Carlinhos Brown Omelete Man (Metro Blue)
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But its aesthetic–a willingness to blend styles that took three more decades to sprout in this country–has influenced a great deal of Brazilian pop music since. And while highly visible albums by tropicalistas Tom Ze and Caetano Veloso–whose terrific 1998 record, Livro, was just released by Nonesuch in anticipation of his first major U.S. tour this summer–prove that the old guard still has the spark, an awful lot of great artists have emerged since, among them Daniela Mercury, Margareth Menezes, Marisa Monte, the late Chico Science, Lenine, Arnaldo Antunes, Daude, and Virginia Rodrigues. Yet few, if any, have attracted the attention of the sheep who write for Details.
In 1984 axe forefather Luiz Caldas scored a big hit with Brown’s tune “Visao do Ciclope” (“Cyclops’ Vision”), and before long Monte, Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and Gal Costa had all recorded his songs. Yet as success beckoned, Brown retreated to start a percussion school for kids in Candeal. In 1992 he returned by appearing on Bill Laswell’s Bahia Black: Ritual Beating System fusion project, in the company of Olodum as well as Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. The same year he wrote and sang five of the best songs on Mendes’s Grammy-winning album, Brasileiro. His knack for melodies and his rhythmic sophistication were evident, but he’d yet to make his own mark.
