The parade of samba schools in Rio de Janeiro is particularly famous for the Brazilian carnival. In the northeast of the country they do things differently. In this region, not samba and bossa nova predominate, but styles such as forró and axé. During the carnival, the latter - a swinging mix of samba reggae and Brazilian pop music - can be heard everywhere. In 2005 axé celebrated its twentieth
… anniversary and to celebrate this, the 'queen of the axé' traveled four days on a truck through her hometown Salvador de Bahía during the carnival. With playful ease, the experienced Daniela Mercury gets everyone dancing. Her greatest hits are all featured. In addition, the duet Vamos Fugir with singer Gilberto Gil and the classic Aquarela Do Brasil attract attention. On this last song she is accompanied on grand piano by concert pianist Ricardo Castro, who also shows in one of the DVD extras that Bach and rousing Afro-Brazilian percussion go together perfectly. (MH)more