The smooth, romantic Brazilian beat that underlies much of contemporary jazz-pop in the United States has often originated with the music of Brazilian singer-songwriter Ivan Lins. A superstar in Brazil with a career stretching back to the classic era of bossa nova music, Lins gained fans in the United States and Europe as he collaborated with urban contemporary greats George Benson and Quincy Jones in the 1980s and launched an independent American career. His popularity, rather than declining as he aged, continued to grow, and in 2005, 35 years after breaking into the Brazilian music scene, he won a Latin Grammy Award for his album Cantando Historias.

The smoothly romantic title track of Love Dance remains Lins's single best-known composition. It was recorded by many jazz vocalists and instrumentalists, including Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, and Kenny Burrell, but perhaps the most famous version was that by adult contemporary chanteuse Vanessa Williams.

The early 2000s brought several reissues of early Lins albums, and in 2005 Cantando Historias (Singing Stories) teamed a still boyish-looking Lins with a host of younger Brazilian artists. The album became the first Portuguese language release to win the Album of the Year award at the annual Latin Grammy Awards, and the subtle Brazilian tinge Lins had brought to a wide variety of American music was only growing deeper.