Various Artists

It's natural to assume that Brazil -- with its potent African heritage and tradition of heavily syncopated, percussive pop -- would have embraced soul music with open arms. The truth of the matter is that both Brazilian soul and funk got off to slow starts in the early '70s, with the majority of records sounding pretty soft by U.S. standards. The style also was grievously neglected by local record labels, leaving revered artists such as Orlandivo, Hyldon, and Erlon Chaves out of print for years, even after the modern axe scene brought a mix of soul, samba, and reggae into the mainstream.

Samba Soul 70! is, without question, the strongest set of Brazilian soul to hit our shores, and a necessity for anyone curious about these hard-to-find oldies. Although the album's still on the light side, it mostly avoids the disco numbers of the genre's best-known artists in favor of richer, more melodic material. While Americans might consider these tracks more acid jazz or easy listening than soul, the collection has an admirable stylistic consistency that makes it very easy to listen to. The comp highlights Several of the '70s trendsetters from the Afrocentrist "Black Rio" movement, including Brazil's answer to Earth, Wind & Fire, Banda Black Rio. The collection also features a hefty dose of older stars trying on the new soul style -- folks such as pop superstar Gal Costa, jazz diva Elis Regina, and former teen-queen Wanderléa, who came from the Beatles-inspired jovem guarda scene.

One real coup is the inclusion of Wilson Simonal's "Não Vem Que Não Tem," an ultra-swank Ray Charles-style swing tune that inexplicably never made it onto Simonal's hit packages. Possibly the catchiest track is Dom Salvador & Banda Abolição's "Guanabara," a breezy instrumental that -- like Dennis Coffey's "Scorpio" or "Le Freak" -- is both highly embarrassing and hugely irresistible. The only real problem with the album is that Brazil's most hardcore funksters -- artists like Jorge Ben, Tim Maia, and Gershon King Combo -- are notably absent. We can only hope this means a second, harder volume is due soon.