Customer Reviews

Brazilian Duos

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This one of my favorite Brazilian CDs released in Year 2001. I have recommended to more than 10 music lovers, and every one of them loves it. The previous reviewer tried to compare Ms. Souza to Joyce, and the three guitarists to the great Joao Gilberto. His/her attempt is like comparing Flan to Tiramisu, not making much sense.

I own most albums from of Joao Gilberto to say that Joao uses his guitar to accompany his voice, not as a solo instrument. In this album, duo means guitar is equally important in making the sound. Ms. Souza¡¦s father Walter Santos is old. You can hear the stiffness of his hands. Even though, he has assisted her daughter with good taste. The other two guitarists Romero Lubambo and Marco Pereira have established themselves in many of their own albums in groups or in solo. The creativity, virtuosity, and energy from those two guitar masters are incredible.

Most songs in this album were carried out with exquisite details, with just simply Ms. Souza and a guitarist at a time. Unlike some big volume Jazz singers who love to use strong vibrato, Ms. Souza cleverly mixed a soft Bossa Nova like voice with an improvosative Jazz easiness. Not many singers are capable of doing this, and Ms. Souza did a wonderful job married those two cultures. This may be because she was raised in Brasil and studied/lived in New York City that she get used to both two music styles.

The recording of this album is audiophile level. I use this album to test new audio equipments for my home system upgrade. Mr. Pereira's 8 string guitar is especially well-recorded by a team in Brasil. 1/3 of this album (with Mr. Lubambo) is recorded in US, and the voice is smoother with slightly reduced dynamics. This album is not aimed to be a concert for 10000 people in a football stadium, shouting and yelling. This is for people who enjoy a small lounge with a few tables. If you have good sound system and good taste, you will appreciate this CD.

"Brazilian Duos" has a magic power to induce the deepest emotion from your heart. Love or hate is almost instantly. Whether you are a Jazz fan, pop music goer, or Bossa Nova philes, I highly recommend this album to you. You will hate it, or most likely love it at your first listening.

Luciana has been more known for singing Jazz in English versions than in Portuguese; anyhow, her ratings have been fantastic, and after this release I hope they get even better, this girl deserves every single praise she's gotten. She is joined in this project by two great guitarists, Romero Lubambo and her father. The result is an acoustic jewel, laid back with the exception of two or three cuts. Purchase this CD, get a good drink ready, push play and raise the volume of your stereo and you'll be transported immediately to Brasil.

I first heard Luciana live with Danilo Perez on his Motherland tour, singing wordless jazz vocals. Who was this skinny chick singing like an angel? A recent issue of Americas magazine explained: She`s the daughter of a musical Brazilian family and grew up with a who's-who of famous Brazilian musicians. She went on to advanced music studies in New York and recognition in jazz circles. "Brazilian Duos," while jazzy, is anything but avant garde. It's a time capsule of bossa and samba classics. Souza sings with great warmth and taste; she's one of those rare performers who can evoke the full range of emotions, without going over the top. The guitar backups are strong, with Marco Pereira on eight-string the standout. Five stars.

A beautiful acoustic album which draws songs from sources as varied as Luiz Gonzaga, Edu Lobo, Dorival Caymmi and Jacob do Bandolim, a fine mix of jazz and traditional Brazilian sensibilities. The duets are between Paulista singer Luciana Souza and the guitars of Romero Lubambo, Marco Pereira and Souza's father, composer Walter Santos. Souza is a striking vocalist whose clarity of tone brings to mind other Brazilian singers such as Joyce or Clara Nunes, although with a clarity of purpose that makes this album all her own. Each guitarist in his turn proves a sympathetic foil to Ms. Souza's honied voice... A lovely, wonderfully controlled and expressive set of songs -- highly recommended!

...and twelve great songs without a lot of studio additions to get in the way. This is the first album I've heard by Ms. Souza -- it won't be the last. I intend to acquire everything I can find by her. If she sounds this great with just a single guitar, arranged and delivered so tastefully, I'm sure I'll enjoy her work with larger ensembles as well.

Luciana's accompanists are stellar. She even convinced her father, Walter Santos -- who, along with her mother Tereza Souza, made up one of the most successful Brazilian songwriting teams of the 50s and 60s -- to add his masterful guitar touches on four of the tracks. The other two guitarists are excellent as well. Romero Lubambo is one of the best I've ever heard, and the work by Marco Pereira on 8-string guitar makes my head spin (and my fingers hurt) -- but what a ride!

I have to say that I don't buy Brazilian music when I'm looking for jazz (see the review below) -- although I certainly hear the jazz element within it. I found Luciana's voice to be an absolutely beautiful, charming and talent-infused instrument. This is one of the best Brazilian discs I've heard in many years, and one of the best of any genre I've discovered in some time. I'm recommending it not only to my friends who enjoy Brazilian music, but also to those who've never experienced the joyous, soul-touching music that Brazil has engendered to share with a lucky world.

Luciana Souza's "Brazilian Duos," would have to be considered Latin jazz at its silkiest and most beautiful. Souza, from Sao Paolo, Brazil, is descended from a musical family known as bossa nova innovators. She has a beautifully pliable voice, sheer aural cognac, that you might think wasn't meant for jazz, but you would be wrong. It is ideal for jazz, at least Latin variety, Brazilian genre. The artist has also been getting increasingly better known recently: her work on Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters, won her a 2008 Grammy, and she wowed audiences in an engagement at Brooklyn's BAM (the Brooklyn Academy of Music), with Paul Simon. Three of her records, including the one at hand, have been nominated for Grammies.

As has been the diva's habit, on this vividly colored record, she is backed by two outstanding Brazilian jazz practitioners, Romero Lubambo and Marco Pereira. She also explores widely the music of her homeland, from the very well-known, at least to American ears, Antonio Carlos Jobim: doing his "Eu Nao Existo Sem Voce," and "As Prias Desertas,"to composers and lyricists lesser-known here. In addition, she's backed on several tracks by Walter Santos, her father, less-known here, and gives us several songs he co-wrote with her mother, Tereza Souza.

I was lucky enough to recently catch her performance here, in Wilmington. She was backed by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, and I have rarely been in the presence of such beautiful, moving - in more ways than one -- music. You really want to get to know this young woman's work.

This is a great album for anyone wishing to hear superior guitar playing and singing. The cd has a great Latin flavor, and is relaxing, yet invigorating at the end of a hard work day. I highly recommend it!

I'm a big fan of Jobim, as well as many other Brazilian musicians, singers and composers, and there has been a lot of great music coming out of Brazil over the years, but I can honestly say that "Brazilian Duos" is one of the VERY BEST CDs I've heard, from any genre.

Luciana Souza is accompanied by a solo guitartist (3 different musicians, one of which is her father), and "Duos" is a perfect description, because it is not just her singing being backed by a guitar, it is two instruments, because truly her voice is another instrument, working together as partners.

I've listened to this CD countless times in the week or so that I've had it and I like it more each time I hear it.

Luciana Souza's "Brazilian Duos" is a rare and wonderful collaboration. Get it. Listen to it with someone you care about -- one great duo deserves another. Read the liner notes --the insert is very well designed, and the short English translations alongside the full Portuguese, are sublime.

It also goes well with Patricia Barber's new CD, "Verse." Don't miss either one of these!

What a voice! What great guitar accompaniment. The combination of voice and guitar cannot be any better than when you place her voice in harmony with either of the guitarists who back her up on this album. Superb to put it lightly

Excelent recording, excelent guitar players, excelent singer, very good songs selection.
For those who wants to know what brazilian music is about. Enjoy it with a good friend and a bottle of wine.
Recommended.