Baden Powell: Os Afro Sambas

This week, I've hit a rut in terms of my blogging.  I've been contemplating what to post about, because I feel that I'm due to post something new but have been at a loss about what to discuss musically.  Honestly, I'm not going to lie--although this blog is titled "Soul Excursions" and the initial intent was to discuss mainly soul music from the 60's and 70's, I've been listening to very little soul music recently.  I'm sure I will come back to some of my favorites from Curtis Mayfield, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder, Bill Withers, etc. eventually because soul music is my lifeblood and is, as a whole, my favorite music genre.  However, other than the occasional listen to one of my many Little Willie John albums (the "Fever" biography that I recently read led me back to his catalog after many years of neglect), my heart, my ears, and my soul have been drawn towards everything Brazilian.  Bozza Nova, Samba, and Tropicalia have been on constant rotation on my player, from the likes of the Tamba Trio, Marcos Valle, Azymuth, Joao Gilberto, Joao Donato, Jorge Ben, among many others.  The main diet of my Brazilian nourishment has been the albums of Baden Powell.  Mainly, his 1966 release Os Afro Sambas.  The haunting guitar playing of Powell, the lyrics from the Brazilian writer Vinicus, the backing female vocals of Quarteto em Cy, it's all present in probably one of my favorite Brazilian albums of all-time.  Take a listen to "Tempo de Amor". 

I have a bunch of Baden Powell albums that are well worth listening to, especially from his On Guitar series, like Images on Guitar, Canto, or Tristeza, but Os Afro Sambas, is the masterpiece in Powell's catalog.  Highly recommended!