When Carla Alexandar finished her debut album, "Poesia," she didn’t strut about boasting of its potential to extort huge sales. The quality of Alexandar’s music seems quite surprising, considering that for a long time she didn’t consider music to be a career option. When she was 17, Alexandar danced in Jorge Ben’s famed Brazilian group.

Alexandar’s single "E Assim" was one of the most promising debuts to come along on the Brazilian lounge-music scene. Two factors played major roles in turning Alexandar into a singer. One was her natural talents, which couldn’t be ignored. But an even bigger factor was her acquaintance with the Danish musician Morten Varano from Italian/Danish duo Puddu Varano.

Originally hailing from Brazil, Alexandar moved to Denmark four years ago to start an awesome career. What people like about Alexandar ‘s genre is the way it avoids sounding nostalgic, teary or depressing. Alexandar’s music provides an appealing backdrop to the full of joie de vivre feelings of the lyrics.

Although at first Alexandar was frequently compared to Sade, she managed to make quite an impression with "Poesia," produced by Morten Varano. With the thundering success of her CD, Alexandar is now getting her share of attention for singing her stylish, trendy and appealing electronic music with a typical Brazilian mix of samba, flamenco, bosa nova and fado.

Alexandar is playing at Moscow’s Cafe Maner patio at 8 p.m. on May 30, and at Red Bar at 8 p.m. on May 31.

Cafe Maner

5 Petrovka Ul.

Metro: Okhotny Ryad

Tel: 775-1959