Born in Salvador, Bahia in the northeast of Brazil in 1979, Assis came to the United States in 1993 as a percussionist with Rolling Thunder, and then settled in New York where he became a renowned samba and Brazilian jazz player.

This is only the second album he’s made as leader, and he gathered together both music and musicians he admired, to explore the interstices between jazz and Brazilian music. On all but one track, Ron Carter provides a subtle and always sympathetic bass foundation, as well as contributing his piece ‘Mr Bow Tie’ to the repertoire, reimagined by Assis as ‘No Agora’ (and also including some fine playing from Randy Brecker). Carter is at his best on the minimalist setting of ‘Manha De Carnaval’, and Fred Hersch shines on the equally Spartan ‘Proponho’ with guest vocalist Janis Siegel of Manhattan Transfer fame. Nanny’s daughter Laura proves herself no mean vocalist on Morrie Louden’s song ‘Insensatez’ (not the Jobim standard). The three tracks with string orchestra recorded in St Petersburg, Russia (before the beginning of the recent conflict), bring a much wider scale and scope to the music, but Assis’ strongest suit is his intimate chamber style that harks back to Jobim and Gilberto. The closing ‘Intimate Acquaintances’ captures this perfectly, not least as flautist Mattan Klein brings a quiet and gentle ingredient to the mix.