Not unlike Cuñao, which I reviewed recently, Ozorio Trio plays with musical expectations. Marcelo Ozorio leads a vast ensemble (the "trio" is a reference to Armando, Stenio and Afonso Osorio, who were among the founders of Bando da Lua, a 1930s-era Brazilian group that found success up north) through jazzy folk and western swing riffles that sound perfectly "American"--in the norte-americano sense.

Ozorio Trio Big Town (Reco-Head)

Imagine if Bob Wills wandered down to Brazil. Okay, that stopped the needle. But that's pretty much what Ozorio has done with his friends. There are occasional nods to Brazilian music and culture (most of the songs are titled in Portuguese, but the songs with vocals are sung in English), but one could be forgiven for mistaking this as a stylish reconsidering of mid-20th Century U.S. C&W.

The big mistake in that assessment would be missing the experimentation and sophistication of these songs. Old-timers might have used some slide guitar or pedal steel to replicate a train whistle, but they wouldn't build an entire song around that whistle as Ozorio does on "Locomotiva." That plaintive meditation is just one of the many gorgeous instrumental stories on this set.

An expansive and expressive set. The western-jazz vocal songs are lovely, but the instrumentals really take this album to another level. Sometimes you've just got to call up a couple dozen friends and let them cook. Well done.

Jon Worley