Special to The Examiner

If anyone actually needs a reason to celebrate the glorious and seemingly infinite world of Brazilian music, look no further.

September 7th is Brazil’s national holiday, the 180th anniversary of the vast  South American nation’s independence from Portugal, and as if to help San  Franciscans get into a Rio state of mind, there’s a treasure trove of Brazilian music hitting The City this week.  From an illustrious trio exploring the music of the great composer Antonio Carlos Jobim to one of Brazil’s most luminous rising vocal stars to a hip band blending electronica with bossa nova grooves, the past, present and future of Brazilian music is hitting the Bay Area.

On Saturday, the incandescent singer Monica Salmaso makes her California debut at the Fort Mason Center’s Cowell Theater in a duo performance with pianist Benjamin Taubkin. In a country with no shortage of stunning female vocalists--Cal Costa, Marisa Monte, Rita Ribeiro and Virginia Rodrigues immediately come to mind--Salmaso broke through by winning the 1999 El Dorado Prize as best singer under 30 while competing against more than 1,200 other
artists. The same year she recorded her exquisite solo debut, “Trampolim,” which was released in the US by Blue Jackel.

Her sophomore album, “Voadeira” (which is also available on Blue Jackel)  confirms Salmaso’s status as a major new talent. It’s not just her voice, which is occasionally reminiscent of Rodrigues’s, with the same purity of tune and sense of spiritual longing but with an earthier edge than Rodrigues’s ethereal tone.

Part of what sets Salmaso apart is her canny choice of material, with an  emphasis on ballads that showcase her liquid delivery. She draws her repertoire from many of Brazil’s greatest songwriters, such as Dorival Caymmi, Chico Buarque, Djavan, Ary Barroso, though some of her most effective pieces, like “Canto dos Escravos” (Song of the Slaves), a haunting chant featuring hand percussion by Nana Vasconcelos that opens “Trampolim,” are folk songs that she renders timeless.

At a time when many Brazilian music lovers are worried about the rise of throw away pop music dominating the radio, Salmaso shows that there’s still plenty of room on the airwaves for beauty.