Former Herbie Mann sideman Mark Weinstein first became interested in Brazilian music about a decade ago. On Lua e Sol he pays tribute to the “dark” and “light” sides of the Brazilian music tradition.

“Canto de Ossanha,” the popularly covered tune written by Baden Powell and Vinicus De Moraes, most definitely comes from the light side. Cyro Baptista’s Brazilian percussion and Nilson Mata’s bassline open the piece to make room for a beautiful-sounding acoustic guitar played by Romero Lubambo. Flutist Weinstein then enters to handle the lion’s share of the lilting melody. This is followed by a long solo section on which Weinstein nimbly climbs up and down the scales quite nicely, thank you. Lubambo follows with a wonderful acoustic turn.

For its climax, the song returns to its brighter-side-of-life roots.

I have alluded to something in other reviews of jazz flute music, and I’ll say it again here. You have to be an exceptional flute player to hold most jazz fans’ attention. Mark Weinstein can do that. To my ears, he is among only a handful who can.