{mosimage}Sitting in a sidewalk café in Los Angeles, Carla Hassett is hard to miss. Willowy figure, dark brown eyes, a smile as warm as the California summer afternoon.

But it's when she's singing onstage that she's impossible to ignore. In fact, you've probably been enjoying Hassett's voice for years - but you never knew it.

With the release of her new CD, First, it's time you knew.

The Brazilian-born, U.S.-raised Hassett is one of those musicians everyone "in the business" knows about.

She's the singer with a spectacular four-octave singing range who delivers just what you need in the studio, the guitarist who never misses a cue onstage. The composer who can write and sing a McDonald's jingle you find yourself humming even after it's over.

If there's any doubt as to Hassett's versatility, it ends when you consider just a few of superstars she has performed with: Norah Jones, Billy Idol, Michael Bublé, Sergio Mendez, Yes's Jon Anderson, Gino Vannelli, and REO Speedwagon.

She's sung for composers Mark Frost and David Foster. She's also worked with Mexican recording artist Christian Castro and Brazil's own Marcelo Augusto. In fact, it may be that the only thing all those legends have in common is Hassett herself.

Though the list of her fans in the music industry is both long and prestigious, without a doubt, Hassett's most devoted listeners must be children in Latin America.

It was Hassett who recorded the Disney catalogue into Spanish and Portuguese. Parents in Mexico and Brazil have Hassett to thank if their kids can't stop singing the Disney channel theme song: not only did she sing it, but she wrote the lyrics as well.

"Yeah," Hassett says with a laugh, "there's a mother stuck in a car somewhere in Baja who really isn't happy with me for that one."

But, in all seriousness, her recordings for the Latin American market are some of the work she's the most proud of - because it's for her hometown crowd.

Though Hassett moved from Brazil to the Chicago area when she was just a child, her family raised to Hassett to love their homeland's culture and language. As an adult, Hassett tries to make at least one trip there every year.

The strength of her Brazilian ties is unmistakable in Hassett's new CD, First. And that's no accident. It's because of something she learned after spending days in military helicopters, soaring over places like Korea's infamous Demilitarized Zone.

Hassett spent the better part of 2003 and 2004 as a member of "The Lt. Dan Band," a rock band founded by CSI: New York star Gary Sinese. The band went around the world with the U.S.O., performing for American troops stationed abroad.

As Hassett explains, touring in the band was never about politics. It was about wanting to support some young men and women who were doing dangerous work, very far from their friends and families. And she was profoundly moved by the troops' response. It was as if the band hadn't just brought them music, but brought them home.

After months of touring, Hassett says that she felt the music bringing her home, too. So Hassett returned to the States to begin recording First, a five-song "EP."

In First - now available for sale as an audio download in a number of online stores, including iTunes, Amazon.com, and CD-Baby - Hassett has drawn upon the versatility she's shown throughout her career.

While all the songs are marked by Hassett's strong vocal performances, each track of First has a markedly different feel, a unique style all its own.

But not forgetting the lesson she'd learned on her military tour - that music can bring you home - First is also a collection of songs that bring together Hassett's American upbringing and her Brazilian tradition.

"Not Real Love," the first single from the album, is a sultry bossa-nova with a decidedly modern twist, while another track, "Tão Legal" is sung entirely in Portuguese.

While sales of First begin, and "Not Real Love" is being played on radio stations across the nation, Hassett is returning to the studio to record additional tracks, in anticipation of completing a full album by later this year.

Once again, Hassett is coming home, through her music.

Ashley Merryman is a writer based in Los Angeles, California. Comments welcome at AKMerryman@aol.com.

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