Jovino Santos Neto, Alma do Nordeste (Adventure Music). Based for some years in Seattle,
the pianist, flutist and composer returns to his native Brazil and collaborates with eleven of his countrymen. The music is based in the baiãos, forrós, xotes and other rich forms of Northeastern Brazil. It is intensely rhythmic, melodic and full of adventure. Indigenous percussion and stringed instruments meld beautifully with Santos Neto’s jazz concepts. Once you’ve heard Toninho Ferragutti’s playing in the tradition of the great Sivuca, you may think twice before you tell your next accordion joke.