From the Heart

In listening to this magically lyrical and sensually rhythmic U.S. debut From the Heart of this thoughtful and diverse composer, arranger, producer, and guitarist, the listener may lament why it's taken this long for his music to reach stateside. What Mario Adnet lacks in notoriety, however, he makes up for with his incredible associations with composers like Michel Legrand and the most famous of his musical countrymen, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Milton Nascimento, and João Bosco among them. Still, he's no stranger to fans of other Adventure Music projects, including co-producing two recordings by the late Moacir Santos as well as the Latin Grammy winning and Grammy nominated Jobim Sinfônico. The opening title track from his album, From the Heart, is a masterful samba, which moves from a gentle acoustic guitar and vocal beginning to a percussive blast with Marcos Nimrichter's piano and Vittor Santos' energetic tromboning. Digging back into his catalog for updated versions of his classics — the disc is something of a compilation for a new audience — Adnet moodswings into the film score-lush "Music Inside" and the thoughtful and elegant "Walking Song," on which Adnet shares the lead melody with João Donato's lush piano and Ricardo Silveria's crackling electric guitar. There are a lot of unique influences throughout, from the classical strains behind "Almost" to the zippy Baiao flavors of "Baiambe." Adnet also ventures into Ivan Lins territory for one of his most heartfelt vocals on "Paulistana No. 1." Even some of the best Brazilian albums have a tendency to be somewhat predictable from track to track, but this sweep of Adnet's history — besides being a perfect introduction to the man's music — avoids that trap and is consistently engaging.