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So soft, easy -- and true to Brazil

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For a night of bonafide bossa nova, the mellow Brazilian style that evokes balmy breezes and those “soft and tan and young and lovely” girls from the beach at Ipanema, you can either fly to Rio, or stop by the Conga Room tonight to catch singer Rosa Passos and her cool quartet.

Passos, who accompanies herself on guitar, sings bossa nova in the classic ’60 style of Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim, pioneers of the genre whom she admired as a teenager in Bahia.

Her whispery but well-trained voice is particularly suited to the laid-back style that sounds soft and easy but requires vocal control and precision.

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Passos and her band -- including her son, Paulo Paulelli, on bass -- arrive in L.A. after two sold-out shows this week at Joe’s Pub in New York.

Half her show consists of selections from her just-released album, “Amorosa,” which borrows heavily from Gilberto and bossa nova traditions.

But Passos, featured on a 2003 audiophile CD titled “Entre Amigos” with bassist Ron Carter, also gives reign on stage to the music’s jazz connections with occasional scatting.

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Rosa Passos

Where: 5364 Wilshire Blvd., L.A.

When: 8 tonight

Price: $15-$30

Info: (323) 938-1696

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