Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Luciana Souza: Brazilian Duos

347

Luciana Souza: Brazilian Duos

Luciana Souza: Brazilian Duos
Luciana Souza, daughter of famous Brazilian musicians, has a wonderful voice: strong and flexible, rangey, full of soul and passion, and with perfect intonation and time. The fact that this all-Brazilian program garnered Souza a 2002 Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal gives you an idea of how good she is (and perhaps how lacking jazz is in such voices and sensibilities). Whatever the case, the nomination is well-deserved.



Souza duos here with three top Brazilian guitarists, offering a fascinating comparison of touch and style: the powerful Marco Pereira, whose 8-string provides extra depth, the legendary Walter Santos (who is also her father), and the ever-subtle Romero Lubambo.

While the excellent liners provide background and translations for each song, you can osmose the subject matter from Souza's intelligent expressiveness. For example, given her yearning tone on the beautiful "Suas Maos," you're not surprised to find it means "Your Hands." Anyone can hear the goodbye in the haunting "Pra Dizer Adeus" ("To Say Goodbye"), the satire in "Pra Que Discutir com Madade" (my Portuguese stops there), and the hopefulness in "Armanha."

The tracks offer a rainbow of beloved Brazilian composers, venerable and new, from Tonhinho Horta to Santos, Edu Lobo and Dorival Caymi to Djavan, and includes two rare and gorgeous Jobim compositions: "Eu Nao Existo sem Voce" ("I Don't Exist Without You?") and "As Praias Desertas" ("Deserted Beaches"?. Whatever they're called, there's wit and swing and poignancy in these performances, as well as a very refreshing purity. Souza is simply superb. Her artistry is even more impressive since the whole CD was recorded live, without studio enhancement or fixes.

Track Listing

Baiao Medley; Suas Maos; Pra Que Discutir com Madame; Pra Dizer Adeus; Armanha; Eu Neo Existo Sem Voce; Doce de Coco; As Praias Desertas; Docemente; O Bolo; Viver de Amor; Suadade de Bahia.

Personnel

Luciana Souza (vocals), Romero Lubambo: guitar; Marco Pereira: guitar; Walter Santos; guitar.

Album information

Title: Brazilian Duos | Year Released: 2003 | Record Label: Sunnyside Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.