Brazilian singer Ceu continues to experiment with diverse genres

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On her sophomore project, “Vagarosa,” Brazilian singer-songwriter Céu continues to embrace music from far and wide, reports Reed Johnson:

If you’ve set foot in a Starbucks lately, chances are you’ve caught a few bars ofCéu’s music. The Brazilian singer-songwriter’s self-titled debut album was picked by the coffee chain to be the first release from an international artist featured in its Hear Music Debut CD series.

Critics showered praise, the disc rose to the top of Billboard’s world music chart and Céu (pronounced say-u) scored a Latin Grammy nomination for best new artist of 2006 and a Grammy nomination for best contemporary world music album of 2007.

Céu’s creamy vocals and camera-friendly looks helped make her the rare foreign chanteuse who can break through the English-language barrier that often blocks world music artists from the U.S. market (she sings almost exclusively in Portuguese). With her much-anticipated follow-up, “Vagarosa,” to promote, she’s back on tour and has a return engagement Friday at the Roxy.

Read the rest of this report here on the LATimes Pop & Hiss music blog.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City