Ivan Lins - Live at MCG (1999)

Too many artists go their entire careers without recording a live album; thankfully, Ivan Lins wasn't one of them. Recorded in September 1997, Live at MCG finds the Brazilian pop-jazz star performing at the Manchester Craftsmen Guild, a 350-seat venue in Pittsburgh. Lins, who was in his early 50s when this CD was recorded, is in excellent form on such caressing gems as "Noturna," "Comecar de Novo," "Aparecida" and "Anjo de Mim," and he has sensitive, sympathetic accompaniment in guitarist Jose Carlos Santos, bassist Dimerval Silva, keyboardist Marco Brito, drummer Teo Lima and percussionist Jaguaraci Machado. Most of Lins' vocals are in Portuguese, though he switches to English for a soulful reading of his signature song "Love Dance" -- a standard that has been recorded by everyone from Sarah Vaughan and George Benson, to Diane Shurre and Jack Jones. This is a CD that lovers of soft Rio de Janeiro-style pop-jazz shouldn't miss.