Guitarist Irio de Paula is a very talented South American master of bossa nova and samba, but he is hampered somewhat by the commercial backgrounds surrounding his marvelous solos on this studio date. With an unidentified rhythm section and the bland keyboard work of Riccardo Ballerini, his brilliant effort is shortchanged by Ballerini's uninspired background charts. If one can tune out the keyboards and string section, it is possible to appreciate de Paula's performances of "Triste," "Desafinado," "Dindi," and "So Danco Samba." But de Paula has been far better served by the musicians with whom he has been paired when recording for producer Paolo Piangiarelli's Philology label.