Milton Nascimento remembers the first time he heard bossa nova.

"I was 15 years old. I was working for a small radio station in the small town where I grew up in the southern Minas Gerais state of Brazil," he said through interpreter Paulo Lafayette. "And they received a package with an album, [1959's] "Chega de Saudade" by Joao Gilberto. It was a miracle that the record made it to there because the place was far from everywhere. ... It was a miracle because it was someone new, with a new style of singing and playing that was very unusual."

Nascimento, of course, grew up to be one of Brazil's greatest singers and songwriters, using a haunting, gorgeous falsetto while delving into jazz, samba, rock and more.

"When I was very little, I only enjoyed a woman's voice, so I sang and imitated these female voices," he said. "When I started to become a teenager, my voice started to change and I was really worried, even upset " because I felt women were the only ones who could sing with their hearts and the men only wanted to show power.

"But one time when I was in my father's office, and the radio started to play 'Stella by Starlight' by Ray Charles, then I realized men could sing from their hearts. I kept cool and didn't worry about it anymore. But by then, I had practiced so much the female voice, I used very, very high tones and just kept doing that and incorporated it into my music."

While eclecticism has defined his career, if Nascimento wanted to he could have become the definitive bossa nova singer " and that opinion comes from the music's pioneers, Gilberto and Antonio Carlos "Tom" Jobim, who both said he was the only singer who could reach the original pitch of their songs.

"I was rehearsing a concert with Tom, and he asked me to record all of his songs," Nasicemto recalled. "I said, 'Yes, of course.' But Tom passed away [in 1994] and we were never able to do that. But I was always very close to Paulo, Tom's son."

To make up for lost time, Nascimento teamed up with guitarist Paulo Jobim as well as his drummer son Daniel Jobim for the album "Novas Bossas," which is a tribute to the genre. "I wanted to do only Tom Jobim songs," Nascimento said, "but both the son and grandson demanded some of my songs, too. ... The music came about very spontaneous and natural."

Just like bossa nova.

--Christopher Porter, Express (Oct. 2008)