121 of 122 people found the following review helpful
Yo-Yo's best "classical crossover" CD yet.,
August 31, 2003 Bob Zeidler (Charlton, MA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Obrigado Brazil (Audio CD)
It's been enjoyable for me to experience Yo-Yo Ma's excursions into "not quite classical" music, and to take note of how much better he gets with each such foray, and how those forays have introduced me to other great musicians.
It was through Yo-Yo's first such foray, "Appalachia Waltz," that I initially became familiar with the fiddling of Mark O'Connor and the bass playing of Edgar Meyer, two artists I've since become well-acquainted with, collecting all of their works. And, if this early foray of Yo-Yo's was somewhat tentative on his part, in terms of adapting to new styles of playing, he has only gotten better - measurably better, in fact - since then.
"Obrigado Brazil" is the sequel to Yo-Yo's wildly successful "Soul of the Tango" album, and I think it surpasses it in every respect, not least of which is his constantly improving skill at absorbing and subsuming "world music" genres and styles. Moreover, the variety of Brazilian music on this album is far...Read more
58 of 62 people found the following review helpful
A great overview of the Brazilian spirit,
September 25, 2003 CecilyK (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Obrigado Brazil (Audio CD)
I was blessed to spend almost 2 years in the beautiful country of Brazil. I learned the language and loved the people. I'm a musician myself and have been recently discovering the beautiful sounds of Heitor Villa-Lobos. This CD has 2 of his pieces as well as a fantastic selection, ranging from the smooth jazz of A. Jobim to the more traditionals sounds of Paxinguinha with the samba. There's nothing like jazz sung by a native of Rio and there's nothing so wonderful as the samba. I admire the selection of music on this CD as it covers a wide variety of genres and a large chunk of Brazilian history. Several of the newer pieces were also quite enjoyable, especially because they were performed by the composers themselves.Of course, Yo-Yo Ma outdoes himself again. His playing is impeccable as is his ability to become part of the larger ensemble. I'm so glad he's willing to blend in and let us hear all the different and beautiful aspects of this music. He's truly a class act...Read more
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Yo-Yo Ma is Amazing!,
September 4, 2003 "lacey917" (Bourbonnais, IL United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Obrigado Brazil (Audio CD)
I was fortunate enough to see a live concert featuring the songs from the Obrigado Brazil cd. It was one of the most incredible musical experiences of my life! Yo-Yo Ma is an amazing musician - you know that he's great when you realize that you can understand the entire meaning and purpose of a song that doesn't even have lyrics. My personal favorite on this cd is track 9 - Menino. It is a gorgeous melody that the composers at the concert said was about a young boy. I still get tears in my eyes just listening to the cd. I would strongly recommend this cd, even if you are not a huge classical music fan - it is wonderful! :)
(37 customer reviews)