A Brazilian Love Affair is the fifteenth studio album by American keyboardist and record producer George Duke. It was released in 1980 through Epic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place from March 1979 to April 1979 at Level E Hawai Recording Studio in Rio de Janeiro and at Westlake Recording Studios with additional recording at Le Gonks West Studio in West Hollywood, California. It was mastered by Brian Gardner at Allen Zentz Recording Studio in Los Angeles.
Duke used various keyboard instruments for A Brazilian Love Affair, including Rhodes piano, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Oberheim polyphonic, Minimoog, ARP Odyssey, Yamaha CP-70. The album features guest appearances from Brazilian jazz musicians, such as vocalists Flora Purim, Milton Nascimento and Simone, guitarist Toninho Horta, drummer Robertinho Silva, and percussionist Airto Moreira, along with Duke's frequent collaborators: Lynn Davis, Jerry Hey, Larry Williams, Sheila Escovedo, Roland Bautista and others.
In the United States, the album peaked at No. 119 on the Billboard 200 and at No. 40 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It reached No. 33 in the UK Albums Chart. Its single, the title song "Brazilian Love Affair", peaked at No. 36 in the UK.
Track listing
Personnel
George Duke – vocals (tracks: 1, 7), synthesizers (tracks: 1–3, 5–10), lead vocals (tracks: 2, 9), bells (track 2), electric pianos (tracks: 2, 7), acoustic piano (tracks: 4, 8), vibraphone (tracks: 5, 9)
Vocalists
Lynn Blythe Davis – vocals (tracks: 2, 9) Josie James – vocals (tracks: 2, 9) Lúcia Maria Werner Vianna Lins – vocals (tracks: 3, 8) Flavio Faria – vocals (tracks: 3, 8) Zéluiz – vocals (tracks: 3, 8) Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira – lead vocals (track 9) Lúcia Maria Turnbull – vocals (track 3) Flora Purim – vocals (track 5) Milton Nascimento – vocals and acoustic guitar (tracks: 3, 10)
Instrumentalists
Antônio Maurício Horta de Melo – acoustic guitar (tracks: 2, 5), electric guitar (tracks: 3, 10) Roland Bautista – guitar (track 1), electric guitar (tracks: 4, 6–9) Byron Lee Miller – bass (tracks: 1–2, 6–9) Jamil Joanes – bass (tracks: 3, 5, 10) Ricky Lawson – drums (tracks: 1, 6, 7, 9) Robertinho Silva – drums (tracks: 2, 3, 5, 8, 10), agogô (tracks: 3, 8), caxixi and talking drum (track 3), tambourine (track 8) Airto Moreira – percussion (tracks: 1, 10), surdo & tambourine (track 8) Chico Batera – percussion (tracks: 2, 5), congas and triangle (tracks: 3, 8), ganzá & reco-reco (track 3), bongos and tambourine (track 8), castanets (track 10) Sheila Escovedo – timbales (tracks: 6, 9), bongos and chimes (tracks: 7, 9), cowbell (track 7), caxixi (track 9) Larry Williams – tenor saxophone (track 2), alto saxophone (track 6) Jerry Hey – flugelhorn (tracks: 2, 10), trumpet (track 6) Bill Reichenbach, Jr. – trombone (tracks: 2, 6) Raul de Souza – trombone (track 5) Murray Adler – strings (track 10)