Sergio Mendes Bom Tempo (Concord)
Since will.i.am and the Black Eyed Peas gave his career a welcome boost with 2006's Timeless, Sergio Mendes has continued to make music which combines elements of hip hop with the subtler Brazilian grooves with which he made his name in the 1960s.
Bom Tempo carries on very much in the vein of Timeless and 2008's Encanto, featuring many of the same collaborators - minus the Peas' will.i.am and Fergie - on a selection of songs by some of his favourite Brazilian songwriters, including such luminaries as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Gilberto Gil, and Milton Nascimento who also guests on the album.
As happened on the last two albums earlier hits are quoted or revisited, in this case most notably The Real Thing which was written for him in the 1970s by Stevie Wonder and first recorded with Brasil 77.
Hip hop's mechanical rhythms do not always mesh well with Mendes' trademark sensual swing, as is particularly apparent on this set's second disc of DJ remixes, which includes yet another version of Mas Que Nada, but on the whole a fine line is successfully walked, and these well-crafted songs now stand a better chance of reaching a wider audience.