The Bahia-born singer Gal Costa was a founder of the Tropicalista movement, and she"s one of the reigning divas of Brazilian popular music. This CD started out as a cancelled live recording, so Costa and her band, which includes the incredible bassist Jorge Helder, went into the studio. The result is a magnificent tribute to the pre-bossa nova, samba songs of Brazil"s finest composers, including Luiz Peixoto, Ary Barroso, Dorival Caymmi, and Dolores Duran. Augmented by strings, accordion, and the ukulele-like cavaquino, Costa"s angelic voice floats over these silken sonorities and syncopations, from the festive baiao rhythms of "Kalu" and the soft jazz swing of "Fim de Caso," to the lilting longing of the Stan Getz-cover "Pra Machucar Meu Coracao" and the cuica-cadenced "Folhas Secas." Americans who think that there was no Brazilian music before the bossa nova will be pleasantly surprised by the variations on this disc. --Eugene Holley, Jr.