Tapping keyboard giant Ronnie Foster in 1987 to produce his new recording was the logical ‘next step’ for Djavan. Consider that 1986 was a banner year for the Brazilian pop singer: He was featured prominently on Manhattan Transfer’s Grammy-winning ‘Brasil’ album and his then-current ‘Meu Lado’ record generated three future ‘greatest hits’ songs, including ‘Asa’, which led to a guest performance on Lee Ritenour’s ‘Portrait’ album later that year. The table was set for a breakout recording and ‘Bird Of Paradise’ exceeded expectations.

Brazilian ‘purists’ often deride this recording as ‘not Brazilian’ and they’re right – the line up was culled from the cream of the Los Angeles studio scene: George Duke, Harvey Mason and Nathan East (before their Fourplay years), Larry Williams and percussionist Bill Summers. Foster had a hot hand as a rising producer, having already worked with George Benson, Roberta Flack and David Sanborn.

But the purists are also wrong: ‘Bird Of Paradise’ remains as one of Djavan’s greatest recordings. His songwriting for this project is superb – melodies range from eloquent (the title track) to poignant (Miss Susanna) to several uptempo tunes with lasting hooks, as on the horn-driven ‘Take Me (Me Leve)’, ‘Apple’, ‘Stephen’s Kingdom’ and the opening track, which features Ronnie Foster’s trademark keyboard grooves as a bed for Djavan’s scatty delivery.

This is Djavan entering the peak of his career: his voice is supple and sharp, his range matching his abilities; his standout songwriting is fresh and uniquely Brazilian.

And this recording began a short-lived trend for Djavan; American music critics flocked to this CD, due in part to the decision to include several songs in English (lyrics provided here by Michael Franks and Brock Walsh) with a separate release for the Brazilian market titled ‘Nao É Azul Mas É Mar’, where the songs are in Portuguese only, and with different track ordering.

We highly recommend the ‘Bird Of Paradise’ edition as an all-time favorite that will sounds as fresh and exciting years from now as it did upon its release.