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	MILTON NASCIMENTO Air Brazil

Last Friday, a giant TAM Airlines balloon was parked outside the Chevalier Theatre in Medford. TAM? No, it doesn’t fly out of Logan. TAM flies twice daily between São Paulo and Miami. And if you've never flown TAM, you probably didn’t know that the legendary Milton Nascimento was in town. Tickets had been available only through Brazilian-import shops and restaurants. Inside the former high-school auditorium, a screen in front of the stage played a loop of ads for Brazilian real estate and cellphone businesses alongside Portuguese PSAs about HIV/AIDS. The crowd waited . . . The 8 pm doors led to a midnight set by Nascimento, and by then the women behind me had already screamed themselves hoarse, shouting along to Zelia Duncan (a Sheryl Crow–like rocker, all power chords and stadium facial tics) and Alcione (a Dolly Parton-like samba singer in a magenta wig going through the motions of a well-worn routine).

Milton was a different story. He launched into a sensitively arranged series of songs from his new Pietá (Savoy Jazz), a tribute to the women who have inspired his career, including his adoptive mother and the many female singers he’s worked with over the years. His introspection quieted the boisterous crowd. Milton is in ill health, and the sight of a beloved figure in a weakened state seemed to throw the room into a state of tension. But a surprise cover of Led Zeppelin’s "Going to California" led to a flurry of upbeat hits. Tension gave way to release. Everyone shouted along to "Maria Maria," as he sent the crowd away happy into the Medford night.