The San Francisco band Boca do Rio takes its name from the Portuguese "mouth of the river". Kevin Welch, Boca's composer, guitarist and vocalist, embodies this concept with his personal and musical history, having lived in the Amazon and become fluent in Portuguese as well as immersed in and transformed by samba. For Boca do Rio, Welch assembled a superb team of Brazilian and American musicians to give voice to his vibrant compositions, music that is explicitly influenced by his connection to Brazil but filtered through the cross-cultural sensibilities of his California base. With Boca do Rio, Welch and his versatile accompanists and musical partners have fashioned an impressive and welcome debut that will find a place on all world-music playlists.