Leny Andrade & Roni Ben-Hur - Alegria De Viver

Styles: Bossa Nova, MPB
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:50
Size: 110,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:11)  1. Samba Iluminado
(2:55)  2. Balanço Zona Sul
(5:49)  3. Dindi
(4:54)  4. Refém Da Solidão
(3:10)  5. Estrada Branca
(2:34)  6. Alegria De Viver
(2:58)  7. Cantador
(3:07)  8. É Preciso Perdoar
(3:22)  9. Carinhoso
(2:53) 10. Passa Por Mim
(2:17) 11. Rugas
(3:15) 12. Ana Luisa
(2:30) 13. Una Manana
(3:51) 14. O Que É Amar

It’s hard to argue with Tony Bennett when he describes Leny Andrade as the “Ella Fitzgerald of Brasil”. Anyone who has heard Ms. Andrade live or on record will agree. Her sublime artistry is born of integrity and intensity. She indulges in a harmonically rich turn of phrase, clothed in beautifully balanced and largely polyphonic textures that still feel like gossamer and when she turns up the heat as rich and sensuous as raw silk. Described as having a dynamic voice capable of stunning leaps from an upper register, to dramatic plunges into gravity-defying depths, Leny Andrade is no ordinary mezzo-soprano. Her singing comes on a generous scale with a wide range and bags of personality easily enough to encompass every aspect of the Brasilian cultural ethos.

Ms. Andrade is accompanied by an equally dynamic instrumental personality: Roni Ben-Hur. The guitarist is an inspired choice for this date. Mr. Ben-Hur concentrates on the sonorities of his instrument treating the colours it makes as independent of Leny Andrade’s uncommonly lush notes, doing justice to it (his guitar) in his warm old-school playing as he manages to pull multiple melodious lines which he weaves deftly into his seemingly diaphanous harmonic canvas. His mannerisms are cultured. They spark reflective utterances as a framing stimulus towards the rhapsodic melismas that dance their way out from the vocalastics of Ms. Andrade. It is hard to imagine another pairing for this repertoire or any other for that matter.

One of the challenges that even Brasilian artists face when attempting a programme is steering clear of the tried and tested and often all-too-familiar, even tried Brasilian standards. This record, Alegria de Viver pulls music out of surprising, under-represented catalogues. Of course, you cannot avoid the music of Baden Powell, Vinicius De Moraes, Pixinguinha, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Dori Caymmi, certainly not if you are intent on making a good record. Then turning it into something great is a matter of good taste and inhabiting the songs from the inside out. Few vocalists from Brasil can do this with as much facility as Leny Andrade.

Leny Andrade does great things with the lyric and the music throughout the repertoire. If anything is to be singled out for special mention – an unfair task in this instance I may as well recommend “Carinhoso” and “O Que é Amar” the latter is a rarely performed piece by one of Brasil’s most gifted sons Johnny Alf. It does bear mention that the album is breathtaking from end to end, though. Together, Leny Andrade and Roni Ben-Hur lay it all out for us in one superbly rich and eloquent verse after the other, representing art at its most sublime. The profound romanticism of Brasilian storylines is magically matched by the high drama of the delivers of lyrics. Both artists allow the music to evolve with a wonderful feeling of spaciousness in which the intense musical textures of these pieces are beautifully revealed. http://latinjazznet.com/2015/10/04/reviews/cds/album-of-the-week/leny-andrade-roni-ben-hur-alegria-de-viver/

Personnel: Leny Andrade: vocals; Roni Ben-Hur: guitar.

Alegria De Viver

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