by Stewart MasonBrazilian-born percussionist Paulinho Da Costa's first album as a leader is very much an album of its era, for good and bad. Da Costa is the preeminent Brazilian percussionist of his time, and his kinetic grooves, built on a variety of traditional Afro-Cuban percussion instruments, power these six lengthy workouts. Indeed, on the hypnotic "Terra," his percussion is nearly the only instrument. However, the rest of this album tends toward standard mid-'70s jazz-funk. As a result, the album sounds terribly dated, all wah-wah guitar, Fender Rhodes electric piano, and ARP synthesizer. On the other hand, this is not necessarily a bad thing, especially for those into camp '70s nostalgia. More to the point, as camp '70s nostalgia goes, this is really quite good! Da Costa and his primary writing partner, arranger Claudio Slon, turn out to be masters at creating percolating jazz-funk grooves with the melodic savvy of the best Brazilian ...