"Sea And Sky" is a short instrumental while "Fooled By A Smile" is a mellower — and superior — version of Swing Out Sister's original, highlighted by some nifty backup vocals and Simmons bass work. Dexter and Simmons also bests Basia's "Promises" with a more subdued touch that features an accordion (!) but somehow it works in this setting. "What Do I Do" has a moderately blues feel, and the Jobim standard "Wave" is reverently treated with Dexter's vocal, backed by only an acoustic guitar and Alex Lattimore's flugel horn (Lattimore also shares lead vocals).

The remainder of the CD is what I'd call the bonus section: remakes or remixes of four of the prior tracks. The best of these are the first two. "Fooled By A Smile" is done up Incognito style, and sure enough, it sounds a lot like the British acid jazz group's signature seventies-meets-aughts soul-jazz groove. Since I like Incognito, I dig this track. The "Aquariana Mix" (whatever the heck that means) of "Venusian" is a nice one too because a tenor sax is added and allowed to stretch out a bit, as well as the Fender Rhodes.

The record doesn't come without a few drawbacks, however. The vintage synths often give the songs a warm feel, but occasionally cross over into cheesy territory. The off-key whistling on the otherwise congenial "Sea And Sky" is just not a joy to hear. The Jiva remix of "The Dove" might sound great in a dance club, but sounds tired and repetitious in any other setting. Dexter's lead vocal throughout could have stood to be a little more up front in the mix, too.

All that said, none of these quibbles do much to diminish the easygoing groove of this record. If Julie Dexter and Khari Simmons set out to inject new life in the branch of jazz introduced by Jobim some fifty years ago, I'd say they've largely succeeded.

Sample tracks:
"Moon Bossa"
"My Baby Don't Love Me"
"Salt Sea"
"Venusian"
"The Dove"
"Sea And Sky"
"Fooled By A Smile"
"Promises"
"What Do I Do"
"Wave"
"Fooled By A Smile (Incognito Remix)"
"Venusian (Aquariana Remix)"
"The Dove (Jiva Remix)"
"Moon Bossa (Piano Outro)"