A Kiss for Brazil

Karrin Allyson has a clear, precise, pixie-like voice, akin to Blossom Dearie, and she has a particular fondness for Brazilian jazz ballads. Her new album is all about Brazil with special guest vocalist and guitarist Rosa Passo, who sings solo and enjoys trading scat with Allyson. The band consists of ubiquitous Brazilian drummer Rafael Barata; Cariocan keyboardist [piano, Fender Rhodes, accordion] Vitor Gonçalves; musicially wide-ranging guitarist Yotam Silberstein; and veteran professor-bassist Harvie S. The renditions of tunes from Djavan, Ivan Lins, Jobim, Luiz Bonfá, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and, more locally, Benny Carter & Sammy Cahn are gentle and melodically mellow. The album opens with an uptempo samba groove and some scat. Salvador during March is the subject of the following song, crafted by Fernando de Oliveira and the ensemble. Next is The Gift (Recado Bossa Nova), a lovely, Mancini-like melody by Antônio de Pádua Vieira da Costa. Jobim's unmistakable O Grande Amor is sensitively performed by Allyson in Portuguese and English, with backup vocals by Passos and fine guitar picking. A second Jobim follows, Antigua; it is a scat vehicle, allowing sumptuous solos for guitar and piano. Ivan Lin's The Island slow dances. America's introduction to bossa nova, Black Orpheus, is representated by its Manha de Carnaval. Crisply voiced in Brazilian Portuguese, the track develops a beat and Allyson switches to English. Accordion harmonies lead to piano improvisations. Sérgio Mendes had a hand in So Many Stars, a piece in which Allyson smoothly croons against European style accordion. Jobim returns for a third time with Wave, featuring the Rhodes, swirling vocals, and a melting heart. To conclude the session, a minimal arrangement of Allyson's own piano work and Harvie S's bass recommends Only Trust Your Heart. Allyson, five times a Grammy Award finalist with background in classical piano and an all-girl rock band, Tomboy, left her Kansas City haunts for Manhattan jazz. She teaches in Connecticut at the Jackie McLean Institute of Music, Hartt School. Lucky students. Maybe they too will fall in love with Brazil.