The View From Madeleine's Couch: Tranquilo

Surprises abound in this delightful Brazilian album from an Australian group with the unlikely moniker of The View From Madeleine's Couch. It is also reasonable to expect that you won't be able to find this in your favorite music store filed properly unless some sharp-eyed employee was able to make the proper categorization.

The group consists of singer/percussionist Anje West and vibraphonist/percussionist/arranger Kym Ambrose. They are supported by guitar, rhythm section and occasional string quartet. Five of these ten tracks are originals and all but one are in Portugeuse. The View From Madeleine's Couch does a convincing job of sounding very much like home-grown Brazilians and there is no clue that the recording took place halfway around the world from Rio. The group's inspiration for this album was a 2004 visit to Brazil.

The music includes songs from the pens of Djavan, Jobim/Chico Buarque and the most durable tune, "Berimbau" was written by Baden Powell and Vinicius de Moraes. The sole English language, "Laze Away" was composed by Ambrose and West. The attractive and largely up-tempo sambas are further enlivened by the energetic vibraphone playing of Kym Ambrose whose multi-mallet work places this firmly in a jazz bossa setting.