Outra Vez (1992)

"The gracefully aging Brazilian guitarist takes a trio into a jazz club in Pacific Beach (near San Diego) and delivers a lovely, swinging set of transcriptions and arrangements of music from three continents, bracketed by the music of Jobim ("Outra Vez" to start, and a medley of hits to close). Almeida spends a good deal of time on classical transcriptions -- a convincingly flowing arrangement of Enrique Granados' "Danza No. 5," a multi-rhythmed treatment of the "Largo" from Dvorák's New World Symphony, "'Round Midnight" in counterpoint to Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" -- musicological acrobatics, to be sure, yet always appealing."