This latest album from the genre-bending, Grammy-nominated Brazilian singer-songwriter Bebel Gilberto is a touching tribute to her father, João – one of the key innovators in bossa nova, helping to define that iconic Brazilian sound for a global audience – who passed away in 2019.

In covering her father's songs, Gilberto highlights two albums which acted as “the guide for my inspiration” – the classic 1973 bossa nova album João Gilberto, plus the 1977 album Amoroso, which featured arrangements by Claus Ogerman. Album opener ‘Adeus America’ expresses the longing to return to Brazil, crystallised in the haunting refrain, “O samba mandou me chamar (Samba's sent for me)”. Written by Gilberto Gil and the first of four songs from João Gilberto, ‘Eu Vim De Bahia’ is a paean to the Bahia region of Brazil, while in ‘É Preciso Perdoar’ and the enigmatic ‘Undiú’, both standouts, the singer captures the phrasing and intimacy of her father's delivery to a remarkable degree. Written by Antônio Carlos Jobim and excerpted from Amoroso, the heartbreakingly lovely ‘Caminhos Cruzados’ radiates a deep sense of melancholic longing and yearning. Other highlights include the beguiling (and wordless) ‘Valsa’ and the infinitely tender ‘Eclipse de Luna’, sung in Spanish. Recorded at Reservoir Studios in New York, the album sounds terrific.