The sounds of Brazil will flood the Blackburn Performing Arts this Saturday as the Boston-based band Sonho Meu comes to town.

Gloucester's Diane Amelia Read, the lead singer who formed Sonho Meu six years ago, is joined by other members who call Cape Ann home.

The seven-piece band performs traditional and popular music from across Brazil, including pagode, samba and baião.

Steve Thomas, a jazz vocalist/composer, described the group with the following statement: "Sonho Meu's a living, breathing, sweating, human jukebox of Brazilian music."

In 2000, Read performed with the Brazilian group Unidos do Mundo, and was one of the four founding members of Samba Tremeterra in Cambridge.

Of the band members, two are Brazilian, one is Argentinian, one is from Aruba and the others are from the United States. In addition to Read, the band is comprised of: Ronaldo Lobo of Brazil who lives in Chelsea and plays guitar and arrangements; Ignacio Long of Argentina who lives in Chelsea and plays bass; Pablo Souza from Brazil who lives in Boston and plays percussion; Isabel Eccles of Cambridge who plays accordion and backup vocals; Nancy Goodman of Rockport who plays flute and backup vocals and Read's husband Jeff Francis from Aruba who plays percussion.

Read became enamored with Brazilian music from the first moment she heard a Brazilian bateria, which she described as a percussion ensemble that can have a handful of people or hundreds of people.

"I felt a sense of connection, a homecoming. Instantly I filled with joy from head to toe and felt an urgency to dance," she said. "The sensation has not diminished over the past 15 years, and it's particularly strong when I hear a surdo, which is the bass drum and the heartbeat of samba."

She admires the Brazilians for their collective approach to music.

"No gathering of any kind is complete without song and dance. It is so deeply integrated into daily life that many people can play some instrument at least a little bit. Music happens in kitchens, on street corners, and at soccer games, changing the mundane into a celebration," said Read. "I often sing Brazilian music with a big smile on my face. The rhythms are contagious and the language feels natural when I sing even though I don't speak Portuguese very well."

Read named the group after a well known Brazilian song. Sonho Meu translates into "dream of mine."

She has been meeting weekly with a Brazilian friend for more than two years to work on her Portuguese while she helps her friend with English.

Read met Francis, whom she would later marry, when she joined a bateria that he was leading at Berklee College of Music.

"He has a deep knowledge of Brazilian music and 14 years after our first meeting, I continue to learn from him," said Read.

Francis grew up in Aruba, where many musical influences come together, such as Caribbean, South American, European and American rhythms. In the United States, he studied percussion with John Horrigan and Bob Blum. He joined Unidos Back Bay in Boston in the early 1990s. In 2000, he played surdo with Unidos do Mundo, and was among the first non-Brazilians to parade in Rio de Janeiro's Sambodromo.

Goodman, one of the more recent members, joined the group in part somewhat serendipitously.

Read had met Goodman when she worked for her at Wellspring. When the band was going through a personnel change, Read asked Goodman if she would like to sing backup and play flute with the group.

"Though at the time I knew very little about Brazilian music, I listened to some of the music they were performing and then jumped at the chance to play with them. Since then I have taken a number of workshops and listened, listened, listened to as much Brazilian music of the genre as I could get hold of," said Goodman. "I think what I love the most are the rhythms. They are so alive and full of expression. Playing in Gloucester is a special treat because of the connection with the audience. There's nothing like singing and playing for people I know and love."

If you go

What: Sonho Meu performs a concert of Brazilian music, with dancing encouraged

When: Saturday, Nov. 15 at 8 p.m.

Where: Blackburn Performing Arts at One Washington St. in downtown Gloucester. Admission is $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Advance reservations can be made by calling 978-281-0680. For more information, visit www.sambalicious.com.