POSTCARDS FROM RIO
by Ana Caram

A collection of Ana´s cd´s, featuring two cuts never released before.
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She was born in the countryside of Sao Paulo state, "discovered" at a jazz festival in Finland, acclaimed in Japan, and recorded in New York City. Perhaps it seems ironic that this retrospective of Ana Caram's music is titled Postcards from Rio. Yet her five albums on Chesky are all imbued with the atmosphere of this captivating city, whose music transforms everyone it touches.

This influence is reflected in the mood, indeed in the very title, of Rio After Dark (JD28, 1989), represented here by "Alagoas" and unforgettable versions of "Anos Dourados" and "Meditation" featuring the quintessential Rio musician himself, Antonio Carlos Jobim. Michael Franks' bossa nova tribute to the master, "Antonio's Song" is a highlight of Amazonia (JD45, 1990), which also includes Ivan Lins' lovely "illuminados." A collection of lesser-known Jobim masterpieces, including "Samba Torto," is presented in The Other Side of Jobim (JD73, 1992).

Classics like "A Voz do Morro" and new songs like "Africando" and title track "Maracana" (a tribute to the enormous Rio soccer stadium) come from Ana's fourth Chesky release (JD104, 1993). The music of Bossa Nova (JD129, 1995), including "Garota de Ipanema," "Agua de Beber" "Samba de Verao," dates from this '60s, while the sound is state-of-the-art '90's, but the feelings preserved on this album, recorded only weeks after Jobim's passing, are timeless. This same session also resulted in two previously unreleased tracks, Baden Powell and Vinicius de Moreas's "Pra Que Chorar" and Ana's strikingly beautiful "Ancorar."

The strength of Ana's music is in her passion to express the things closest to her heart; the beauty of nature, the comforts of friendship, the joys and sorrows of romance--with honesty, spontaneity, depth of feeling, and a lively sense of humor. As she has blessed her listeners with this music, may she continue to be blessed as her career continues to unfold.

These fourteen musical postcards were created with love and recorded with a freshness and clarity impossible to capture in multitrack. Postcards from Rio, to the world, and to you