Ivan Lins re-records 11 original sambas and presents the new samba 'Maravilhado' on the album 'Sambadouro' Barbara Furtado e Dantas Jr. / Divulgação Selo Sesc ? ALBUM REVIEW Title: Sambadouro Artist: Ivan Lins Rating: ? ? ? ? ? Created to celebrate Ivan Lins' 80th birthday, completed in June 16, 2025, the album “Sambadouro” was announced as an album born from the intention of bringing the composer's samba closer to the universe of Rio's pagodes. The artist even said in an interview that he dreamed of seeing his sambas played as if Ivan lived in Madureira, a neighborhood in the suburbs of Rio, one of the samba hotspots in the city of Rio de Janeiro (RJ). However, the three singles that preceded the release of this 46th album by the singer, composer and pianist from Rio – released between February and June with the recordings of the title song “Sambadouro” (Ivan Lins, 1992, with lyrics by Vitor Martins, 1993), “Diplomação” (Ivan Lins and Celso Viáfora, 2001) and “Deixa eu diz” (Ivan Lins and Ronaldo Monteiro de Souza, 1973) – signaled that, if that was indeed the intention, the attempt would be fruitless, even if “Diplomação” brought Zeca Pagodinho, a native of Porto from the backyards of the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro (RJ). Born and raised in Tijuca, a neighborhood located at another latitude in the city, Ivan Lins has always composed samba, a recurring genre in the monumental work of the now 81-year-old artist. Just remember that Ivan gained national recognition in 1970 with a samba, “Madalena”, a partnership with Ronaldo Monteiro de Souza amplified in the voice of Elis Regina (1945 – 1982). But the composer's samba always followed its own, particular cadence, and was framed in the MPB universe for generational reasons and because it has influences from bossa nova, soul and jazz. Symptomatically, the album “Sambadouro” – recorded in May 2025, at the Rio studio Cia. dos Técnicos, with production by Marcus Fernando and arrangements by Rafael dos Anjos – arrived on the music market last Friday, July 24, with a speech that omits the artist's vaunted intention to set himself in Rio's pagodas. Better this way, because Ivan Lins' samba crosses Rio throughout “Sambadouro” – in connections with Rio's greats like Ferrugem (on the aforementioned track “Deixa eu diz”), Diogo Nogueira, Mart'nália and From the perspective of relocation, the recording that brings Ivan's samba closest to the pagode is “Saravá" Saravá!” (2004), a partnership with Martinho da Vila released in an album dedicated by Simone to Ivan Lins' songbook (“Baiana da gema”) and now rewound by Ivan with Xande de Pilares, a pagode bamba from the 1990s. In essence, however, Ivan Lins does not put his feet on the ground and makes the album “Sambadouro” a great compilation of sambas from the work, revived in unreleased recordings. As the singer's most recent albums had little commercial effect, due to the changes in the music market in the 21st century, it is likely that sambas such as “Não samba está um País” (Ivan Lins and Vitor Martins, 2015) and “Prece ao samba” (Ivan Lins and Nei Lopes, 2006) – a pearl in a minor key with lyrics in which partner Nei Lopes dialogues with the “Oração de São Francisco” – they even sound like new songs to ears less attentive to the development of Ivan Lins' discography. In any case, strictly speaking, unreleased, there is only one among the 12 sambas on the album, “Maravilhado”, a partnership with Ronaldo Monteiro de Souza that lives up to the title, sounding like a contemporary marvel. With an enticing beat, the samba “Maravilhado” is located at the end of the album, also released by Selo Sesc in physical CD format, inviting the listener to follow Ivan Lins' block. Before “Maravilhado”, comes another spare track on the album, “Sou eu” (2009), whose original lyrics by Ivan's partner, Chico Buarque, are deliciously subverted when sung by Mart'nália, an openly lesbian artist. And here is a parenthesis to remember that Simone wanted to launch the samba, but Chico gave Diogo Nogueira priority. Interestingly, Diogo Nogueira also appears in “Sambadouro” as Ivan’s guest in the re-recording of the samba “Porta entreaberta” (Ivan Lins and Paulo César Pinheiro, 2004), a great samba that deserved the second chance he got in “Sambadouro”. A little older, “É de Deus” (Ivan Lins and Vitor Martins, 1995) slides softly in the hall of a gafieira, blown by the brass. It's worth noting that all seven features on the album sound appropriate. One of the most powerful voices of the pagoda of the 1990s and the only guest to come from the universe of the pagode of São Paulo (SP), Péricles tunes in with the album's host in the soft singing of “Não tem desenvolvimento” (Ivan Lins and Ronaldo Monteiro de Souza, 1973), another rare gem from Ivan Lins' songbook. “Não tem desenvolvimento” is a composition presented in the sagacious voice of Leny Andrade (1943 – 2023), a singer dedicated to falling into the composer’s samba. With a cover that displays art created with inspiration from the only photo of the house of Hilária Batista de Almeida (1854 – 1924), Tia Ciata, the activist matriarch of Rio de Janeiro samba, the album “Sambadouro” also features the Rio de Janeiro mandolinist Hamilton de Holanda, a guest of Ivan Lins in the revival of “Parei contigo” (2004), a samba that dialogues with the sambas of the work of Baden Powell (1937 – 2000) with Paulo César Pinheiro, Ivan’s lyricist partner in this samba released by Simone on the aforementioned album “Baiana da gema” (2004). Everything came together on the track because the energetic playing of Hamilton's mandolin symbolizes Baden's guitar. In short, whether evoking Baden, or referencing Antonio Carlos Jobim (1927 – 1994), a beacon of the composer since samba is samba, or trying to approach the universe of the Rio pagode without actually putting his feet on the ground, Ivan Lins confirms himself as a great performer in the mosaic of sambas on the album “Sambadouro”. Cover of the album 'Sambadouro', by Ivan Lins Disclosure