Samba, Strictly Speaking

Samba is truly Brazil’s signature sound, but even a collection like this, with a title that makes it clear there’ll be no straying from the established order, is going to have some variation. After all, samba has been mixed with jazz, funk, soul, rock, pop, reggae, electronica and who knows what else in its century of existence. It paved the way for bossa nova and went from being low class to high class to demographic-defying. Its African origins have been both emphasized and downplayed. Perhaps more than anything else, Far out: Strictly Samba celebrates how resiliently infectious the music remains no matter how it’s dressed up.