A Mexican-American who was born in Texas but raised in Gary, Indiana, Adela Dalto is an unpredictable singer who draws on jazz, Afro-Cuban and Brazilian influences. Mexicans are generally more likely to embrace the ranchero, banda and tejano forms than Cuban or Brazilian music, but there isn't a trace of Mexican influence to be found on Papa Boco. Singing as convincingly in Portuguese as she does in English and Spanish, Dalto has no problem moving from a jazz standard like Horace Silver's "Peace" to the samba beat of "Papagaio Rei" and Jobim's "Falando de Amor" and the infectious salsa of "Guajiro Mio." One can hear the influence of singers ranging from Sarah Vaughan to salsa goddess to Celia Cruz and Brazilian great Elis Regina on this fine CD, but there's no doubt that Dalto is very much her own person. ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi
