It's been far too long since the great
Nascimento released an album of new material, but on the basis of this, he's completely on form, not losing his golden touch at all. Dedicated to his late stepmother, it finds
Nascimento mining the themes of childhood and love that have always been the very heartbeat of his music. And to help him explore them, he's used some colleagues from the days of the classic
Clube Da Esquina, people like
Lô Borges and
Eumir Deodato. While most of this album is made up of songs, letting
Nascimento's brilliantly luminous voice shine, there's also an instrumental excursion, "Cantaloupe Island," that brings in American jazzers
Herbie Hancock and
Pat Metheny. It's pleasant, but hardly up to the high standards of the rest of this disc, such as the glowing saudade of "Tristesse," as powerful a song as any in
Nascimento's excellent canon. Like all his work, it bears repeated listenings, not only to extract all the nuances from the arrangements and songs, but for the simple pleasure of hearing someone so good. ~ Chris Nickson