Customer Reviews

An Answer to Your Silence

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I first heard Luciana with Danilo Perez in New York and was taken with how she complimented his playing. I bought her new album which is a beautifully constructed work. Her Brazilian roots are definitly present but her compositions and the reworking of standards makes this a special album.

I just saw Luciana with Romero Lubambo (another Brazilian great) and was taken with her personality and her wonderful voice. I really enjoy this album- her voice is rich and the music is a combination of relaxing and peaceful while also energetic and joyous.

I had liked Souza's recent bossa nova album, Brazilian Duos, a good collection of guitar/vocal duets. Then I attended one of her concerts with John Patitucci. She seemed nervous and insecure on the stage, but she was happy when I asked her to sign my CDs in the backstage. Next day I decided to purchase all other Luciana Souza albums, starting by ordering An Answer To Your Silence, since i had been her debut album. Oh, I felt very very disappointed with this pseudo-fusion journey. Souza's own compositions are really mediocre, and she murders Gershwin's Embraceable You, a classic from the GAS (Great American Songbook). Her motionless treatments for two Brazilian standards by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Bonita and Retrato em Blanco E Preto, are gelid. Another Brazilian singer, Ithamara Koorax, recorded those two songs in much better performances, gifted with great emotion and sophistication. Souza should listen to her Rio fellow...

Oh, no! Now Mrs. Souza moves into fusion, but with no creativity, no personality. So, it's smooth-fusion. Don't expect to hear nothing similar to the powerful fusion albums by such great vocalists as Urszula Dudziak, Flora Purim, Joan LaBarbera or Janet Lawson. Souza sounds mellow and boring. God knows why Mike Mainieri (of Steps Ahead fame) accepted to release this poor album on his good label, NYC. Kore wa nam dessu ka?

What is this? No swing, no energy, no powerful solos. And they market this terrible album as a fusion set??? People interested in real fusion shall listen to Return to Forever, Mahavisnhu, Weather Report and even some alnbums by Santana like Borboletta and Welcome, with gorgeous vocal performances by such great singers as Leon Thomas and Flora Purim.

Looking for fusion vocal albums? Try anything recorded in the Seventies by Urszula Dudziak, Esther Satterfield, Flora Purim, Googie Coppola and Esther Philips, to name just the gals. If you enjoy male singers, check out Al Jarreau's Look To The Rainbow masterpiece. Recent stuff in the fusion world include great albums by Rachelle Ferrell, Dianne Reeves (specially the albums from the late 80s and early 70s), and Ithamaara Koorax (she has a marvelous new album out, Love Dance, with Azymuth and John McLaughlin). Luciana Souza? The public relations machine does his job very well...