In 2009, songwriter toured Brazil. On 2011's , she included a cover of 's "Canto de Lemanja" and wrote "Paratay," her own version of a bossa nova. These exercises and a lifelong love of the country's music went into , a covers collection of Brazilian songs, a foregone conclusion. In 2009, she met percussionist/drummer ( , ). His family owns Estudio el Rocha in Sao Paulo, where this set was recorded. Together they enlisted a Brazilian band that includes seven-string guitarist , who, like , now lives in Los Angeles. Her other sidemen all play music in a variety of genres and grew up with the songs chosen here, but had never played them. The material encompasses the rainbow offering of Brazilian song. While there are classics here, including 's "Chovendo Na Roseira" and 's "Menina Amanha de Manha" -- both sambas from different sides of the spectrum -- there are also traditional songs such as "Ewe," which came to Brazil via West Africa and Yoruban sources. Interestingly, despite the band's pedigree, there is an unmistakable, laid-back, L.A. post-hippie feel here. It's loose, but focused on nuance and essence. 's reading of 's "Misteriosos," from the classic album, seamlessly melds bossa and MPB. While 's "Luz du Sol" is as lithe as one might expect, the opposite is true in the two songs by . "Portal da Cor" is poignant and striking in a far more skeletal arrangement, while "Cais" is more structured than the songwriter's ballad from -- his album-length celebration of the artists of Minas Gerais -- yet no less dreamy. There is a gorgeous version of 's forlorn, minor-key, Latin-flavored samba "Preciso Me Encontrar" (from his 1976 album ). It is less dramatic than the songwriter's or the duet by and , but no less powerful. With her airy, slightly smoky alto, approaches this material with respect and as someone to whom these songs mean a great deal (check her reading of 's profound "O Vento"). As an interpreter she sings like she wants to share these songs, rather than leave her mark on them. The academic construct of authenticity isn't an issue because her encounter with this material is emotionally true. Add to this that she had to learn to sing them in Portuguese and the musicians were playing them often for the first time, and the spirit of discovery is rife. is a gem. It brings the honesty of Brazilian music in all its harmonic and poetic richness to listeners without artifice or affectation. ~ Thom Jurek