My Brazilian Heart

Like Bebel Gilberto, Katia B (for Bronstein) was mentored by the late Eastern European émigré Suba in her early days, and also like Bebel Gilberto, she's since taken further steps outside of traditional Brazilian pop. Unfortunately, unlike Bebel Gilberto, Katia B's additions to her core sound aren't particularly interesting. Despite the roots-implying title, most of My Brazilian Heart sounds about as Brazilian as Gloria Estefan's late-'80s work sounded Cuban, which is to say that producers Sacha Amback and Marcos Suzano focus so much on the potential crossover appeal of pleasant but faceless adult contemporary ballads like "Are You Sleeping?" to the Norah Jones audience that there's little here to appeal to Katia B's core fans. Things right themselves at the end with the dramatic '70s-style tropicalismo of "Último a Saber" and the jazz-tinged sophistication of the slinky "One More Shot," but by that point, missteps like the clunky Portuguese rapping on "Só Deixo Meu Coração Na Mão de Quem Pode" have taken their toll. The U.S. edition adds a pair of remixes.