the CD finds Caram singing in her native language of Portuguese, but on the poetic "Antonio's Song" (one of the best songs jazz-pop vocalist Michael Franks has ever written), she switches to English with equally inviting results.