Search - Cris Delanno :: Cris Delanno

A daughter of whom her country can be proud

A Music Fan | san jose, costa rica | 07/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I don't appologize for having become a serial 5-star reviewer of discs by this singer. This is my third, and if Amazon offered them, I would do the same for her Tom Jobim and Nara Leao Tribute discs.



Filha da Patria is a Japanese repressing of a disc she apparently first released in the early or mid 90s on a Brazilian label, and in my opinion the most "Brazilian" of the five discs so far released in her name. The songs are a balance of up-tempo and ballads, several by well known composers and several others by names unfamiliar to me, but all beautiful. And of course beautifully sung.



Cris has perhaps not received the attention she deserves either in terms of sales or popularity, but she is very much a singer's singer. Roberto Menescal has been both mentor to and collaborator with her on a number of projects (solo performances as well as enlisting her for contributions to discs by the MPB group Bosscucanova, fronted by his son) and I was recently pleased to hear her voice gracing once of the tracks on Ivan Lins' "Jobiniando" disc.



As usual, every song she performs is done with impeccable diction and nuanced emotion. I would sing out for particular praise her treatments of the ballad "Encontro Marcado" and "O Melhor Da Musica Brasileira" (which is actually a perfect desciption of what she herself does best).



The first of these is a beautiful and quite literate meditation on endless love (with religious overtones, as the singer has said that her faith is central to her music) that I shamelessly admit I find it impossible to listen to without misting up. The second is as joyful as as sunny day on Ipanema's fabled beach.



Is it heresy to speak of such a singer in the same breath with Elis Regina (for vocal range, phrasing and diction)? Sarah Vaughan (for improvisational technique)? Edith Piaf (for conveying pure emotion)? I would invite anyone happening on this opinion to listen to the disc above reviewed (or any of her others) and decide for him or herself."