The musical relationship between Rio singer-songwriter Joyce Moreno and New York pianist Kenny Werner runs deep. Werner played on both of the albums Moreno recorded for Verve in the 1990s, toured with her in Japan in 1991, and is her pianist of choice whenever she performs in New York. When you hear the 13 mesmerising ballad performances that make up Poesia, and the intimate, conversational quality of the music making, it's clear that they're ideally matched. The album opens with the profound lyrical depth of ‘Second Love Song’, a Werner tune originally penned for big band to which Moreno has added new lyrics. The eclectic track list encompasses everything from Charlie Chaplin's ‘Smile’ and Abbey Lincoln's ‘Throw It Away’, to Jobim's ‘Olha Maria’ (with lyrics by Chico Buarque and Vinicius de Moraes) and Bruno Martino's ‘Estate’. But the duo share such a consanguinity of mind and aesthetic approach, a constant search for beauty, that the song list is almost immaterial. The hymnlike traditional tune, ‘The Water is Wide’, brings this luminous collection to a hushed conclusion.