Search - Fleurine :: San Francisco

The bossa nova was Brazil s gift to twentieth century music. Several of that country s sensational female singers were responsible for its successful worldwide export; from Astrud Gilberto to Elis Regina. Now at the dawn of a new era, the captivating vocalist Fleurine delivers the delicate nuances of that music in Portuguese and English on her debut Sunnyside CD, San Francisco, produced by Robert Sadin (Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Kathleen Battle).

On this magnificent release - her fourth as a leader Fleurine pays tribute, not to that great California city by the bay, but to three like-named Brazilian writers. San Francisco is an ode to three outstanding Brazilian songwriters who happen to have their first names in common: Francisco Chico" Buarque de Hollanda, Francis Hime, and Francisco "Chico" Pinheiro, Fleurine writes in her liner notes. Supporting her on this heartfelt tribute are saxophonist Chris
Potter, pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Doug Weiss, percussionist Gilad, cellist Erik Friedlander, guitarist Freddie Bryant, and Pinheiro himself on vocals and guitar.

Pinheiro first met Fleurine when she performed at the Heineken Jazz Festival in Saõ Paulo, Brazil in 2000. Six years later, he gave his latest CD to my husband (who was on tour in Brazil) with the prophetic words: I think your wife might enjoy this... she writes. That turned out to be a huge understatement; I fell in love with his music upon first listening! In Brazil he is being hailed as one of the successors of Jobim in the press, and one of the most exciting young Brazilian composers to arise on the scene in decades. I am proud to feature him on some of his gorgeous compositions here.

Fleurine s ethereal and evocative vocals swoon with a feather-textured, Brazilianized, Shirley Horn-style sound on the Pinheiro-penned tracks, which include the softly-swung Encontro, the joyous The Roses, Passagem, and Tempestade, with Potter literally playing up a storm. Besides being a remarkable composer Pinheiro accompanies Fleurine on guitar with great virtuosity.

I ve tried to convey the pictures or atmospheres painted by the great poetic soul of Chico Buarque, and the words of a talented young Brazilian lyricist named Guile Wisnik, she writes. Some lyrics are full of cultural references, from the name of a soccer club, to a particular good luck charm that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. I chose to stick to the story while making the references universal in my English adaptations.

The fruits of her translations are evident on Behind Closed Doors, a delicious duet with Fleurine and Bryant, and the haunting Jobim/Buarque standard, Memories in Black and White. The bouncy E Se, composed by Hime, features Fleurine s hip, Bobby McFerrin-style vocal percussion throughout, while his Anoiteceu, co-composed with the legendary poet-lyricist Vinicius De Moraes, offers her melancholy vocal intertwined with Erik Friedlander s cello. Some of the most intimate performances on San Francisco feature Fleurine with Mehldau on the opening track Love Marks and their lovely one-on-one, Spring-buds Through the Snow.

For me, language and music have always been undeniably connected language, like music being an imitation of sound, she writes I have been infatuated with languages since my youth. Growing up bilingual (Dutch-English), I was exposed to Portuguese from an early age; during my childhood, teens and twenties I spent summer vacations in Portugal where my grandparents lived. Raised in the Netherlands, Fleurine studied at the Amsterdam School of the Arts/Conservatory for four years, then moved to New York.