Caterina Zapponi: Universal Love Songs

Caterina Zapponi, born and raised in Rome, Italy, is the daughter of one of Italy´s most famous movie script writers Bernardino Zapponi and his French wife. Zapponi Pere wrote the screen plays for two of Federico Fellini's more famous (or infamous, your choice) movies, Roma and Satyricon. Zapponi studied at the Berklee College of Music. Later she entered the Thelonious Monk competition and came in 4th among singers.

The play list and the singing are both eclectic indeed. Singing in five languages, Zapponi confronts a program of love sings from different countries and sources. There are from the repertoire of the well-known French entertainer, Charles Azanour, Reggae giant Bob Marley and Brazil with Oscar Castro-Neves. But the home of the popular song, the United States, has the most selections from composers who have major entries in the great American Popular Songbook like Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn, Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Mandel. Irrespective of the geneses or style of the music, Zapponi handles all with skill and feeling with a soft but very expressive vocal style. Her ability to project the emotion of each song without overwhelming it comes across on a lovely Morrer de Amor with Monty Alexander on the melodica. She is shamelessly erotic on "My Heart Sings" as she "remembers those little things".

It helps considerably that she is backed by some of jazz's best known musicians. In addition to Monty Alexander (listen to him go on "For Me Formidable)", there's drummer Martin Drew and the brothers' Petrocca on guitar and bass. This a great album. The liner notes are in just two languages.