Music / latin

Magic


Reviews (3)


AllMusic

2014

By

By

Thom Jurek

2014

"Latin Grammy-nominated (twice) vocalist and songwriter Maria Gadú delivers "Meu Rio," her dramatic co-write with Mendes. The elegant meld of electric piano, choral backing vocals, acoustic guitars, percussion, and cello expand on her already emotive performance -- one of the finest on the album. Ana Carolina delivers Guinga's beautiful ballad "Atlantica" with his accompaniment on guitar and her and Mike Mutti's harmonica gently emphasizing the vocals. The set is bookended with two joyous contributions from frequent collaborator Carlinhos Brown. Opener "Simbora" is a fat, slick samba done in urban pop style, while the closer is the big, orchestral funky dance hit, "One Nation," which was issued on the One Love, One Rhythm: The 2014 FIFA World Cup Official Album. These two tracks heartily underscore what the album reveals in spades: that Mendes proves, once again, that contemporary pop and Brazilian musical tradition come together seamlessly under his command even as they evolve".


Renowned for sound

d. 29. June 2014

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By

Levon Dennison

d. 29. June 2014

"From Bossa Nova, Samba, Jazz, R&B and everything in between to even writing songs for animated films like Rio 2, he's done it all. With his latest album Magic it's hard to ask him to stop. The album is filled with collaborations and gives a taste of something fitting for today's easy and edgy listener ... Overall it's a nice album, a few must-listen-to songs while the rest can join the huge catalog already sitting on the shelves. There still seems plenty of energy left in the Herbie Hancock of Brazil. More collaborations and more Brazilian music which you can't go wrong with".

Vurdering 3.5/5.


Jazz special

Nr. 142 (2014)

By

By

Niels Christensen

Nr. 142 (2014)

"Mendes (...) har altid set stort på et gammeldags begreb som god smag. Traditionalister (...) er gang på gang blevet udfordret, men har ofte tænderskærende måttet erkende, at Mendes (...) formår at få lytteværdig musik ud af selv det mest platte oplæg. Således også her, hvor han omgiver sig med brasilianske og amerikanske stjerner fra i går, i dag og (måske) i morgen. Bedst går det (...) når Mendes allierer sig med sangeren John Legend og når det brasilianske har overtaget, værst når Mendes leger med gyselige rappere. Der er gudskelov overvægt af førstnævnte. .. En fed cd, uanset om man er til nutidig amerikansk eller tilsvarende brasiliansk pop-jazz, eller hvad man nu skal kalde det".