With the help of Mr Bongo's Classic Brazilian Recordings, Summer need not ever be the 'will we or won't we get one' topic of conversation of tradition.
By bringing everything that is hot, horny, housey and unashamedly hedonistic to our eager ears, Sao Benitez (producer Ben Mitchell in real life) repeatedly brings the sun out and into your life.
To be more specific this is not an artist album, more a stunning showcase and collection of an enviable back catalogue of nu-Latin remixes and original productions that could quite happily be left on repeat play until you go deaf from the sheer pleasure of it.
In Ben's own words, 'I can always see the finished track as soon as I start work on it...my mind is this freakish structure...waiting to be translated in the studio. The End result must always have a balance: the four elements, earth, air, wind and fire are the best way to perceive this balance.'
As expected, the highlights are many and from the outset you're at liberty to savour the hazy opening bars of his batucada driven remix of River Ocean's 'Love and Happiness'.
Paula Lima's 'As Famosas' is refreshed with a muted nu-Latin slant.
True there's a similarity between River Plate Orchestra's 'Congo' and the Baby O early disco classic 'In The Forest'. But it's said there are only three basic song structures in the world, so who are we to argue?
Make sure you dowse the floor with talcum powder before listening to the Hammond-driven, organ-asmic jazz of Jimmy Smith's 'Dot Com Blues'. Then get jiggy with your James Brown-styled fancy footwork.
There are down tempo cuts too, so you might prefer to run a long, hot bath and zone out to either Bukky Leo's lush stack vocal interpretation of 'Why Can't We Live Together' or the batucada fuelled, Sao Benitez' grand piano driven rendition of Donna Summer's 'State Of Independence' (the inclusion of Senegalese vocalist Mola Sylla adds a special resonance that is to be treasured).
Add the bonus video clip of Ray Barretto and the Fania All-stars dancing to the Sao Benitez mix of Juan Pablo Torres' 'Rompe Cocorico' and you know that everything is lovely in this heady and heavily fragranced Brazilian garden.
From Sao Paolo to Southport, Sao Benitez goes beyond the call of duty to bring you a perfectly balanced collection. It will inspire you to seek more.
