Playful Heart, the latest release from virtuoso guitarist, composer, arranger and producer Oscar Castro-Neves, is a shining example of the perfect union that can come to exist between jazz and Brazilian music. On the CD's thirteen tunes, Castro-Neves transforms standards, re-arranges classics and offers originals, all linked by the interpretive, evocative guitar work that has earned him four decades of worldwide acclaim.

Equally renowned as an orchestrator, arranger and producer, Castro-Neves brings those talents into sharp focus on Playful Heart, his seventh solo recording overall, and his debut for Mack Avenue Records, as he bends, twists and shapes songs from such legendary (and diverse) composers as Lennon and McCartney, Michel Legrand, Charlie Parker and Stephen Sondheim, as well Brazilian classics from Antonio Carlos Jobim and Luiz Bonfa.

The CD opens with Jobim's "Waters Of March," considered by many critics, including the late Leonard Feather, to be one of the "songs of the century." At once reminiscent of its best-known renditions and made unique by Castro-Neves' own distinctive style, the track is also notable as the first time in his career that the multi-faceted artist has sung on a recording. As he segues into the CD's next track, Castro-Neves pays apt tribute to both Charlie Parker's "Goovin' High" and the swing standard "Whispering," with an arrangement of the two that effortlessly fuses Brazil with Bebop, made even more intriguing by Toots Thielemans on harmonica.

On "Watch What Happens," written by Michel Legrand for the French Film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Castro-Neves pays tribute to guitar great Wes Montgomery, making use of his trademark octaves to change the tune's harmonic structure while losing none of its inherent romantic essence, thanks - in part - to the subtle interplay between Gary Meek on woodwinds and Castro-Neves' guitar. "My Foolish Heart" pays homage to another of Castro-Neves' great influences, Bill Evans, whose landmark version of the tune inspired Playful Heart's spare, rhythmic rendition, which features an understated piano solo by frequent collaborator Don Grusin. Castro-Neves once again mingles two distinct yet complimentary musical styles on "Manhã de Carnaval/Prelude #3, as he interweaves the ballad originally written by Luis Bonfa for the Brazilian film Black Orpheus with quotes from a piece by the respected Brazilian classical composer and guitarist Heitor Vila-Lobos.

"Four Brothers," made famous by Woody Herman's Thundering Herd Orchestra, is here re-arranged for flutes in place of saxophones, and displays the multi-faceted talents of woodwind wizard Gary Meek. "Years ago, I had a woodwind quintet that performed at a small club in Los Angeles," remembers Castro-Neves. "This time I revamped the arrangement I had originally written for that group to use Gary Meek to play all their parts." In discussing his new rendition of Lennon and McCartney's "Fool On The Hill, a song which he first played when working with Sergio Mendes' Brazil 66, " Castro-Neves says, "The beauty of their songbook transcends their own 'Beatles' sound. They just wrote great songs that could be performed in any style, retaining their intrinsic magic."

Castro-Neves' talents as an arranger are beautifully displayed on "Lorry's Swing/Autumn Leaves." Says the guitarist, "I completely re-harmonized the song (originally written by Joseph Kozma and Jacques Prevert and performed by Brazilian crooner Dick Farney on the Andy Williams show in the 1960's) and then, inspired by its new chord changes, wrote a new melody, 'Lorry's Swing,' that became a counterpoint, living between the notes, of 'Autumn Leaves.'" His version of the Sondheim classic, "Send In The Clowns," perfectly captures what Castro-Neves says is "the intricate harmonic context of Sondheim's music." "Everything Happens To Me," originally written in 1936, timelessly retains its bittersweet irony, and develops into a duet, with Charlie Bisharat's violin playing between the lines of romantic poetry.

Inspired by the harmonic structure of Jobim's "Wave," Castro-Neves composed a new melody that evolved into "Twenty Year Love Affair," the song that precedes it on Playful Heart. Finally, the CD concludes with Lucio Dalla's "Caruso," once a hit for Luciano Pavarotti. "According to legend, it depicts Enrico Caruso, the legendary tenor, his health and voice beginning to fail, sitting on the balcony of his hotel in Venice, singing to his lover," related Castro-Neves, "A beautiful story, full of emotion and the bittersweet-ness of love, I translated it here to a bossa nova."

Born in 1940 in Rio de Janeiro, Oscar Castro-Neves emerged as one of the founding figures - along with Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto, and others - of a musical movement that became known worldwide as bossa nova. When he was 16, Castro-Neves' first recorded song attained national hit airplay in his native Brazil, with over 50 covers by various artists eventually being recorded.

In 1962, he came to New York to appear on the first bossa nova concert in America, at Carnegie Hall. As leader of his own quartet, he went on to tour with the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet, the Stan Getz Quartet, the Lalo Schifren Trio and the Laurindo de Almedia Quartet, featuring Ray Brown, Shelley Mann and Bud Shank. Upon returning to Brazil, he wrote and arranged for very top performer in the country, and in 1971, joined Sergio Mendez' Brazil 66 as featured guitarist, musical director and vocal coach. When he left the group ten years later, he had recorded more than 15 albums with Sergio (some as co-producer) and had appeared in every major city in the world.

Castro-Neves is regarded with the highest admiration by his peers in the music industry, not only for his musicianship and distinctive guitar style, but also for his unique, sophisticated harmonic concepts and the exquisite texture and color of his orchestrations. He has worked prolifically in the studio with many artists, including Quincy Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Herbie Hancock, Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson, Dave Grusin, Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto, and the Paul Winter Consort.

He produced Soul of the Tango with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, which won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover recording. Among his other productions and musical arrangements are four recordings with Belgian living legend Toots Thielemans (Brazil Project I and II, East Coast-West Coast, and Chez Toots) and Here in My Heart (with Kenny Rankin) for Windham Hill/Private Music, as well as Color and Light, and Jazz Sketches on Sondheim for Sony Classical, Double Rainbow (with Joe Henderson) for Verve, Leaning Into The Night (with Ottmar Liebert) for Sony Classical, and Eliane Elias Sings Jobim for Blue Note/Toshiba-EMI, Of those, both Soul of the Tango and Leaning Into The Night remained on Billboard's Classical Crossover charts for nearly a year after their initial release.

Castro-Neves' film scoring credits include Blame It On Rio, starring Michael Caine, and Gabriela, with Marcello Mastroianni, which featured the music of Jobim. As an arranger and orchestrator living in Los Angeles, among the many films on which he has worked are Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, L.A. Story, Sister Act II, House Sitter, He Said, She Said, Getting Even With Dad, and Larger Than Life. He composed and arranged the music for the Oscar-nominated documentary, Burning Down Tomorrow, and produced a special for public television station KCET, "Reflections Through a Brazilian Eye," which was nominated for an Emmy. Most recently, he composed and performed the music for Julia Louis-Dreyfus' well-received TV series, "Watching Ellie" on NBC.

He has served as a governor of the Los Angeles chapter of NARAS, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which presents the Grammy Awards. For six years, he produced a night devoted to Brazilian music at the Hollywood Bowl, attended annually by nearly 15,000 people.

The Brazilian government and its president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the dissemination of Brazilian culture and music around the world, recently honored Castro-Neves with his appointment as an officer of the Order of Rio Branco.