Gilberto Gil and Milton Nascimento are giants of Brazilian popular music, MPB, as it's known. In terms of star status and songwriting chops, it would be as if Bob Dylan and Paul Simon made a record together. But Milton and Gil are also close friends, and a sense of intimacy--palpable throughout fifteen tracks in which they share composing duties, trade verses, converse line-by-line and harmonize their iconic voices--provides the real magic here. Bookended by lively Rio samba ("Sebastian") and northeast Brazilian foro ("Baião da Garoa"), this set mostly favors introspective and romantic material. But nobody does it like these two. There's "Trovoada," a gently loping acoustic guitar and percussion piece with a tuneful A-section by Gil, and a mysterious, more abstract B-section by Milton. Or "Dora," a slow, luscious reading of a Dorival Caymmi bossa ballad. If it's possible to generalize about two such wide-ranging musicians, you might say Milton's music is predominantly about his voice, whereas Gil has always had a gift for groove, and a weakness for rock and reggae. But such formulas get turned around here. "Bom Dia," a stately, waltz-like Gil composition finds Milton singing in uncharacteristically craggy tones, while Gil, backed by a childrens' chorus and strings, sounds smooth as satin. "Lar Hospitalar" has a funky, retro feeling that recalls early Gil work, but Milton wrote the tune.

We do, of course, also get what we have learned to expect from these two giants. A reggae version of the Beatles' song "Something," is a classic Gil paean to his musical heroes. And "Yo vengo a ofrecer mi corazon," a cantering Fito Paez tune swelling with string-floated romance, showcases Milton's astounding vocal range from deep resonant passages to soaring head voice--all effortless. For me, a standout is "Duas Sanfonas," a slow, elegant take on accordion-driven northeast folk music. The lack of English translations for the songs is regrettable for an album by two formidable lyricists, but there's no doubting that this is one for the ages.

Contributed by: Banning Eyre