Gloria Estefan: 'It's All About The Drums,' This Time From Brazil

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Vocalist Gloria Estefan reimagines some of her classic music through a Brazilian lens. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

Vocalist Gloria Estefan reimagines some of her classic music through a Brazilian lens.

Courtesy of the artist

One of the most fascinating things to watch is how veteran musicians, after decades of establishing a musical identity, maneuver the mid-career challenge of staying creative.

Two high-profile examples come to mind: Paul Simon's 1986 South African pop masterpiece Graceland and Carlos Santana's chart-topping 1999 album Supernatural. Both gave the Woodstock-era musicians creative shots in the arms, so to speak, that revitalized their careers.

Cuban-American pop star Gloria Estefan may have one of those game changing albums on her hands with the release of Brazil305, a re-examination of some of her most familiar songs through the lens of her life-long love of Brazilian music and rhythms.

This week, Alt.Latino contributor Stefanie Fernández joins me on a wide ranging conversation with Estefan about her new record — and about that time she snuck a traditional West African Yoruba chant into mainstream pop radio.