Poems of Elizabeth Bishop

Luciana Souza | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 12, 2000)
• Original Release Date: September 6, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sunny Side
• ASIN: B00004WK61
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #333,358 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Something New Every Time, June 2, 2001

By 

David M. Evans (Vancouver, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Poems of Elizabeth Bishop (Audio CD)

I heard a tune from this CD on the radio, and I ordered it because Chris Cheek, the tenor player, really caught my ear. He is all over this disc, and plays beautifully. As does the pianist Bruce Barth.

What emerges, though, is Luciana Souza's beautiful voice, infused with lightness and unpretentious ease, and the great ability to navigate the difficult terrain of the fascinating but challenging music presented here.

For weeks, this was the only disc I listened to, and I played it for every musician and listener I know.

Each listening reveals something new. The virtuosity of the performers, and the care with which they treat the material. The compositions themselves (written and arranged by Ms. Souza). The compelling lyrics, mostly poems by Elizabeth Bishop, some by Ms. Souza. The cohesiveness and interplay and artfulness of the ensemble, who charge this music with an energy that can only happen when musicians move and breathe as one.

A musician friend observed that Ms. Souza was brilliant not only as a writer and performer, but as the assembler of an ensemble talented and sympathetic enough to bring this music to life so beautifully.

There is so much to hear here. You may be captivated first by the pianist, or the saxophonist, the great bassist and drummer, or the beauty of the singing--but gradually, something else will emerge that you love, that you didn't notice before--and you'll never hear it the same way again.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting choice of material, April 2, 2003

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Poems of Elizabeth Bishop (Audio CD)

Singing in English, Brazilian-born vocalist Luciana Souza leads this jazz-drenched tribute to American poet Elizabeth Bishop, who lived as an expatriate in Brazil for nearly two decades in the 1950s and '60s, and was a figure of considerable controversy in Brazilian literary circles. On some of these tracks, Souza's amorphous, scatting approach may obscure the lyrics, although on other songs, particularly the slower ballads, Bishop's verses lend themselves admirably to musical interpretation. In addition to the adapted poems, this disc also features several straight jazz instrumentals, generally of a free-form, exploratory nature. An interesting project, and one which may help draw new attention to this contemplative, notoriously unprolific, and somewhat tragic writer.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great singer, December 16, 2003

By 

Fran Schiller (Paris-French) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Poems of Elizabeth Bishop (Audio CD)

North & South was the first CD I bought. Luciana's voice surprised me. I have never heard anything like this. After listened so many times I decided to know more about her and buy other stuff. The Poems of Elizabeth Bishop and Other Songs is a great album. The first track is my favourite. I play it everyday. She is a mature singer with a very solid background.