My love affair with Latin music began with Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Over the years, I discovered Jose Feliciano, The Sandpipers and a few other popular Latin performers, along with a couple flamenco songs that I still find inspirational. But I didn't really begin exploring Latin "dance music" until I upgraded from Windows to a Mac and began playing with iTunes, just a few years ago. My Latin horizons were further broadened when I began taking salsa dance classes. Of course, Seattle - the world's Grunge capital - is hardly known for its Latin soul (or any soul at all). So imagine my surprise when I discovered a local band that immediately became one of my Latin favorites, ranking alongside Tito Puentes and various Latin Jazz Allstars. I recently created an iTunes playlist featuring my 25 favorite Latin dance tunes. One song from Sambatuque's album Brazilian Songbird made the list: Cheguei me povo/Tanta saudade. Try sitting still while listening to that energetic fusion of percussion, keyboard and Makala Romero's impassioned voice! In my opinion, the album's most powerful song is E Morio, which showcases keyboardist Alex Chadsey's talent. To me the song sounds somewhat spiritual and a little eerie - in an intriguingly good kind of way. When I first heard it, I thought it belonged somewhere on the Pirates of the Caribbean's soundtrack. Another of my favorites is Bananeira, which somehow reminds me of the movie Blame it on Rio. Until recently, my knowledge of Brazilian music was pretty much limited to The Girl from Ipanema and Mas Que Nada. Sambatuque opened up a new window for me and sent me searching for similar music. After searching iTunes for several hours, I found some more great Latin songs, but nothing really similar to Sambatuque. To be honest, it's hard to believe that one of the world's best Brazilian bands calls Seattle home. There must be something better out there. But, until I find it, Sambatuque is my fave. Incidentally, I've seen Sambatuque perform twice - in surprisingly small clubs. If you get the chance to visit Seattle, I suggest you check this group out before it becomes better known. They put on a great show, with various guest performers contributing to the adrenaline rush.