from the publisher:
Welcome to Connectbrazil.com!
Another milestone year - and another anniversary of my first visit to Rio de Janeiro (1987), another year for our award-winning radio program 'The Sounds of Brazil' (1992) and more than a dozen years of interactive fun online with our website and various blogs (such as Mosaic Brazil) and radio channels (1997). I hope that you'll celebrate with me this by exploring all that the world of Brazilian music and culture has to offer. One place to start might be with learning a little about how I came to love Brazil.
Chances are that you've come to our site as a result of having your life touched by Brazilian music at some point, in some meaningful way. Whether it is Samba, Bossa Nova, Brazilian jazz, MPB or the music of the south, the northeast or Minas, Brazilian music makes new friends every day, all around the world.
So perhaps it's no surprise to learn that my story is a little like yours.
My first trip to Brazil was in March of 1987 - to Rio de Janeiro, and it had nothing to do with music. But as vacations go, it was a life-changing experience. I returned home with lots of memories and suitcases filled Brazilian albums. A few years later, the 'Brazilian bug' had really bitten and I returned to Brazil as a freelance writer to interview singer Caetano Veloso and to cover Brazil's first democratic Presidential election in its modern era. Many such trips followed over the years.
Connectbrazil.com began its life in 1997 as a companion website for listeners to our radio program 'The Sounds of Brazil', which by then, was in its fourth year as a commercially syndicated weekend show. We added an e-store to help fans obtain the music they enjoyed listening to on the radio. We began to webcast our radio program in 1999 and soon began hearing from new friends in Australia, England, Germany, Italy, Japan and… Brazil.
Full circle!
Today Connectbrazil.com has a new face but the same mission: To share the music we love with others and to inform and entertain in ways that make sense to fans like ourselves.
If you're new to Brazilian music, you'll find that Connectbrazil.com is filled with helpful information. Our music primers are 'expert' guides to each of Brazil's major song styles - it's a great way to learn!
We've designed our site so that you'll find many familiar faces from American jazz and pop to help you explore the music at your own pace - just look for the blue 'Passport' pages in our CD review section. That's where you'll find Brazilian items - CD's, videos, books - by non-Brazilians. Green pages are for purely Brazilian titles.
We're putting our decadesof experience with Brazilian music to work for you, as we complete every review page with accurate and verified album information, including its track listing, audio clips, personnel and carefully researched commentary from our staff reviewers. Plus search functions and soon, links to Artist Page for biographies and news. And you can safely order online through our 'secure server' with LinkPoint, the premiere payment verification company.
There are plenty of interactive features at Connectbrazil.com - from our three 24/7 Internet Radio stations to weekly interactive playlists, features and a free e-letter to help you stay informed with the latest music news.
I've always believed that music is a gateway to better understanding Brazil and its people, and as we grow, Connectbrazil will keep you in touch with the many facets of this amazing country via special sections for Arts and Culture, too.
All of this is a long way removed from those first exciting days in Rio years ago. What began as an infatuation has grown to become a small business enterprise and my lifework. Our staff has worked very hard to create a place for Brazilian music on the Internet for fans like you - and me - to call 'home' and it's my pleasure to welcome you.
I hope you enjoy your visit and will return to us often.
Always a pleasure,
Scott Adams, Publisher
Connectbrazil.com
