Arto Lindsay, Noon Chill (Bar/None)
In 1997 Arto Lindsay made a big critical splash with the one-two punch of Mundo Civilizado and the remix album Hyper Civilizado. Noon Chill confirms that he's on a creative roll. With career-stalling two and three year periods of dead air becoming all too common, it's refreshing to see someone crank out albums every year for a change. On this album, Lindsay turns up the acoustic, relaxed tropical warmth of the previous album to a scorching, funky jungle hoedown. He features pretty much the same all-star band, including bassist Melvin Gibbs, legendary jazz percussionist Nana Vasconcelos, Vinicius Cantuaria and guest singer Sussan Deyhim. Rather than just a group of sidemen, they have truly gelled into a bona fide band, completely in sync with each other. His production work with Carlinhos Brown's alfaGAMAbetiZADO must have inspired him to add much sassier rhythm arrangements. This is Lindsay's career masterpiece. Here's hoping he takes his hot band on the road and tear the roof off the mother earth.
