This is exactly the album Cesaria Evora needed to make. Her Grammy-award-nominated 1999 release, Café Atlantico, summed up her masterful take on soulful Cape Verdean song forms--notably the melancholy morna and playful coladeira--and hinted at new ground: collaboration. Here, the 60-year old "barefoot diva" harmonizes sensationally with Brazilian superstar Caetano Veloso ("Tiempo y Silencio"), engages in romantic Portuguese call-and-response with Bonnie Raitt ("Crepescular Solidao"), and eases into an elegant Cuban mode backed by Orquesta Aragon, who have been pumping out classy dance music since the Buena Vista Social Clubbers were young. Cuban jazz pianist Chucho Valdes also makes an appearance, and virtually all of these 15 tracks benefit from a tastefully arranged string section that adds lush grandeur to Evora's folksy sound without denaturing it.

After years of success, Evora can call on the best composers in her genre, and the result is one intricate, memorable melody after another. "Sabor De Pecado" weaves melodic eloquence unexpectedly through a light and lively coladeira. "Fada" plays like a cross between the friendliest of Brazilian pop and a gospel choir in full celebration with a hook that won't let go. Throughout, Evora is in splendid voice, her relaxed, smoky delivery as strong and winning as we've ever heard it. For once in the much-tampered-with realm of high-level world music singers, a team of producers, guest artists, composers and the singer's own band have worked together to produce something coherent and consistently great--without a doubt the strongest Evora release to date.

Contributed by: Banning Eyre