Imagina: Songs of Brasil

Karrin Allyson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 25, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Concord Records
• ASIN: B0013F3YFO
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,118 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

While Karrin has included Brazilian music on her albums and in her live shows throughout her career, the release of Imagina: Songs of Brasil is the first time she has devoted an entire album to the music of Brazil. Imagina is a beautiful collection of 14 tracks that features songs sung fully in Portuguese, as well as Brazilian songs with English lyrics by Paul Williams, Jon Hendricks, Susannah McCorkle, Chris Caswell and Gene Lees.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars KARRIN ALLYSON In FABULOUS BRAZILIAN SONG PERFORMANCES March 25, 2008

By RBSProds TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Four and a half ENJOYABLE Stars! Jazz flute legend Herbie Mann was once asked to describe Brazilian music: he used one word, "Paradise". On the 11th CD of her fabulous and adventurous career, Grammy-nominated jazz singer Karrin Allyson delivers Brazilian "paradise" in English & Brazilian Portuguese which she has recorded in before. In the follow-up to the Grammy-nominated Footprints which focused on classic jazz, including a great take on the Wayne Shorter title tune, she brilliantly gives us an entire CD dealing with Brazil, delivering wonderful renditions of major and minor Brazilian classics sung in both languages. It's fitting that the songs of 'Tom' Jobim and super-diva Elis Regina are major parts of this CD, as well as a slice of Stan Getz-Joao Gilberto, who jump-started the U.S Brazilian craze in the 60s, and the famed composer Edu Lobo, among others.

The 'best of the best' begins with a stunningly beautiful "Correnteza" (Rapids) showing off Jobim's characteristic 'in and out of tempo' movements with Ms Allyson's voice a combination of vulnerability, sensitivity, and sensuality: precisely what is needed with these songs. And it went straight to my iPod. Then there is the title song cast as a wonderful waltz. "Só Tinha Que Ser Com Vocę" (It Had To Be With You) & "Estrada do Sol" (Path of the Sun) follow Elis Regina's trajectory accurately and each song comes up a winner, as is the case with "Pra Dizer Adeus" (Time To Say Goodbye) by another legendary Brazilian maestro, Edu Lobo. "Desafinado" (Slightly Out of Tune) is pure joy with its English lyrics and odd-meter breaks giving it distinction, as is "Double Rainbow" (aka Raining On The Rosebush). Just wonderful singing!! "Vivo Sohando" (LIving On Dreams, aka Dreamer) is pure swinging beauty, aided by the vocal/guitar doubling and a great David Finck bass solo. A couple of the English-driven lyrics take us away from Brazil, but not for long. "É Com Esse Que Eu Vou" (I'll Go with This One) is another Regina song and Karrin invests a lot of herself to create a different vibe. Incidentlally, on From Paris to Rio also shows her affinity for singing in dead-on French as well as Portuguese. Karrin Allyson is an amazing singer who has delivered a very singular and enjoyable CD which goes for the heart of Brazil. Highly Recommended! I'll be recommending it to my friends in Brazil, it's THAT good, IMHO. Four and a half WONDERFUL Stars.
(*This review is based on an iTunes download.
* I sent a copy of this CD to a wonderful musician friend in northern Brazil who does some of my song title translations. He says "Karrin has a nice Portuguese pronunciation, still full of accent, but it's charming!!! She has an accent similar to the people of Rio de Janeiro...I just loved it". Kudos to her Portuguese coach.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars You will play this beautiful CD over and over again April 8, 2008

By Carl C

Format:Audio CD

Went to Birdland in NYC Saturday night (4/5/08) and caught Karrin Allyson's early show in which she featured songs from this new CD "Imagina" Her live performance of this beautiful Brazilian music was a true delight with great back-up with her steady band of vibes, guitar, bass and drums. She packed the house and the audience just loved her. Though I almost always buy my CD's at Amazon, I could not wait for this one and payed the higher night-club price that night for this CD and was even able to get Karrin Allyson to autograph it.
It was fun driving home with my wife to just listen to the beautiful music we just heard live at Birdland all over again on this terrific CD while it was so fresh in our minds.
A couple of the songs she selected for this CD were familiar Brazilian tunes we have heard many times before, but most were new to our ears.
You just can't hear great music like this on our radio stations in the US, and what a shame that is.The public is being locked out of this great music because they are never exposed to it and thus not even aware it exist. What a disgrace.
I find myself playing this CD over and over again on my commute to work and even as backround music on the job. Each tune is that enjoyable. Karrin swings and scats as only a true jazz singer can on some tunes and on others, she uses her unique phraseing and interpretation of the ballads in a soft, lilting blend of both English and Portuguese.
This is truly one of the most beautiful CD's I have ever heard, and i think I may never grow tired of listening to it.
YOU JUST HAVE TO OWN THIS CD.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Gabacha Does Saudade June 3, 2008

By Rick Cornell VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

Karrin Allyson is one who will not be pigeonholed. From "Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane," to "In Blue," to "Wild For You," to "Footprints," and now to "Imagina," about all one can say is that Karrin Allyson is a jazz singer with a straighter-than-straight tone and a voice quality that evokes either sadness or playfulness.

How fitting, then, that she performs an "all Bossa Nova" program, as here, and does a program of virtually all Jobim tunes. And like Dee Dee Bridgewater's tremendous "Jai Deux Amours" viz. the French language, Ms. Allyson performs many of these tunes in alternate Portuguese and English translations.

This format absolutely works. Her voice is a natural for this style. To mix cultural references, this is one "Gabacha" who does "Saudade," very well.

I do have one concern, though: Either her voice has gotten raspy over time, or these arrangements were pitched too low. But too many times Ms. Allyson doesn't get to the low notes - and I never noticed that about her before. Hopefully, that will be addressed in her next release.

Otherwise,Lucia Guimaraes notes in the liner notes that Jobim was influenced by Ravel. I had never thought of that before, but she's absolutely right. In tunes such as "Correnteza," "Estrada Do Sol," and the title track, I definitely hear the influence of French impressionism.

But when I think of Bossa Nova, I think of "saudade" first and foremost. That quality is very definitely present in my two favorite tracks on this c.d., "Estrada Branca" and "Vivo Sonhando." They alone are worth the price of this disc.

But truly, all of the tracks have beauty abounding. The instrumentalists, Rod Fleeman (g.), Gil Goldstein (p., acc.), David Finck (b.) and Todd Strait (d.), do great work in making this sound like a multi-cultural affair.

Recommended, especially if you're a fan of Bossa Nova. This c.d. won't make you forget Elis and Tom, or Getz/Gilberto, but it will certainly make you remember those masterworks. RC