"In this great, small work, we find privileged passkeys to the complex musical universe of the so-called 'ayahuasca religions' founded on dense research into how the musicians represented here understand their musical practices. Besides treating us to another indispensable chapter of the great Brazilian musical tradition, they help us understand the relation between music and religion in broader terms, and the way that we become spiritual beings through poetry, rhythm, and melody, and communicate with realities other than the immediate." --Edmundo Pereira, professor of anthropology at...