Part of the World Music Network Rough Guides series,[1] the album spotlights the music of Brazil, with tracks representing genres from across the country.

[2] Phil Stanton, co-founder of the World Music Network, produced the album.

[3] This was the first of two similarly named albums: the second edition was released in 2007.

Writing for AllMusic, Alex Henderson named it one of the most ambitious collections of its type.

According to Matos, the album displayed "a wider stylistic range than any other I've heard", even amongst the Rough Guide releases.