Bacan & Lilian Vieira - Cara (2021)

Although Bacan Con Lilian Vieira was founded and based in Amsterdam and recorded for the Dutch Challenge label, the band sounds like it could have come out of Rio de Janeiro. Focusing mainly on jazz-influenced Brazilian pop, Bacan consists of immigrants who moved to the Netherlands from Latin America -- the charming lead singer Vieira (who sings mostly in Portuguese) is Brazilian, while pianist/keyboardist Juan Pablo Dobal is Argentinean and bassist Jose Luis Lopretti is from Uruguay. The caressing, highly melodic music offered on Cara is definitely of the Rio variety. Though jazz influences enrich most of Bacan's samba-based material, songs like "Toda A Gente Que Passa," "El Mar" and the reggae-Influenced "Saudades" aren't jazz per se, but are best described as Rio-ish pop with jazz overtones. However, Cara does contain a few outright jazz instrumentals, most notably "Mandarina S" and the sentimental "Cascada." Though not released by an American label, Cara wasn't hard to find in the U.S. as an import. ~ Alex Henderson