Sunday Times ( London ) ****

Some people just don’t get bossa nova: where there is subtlety, all they hear is easy listening. Their loss, I’m afraid. The Brazilian singer-guitarist Vinicius Cantuaria is one of the harder-edged expats on the New York scene (Arto Lindsay is among this many collaborators). That said, this is just about this mellowest, most satisfying collection ever. Moving away from his more explicitly jazz-inspired pieces, he has opted for a stripped-down voice-and-guitar framework, embellished with the most discreet of instrumental overdubs. A Felicidade is the ritual bow in the directions of Jobim, but like everything else here, it sounds utterly contemporary. – Clive Davis.