When Ann Savoy served as producer of special Louisiana projects at Vanguard Records six years ago, she did so with no shortage of innovative ideas. The Eunice musician/author/folklorist was also careful not to give away any of her trade secrets, and two years later came the star-studded Evangeline Made: A Tribute to Cajun Music. The Grammy-nominated, landmark recording was the first of its kind, a tribute to a specific cultural genre featuring such luminaries as Richard Thompson, Rodney Crowell, John Fogerty, and Linda Ronstadt, all honoring Cajun music with their interpretations.

Since recording a string of commercially successful albums in the ’70s, Ronstadt has had an eclectic career. She has kept her name on the marquee by delving into such diverse undertakings as Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of the Penzance, big band material with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, traditional Mexican folk songs and an occasional return to her country/pop roots.

Singing with longtime friend Savoy on Evangeline Made brought another kind of magic as well, leading Savoy to remark that it would be fun to do a duet record with her soul sister. Savoy’s wish was granted and with Adieu False Heart, the enchantment continues. Recorded in Nashville, Sausalito, California and Dirk Powell’s Cypress House studio in Parks, Louisiana, in many ways the latest Savoy-Ronstadt chapter could be considered an extension of their Evangeline Made collaboration. Their rendition of David Greely’s “Marie Mouri,” a musical adaptation of a poem written by the St. Martinville slave known only as Pierre, is just as haunting as the original Mamou Playboys version.

Given that the album is Savoy’s first English recording in her multi-decade career, the Cajun odyssey is only a small part of what she does here with Ronstadt. The two venture into folk, pop rock, ’30s Parisian and Appalachian old-time motifs with the universal theme being love in its myriad forms. The two certainly picked a strong cache of songs to express their collective emotions with tunes written by such erudite lyricists as Thompson (“Burns’ Supper,” “King of Bohemia”), Kevin Welch (“Too Old To Die Young”) and Julie Miller (“I Can’t Get Over You”). Like their Zozo moniker, Creole for “little bird,” there are frequent references to the feathered creature, which are symbolic of how heartbreaking love can quickly fly in and out of life.

Having such a bedrock of quality material only makes their tender harmonies that much more sublime and graceful. Many of the disc’s best moments are a result of their natural, angelic singing, especially when they sustain high notes that seemingly float off into the stratosphere. Though their singing is usually relaxed and unhurried, on Bill Monroe’s “The One I Love Is Gone,” Ronstadt and Savoy approach the song with a welcome, hardened edge. Having a deep array of Nashville/Acadiana roots music notables like Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, David Schnaufer, Sam Broussard, Chas Justus, Kevin Wimmer, Greely and Powell certainly doesn’t hurt either. The finely crafted arrangements often have a subtle, yet stirring impact with the low-tuned instruments as well as the chamber orchestral stylings supplied by violinist Andrea Zonn, violist Kristin Wilkinson and cellist John Catchings. The result is music with a stark yet moving beauty that lingers on long after the listen has dissipated into the airwaves.