The Atlanta-based Brazilian music trio Rustic Materials began simply in late 2011 as a recording vehicle for the singular compositions and arrangements of leader/pianist/multi-string player Bill Broadfoot. Aiding Broadfoot in realizing his vision of a fresh, American, acoustic approach to classic Brazilian musical forms were noted jazz bassist Robert Dickson and drummer/percussionist Rafael Pereira (Janelle Monae), who was named Drum Magazine’s Rising Star Percussionist in 2014. In 2012, the group released three singles on iTunes. The band’s first release, an arrangement of the Sergio Mendes classic “So Many Stars,” peaked at #6 on the Amazon’s Latin Jazz digital singles chart. Not long after, Broadfoot recruited famed Rio musicians Paula Morelenbaum (vocals) and husband Jaques Morelenbaum (cello), both former members of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s Banda Nova, for a new arrangement of “Only Trust Your Heart,” a song best known in the U.S. from its recording by Stan Getz with Astrud Gilberto on the classic album “Getz Au Go.” From there, the album Spirit took shape with a mixture of vocals and instrumentals, including eight Broadfoot originals and two covers. Spirit also contains another standard song associated with Astrud Gilberto, “The Shadow of Your Smile,” which was recorded with the San Francisco-based Brazilian vocalist Claudia Villela. Spirit also features guest stars including: tenor sax/flute player Jorge Continentino (Milton Nascimento, Marcos Valle, David Byrne, Marisa Monte), a veteran of the Brazilian and world music scenes in New York and Rio, who plays on eight of Spirit’s ten tracks. The album also includes contributions by jazz clarinetist Evan Christopher and Atlanta-based Indie sensation Adron. The eclectic and beautiful Spirit is like an audio tour of Brazilian regional styles, with such rhythms and influences as bossa nova, samba, samba canção, partido alto, maracatu and baião represented. Recording for the band’s second album began in Atlanta in January 2015.