Following up the gorgeous VOX from 2019, guitarist and singer-songwriter Pedro Martins delivers his second for Kurt Rosenwinkel’s Heartcore label. The title is beautifully apt: Rádio Mistério is a jazz-pop dreamscape, mainly in Portuguese, with a slapping English contribution from guest Thundercat on “Isn’t It Strange”. Martins’ voice is gentle and ethereal, with a refined sense of rhythm. “A Very Well Mr. Yo” is a song of summer if there ever was one, unabashedly retro, practically veering into Christopher Cross/Olivia Newton-John territory. The album may be bright and bubbly, but it’s thick with complex, unresolving harmony, unpredictable phrasing, off-kilter feels, textural ambiguity and virtuoso chops to spare. Martins is a guitar beast—and almost casually so, which is even more beastly. Keyboardist Chris Fishman (James Francies’ successor in Pat Metheny’s Side-Eye) is fluid and on point everywhere he appears. Veteran drummer Omar Hakim offers an advanced funk masterclass on “Liberdade”. Rosenwinkel doffs his co-producer hat to join the fray with a fine solo on “Kaya Noite”. Then there’s this other guitarist who happened to drop by, named Eric Clapton, who treads lightly but effectively on “Não Leve A Mal”.