Reviewed by Gabriel Porras

Ari Mendes is a Brazilian guitarist, bass player, producer, arranger and session musician living and working in the USA. This dazzling album from 2002 is eloquent proof of his skills in all these areas, featuring acoustic solo arrangements of old and new worship songs, where Ari plays various guitars, mandolins, banjos and acoustic bass guitars. Special note must go to his gorgeous jazz treatment of "Give Thanks" ("Dou Gracas"), where the maestro dampens the strings, slides and picks in such an intricate display of instrumental dexterity that I'm convinced that there cannot be a better, cooler version of this song available on CD! Other standouts include "It Is Well With My Soul" ("Sou Feliz Com Jesus") and "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" ("Tu Es Fiel"). Well done, Ari - muito bom seu som!

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