Bossa Nova

This folk-pop singer from France pays tribute to Brazilian bossa nova on this album of standards. But Pauline Croze uses her gentle guitar and smoky voice to suggest that it’s now a world sound. For every assured cover of a João Gilberto classic—be it “La fille d’Ipanema” or her lithe duet with Vinícius Cantuária on “A Felicidade”—Croze slots in a French tune like Pierre Barouh’s “Samba Saravah” or Nino Ferrer’s forlorn “La Rua Madureira.”