Here’s a heads-up for world-music fans, or lovers of lushly melodic pop music. Milton Nascimento, 65-year-old icon of Brazilian music, will release his first album in five years, Novas Bossas, on Sept. 30 through Blue Note in the U.S.

I listened to an advance download, and the music is flat-out gorgeous. Nascimento’s ethereal voice, including his legendary falsetto, is in terrific shape. He’s joined by Paulo and Daniel Jobim (son and grandson of bossa nova pioneer Antonio Carlos Jobim).

The 14-song CD includes old and new songs, and updates the bossa nova genre. It doesn’t rely exclusively on that gentle undulating bossa beat, but mixes in samba, ballads, etc. Keep an ear out.

This article appears in Aug 6-12, 2008.

Eric Snider is the dean of Bay area music critics. He started in the early 1980s as one of the founding members of Music magazine, a free bi-monthly. He was the pop music critic for the then-St. Petersburg...