by Jason BirchmeierBrazil is rich with musical heroes, past as well as present, and Daniela Mercury is one of them, for she was the premier axé performer of the 1990s, with a goddess-like standing in Salvador da Bahia. This is because that northeastern capital city is ground zero for axé, a uniquely Bahian style that is generally described as a fusion of samba, reggae, and rock, with some Caribbean rhythms thrown in for good measure. Its a relentlessly upbeat, highly percussive style of music that is the open-air soundtrack of Carnaval da Bahia and that came to be in the mid-80s, with Luiz Caldas Fricote cited as its dawning moment. Mercury, more than anyone, popularized axé internationally. Her breakthrough hit, Swing da Cor, from her self-titled debut album, was one of the most popular songs in Brazil during 1991, and her follow-up effort, O Canto da Cidade (1993), was a national phenomenon. The first Brazilian album to top a millio...