Showing posts with label Natalie Cressman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Natalie Cressman. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Natalie Cressman & Ian Faquini - Guinga

Styles: Vocal, Trombone Jazz
Year: 2024
Time: 44:05
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 102,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:33) 1. Contradição
(4:49) 2. Bolero De Satã
(2:42) 3. Lavagem De Conceição
(2:33) 4. Aria De Opereta
(2:06) 5. Delírio Carioca
(3:28) 6. Ramo de Delírios
(3:00) 7. Por Trás De Brás De Pina
(7:28) 8. Par Constante
(2:59) 9. Garoa E Maresia
(4:12) 10. Segredo De Dadá
(2:27) 11. Nítido e Obscuro/Geraldo No Leme
(5:12) 12. Ellingtoniana
(3:35) 13. Viola Variada
(2:57) 14. Vô Alfredo

Brazilian guitarist-composer Guinga is something of a legendary figure. A polyglot performer associated with música popular brasileira's all-encompassing ethos, he's made his name fusing the contemporary and folkloric strains of his homeland with classical, jazz, rock and pop stylings. His influence looms large in that particular niche of the music world and, honestly, beyond and he receives his flowers on this warm tribute from trombonist Natalie Cressman and guitarist Ian Faquini.

This unique duo, which made an instantly positive impression with Setting Rays of Summer (Cressman Music, 2019) and used the studio to broaden their blend on Auburn Whisper (GroundUP, 2022), didn't come upon the concept of this album by chance. Both are direct musical descendants of the eponymous artist. Faquini came under Guinga's tutelage early on, and both he and Cressman, who initially connected at California Brazil Camp in Cazadero, California, grew under his wing. As both of the younger artists matured, their relationship with Guinga developed from that of mentor-students to friends and colleagues, culminating with this collaboration.

Unlike the majority of tributes, either developed and executed a world apart from their influence or given as a posthumous plaudit, this album arrives with its honoree alive and well, and he was welcomed into the creative process as composer, arranger, lyricist and guest performer. Guinga wrote or co-wrote all of the album's 14 pieces, be they older works or penned specifically for this project, and he appears on five. His guitar graces two Dukish delights the sentimental "Par Constante" (Constant Pair) and the romantically sublime "Ellingtoniana," both featuring Cressman's melodious slide work. And he contributes vocals on three pieces co-written with Faquini: "Contradição" (Contradiction), where a bed of overdubbed trombones supports his light-voiced, sky blue serenade in three; "Lavagem de Conceição," bringing baião's bounce and the topic of Candomblé ritual washing together as one (with some additional vocal assistance from the co-leaders, Anna Paes and Sandy Cressman); and "Segredo de Dadá" (Dadá's Secret), a statement encapsulating saudade (and casting Natalie Cressman as Guinga's singing partner).

Although Guinga is absent from the remaining tracks, they all bear the master's stamp. "Bolero de Satã" (Satan's Bolero), a hit for the titular figure in the '70s, draws a direct line from his own adorned writing to the signature sound of this duo. "Aria de Opereta" (Operetta Aria) delivers a perfect amalgamation of Brazilian and classical languages. The concise "Delírio Carioca" (Carioca Delirium) offers honeyed pleasantries. "Ramo de Delírios" (Bouquet of Delirium), harkening back to Guinga's debut, finds Cressman and Faquini in beautiful sync. The "Nítido e Obscuro / Geraldo No Leme" (Clear and Opaque / Geraldo in Leme) combo speaks to this duo's easy way with difficult rhythmic syntax. And the lively "Vô Alfredo" (Grandpa Alfredo) closer, tapping into Pernambuco's frevo dance rhythms and suggestions, nods to Guinga's grandfather with the leaders allowing their oft-tamed virtuosity to shine through. Lovely and lovingly delivered, Guinga is a gem of a tribute from two great artists to another.By Dan Bilawsky https://www.allaboutjazz.com/guinga-natalie-cressman-and-ian-faquini-self-produced

Personnel: Natalie Cressman – trombone and vocals; Ian Faquini – guitar and vocals; Guinga – guitar and vocals; Anna Paes – vocals; Sandy Cressman – vocals

Guinga

Monday, November 25, 2019

Natalie Cressman, Ian Faquini - Setting Rays of Summer

Styles: Vocal, Trombone And Guitar Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:46
Size: 87,5 MB
Art: Front

(4:29)  1. Terê
(2:05)  2. L'aube
(3:06)  3. Lenga Lenga
(4:35)  4. Debandada
(3:32)  5. Setting Rays of Summer
(3:56)  6. Mandingueira
(3:30)  7. My Heart Again Will Rise
(2:53)  8. Uirapuru
(4:14)  9. Museu Nacional
(5:22) 10. Sereia

Some albums arrive without precedent, a world unto themselves. While bringing to mind the sophisticated, jazz-infused post-Tropicalia songs of Brazilian composers like Guinga, Milton Nascimento, and Marcos Valle, Natalie Cressman and Ian Faquini’s unusual duo album Setting Rays of Summer sounds as fresh and revivifying as a clear mountain stream. 007AA guitarist, vocalist, and composer born in Brasilia and raised since childhood in Berkeley, Calif., Faquini is responsible for the voluptuously shaped compositions and lithe but orchestral guitar work. He also possesses a pleasingly reedy voice that blends artfully with Cressman’s bright, translucent singing. She’s a top-shelf trombonist who’s worked with such diverse artists as Peter Apfelbaum and Phish’s Trey Anastasio, and is utterly at home in MPB (musica popular brasileira), the omnivorous Brazilian movement that emerged out of bossa nova and Tropicalia at the end of the 1960s. Cressman contributes lyrics to three of the 10 pieces, one in Portuguese and two in English, including the wistful title track that encapsulates the album’s evocation of brief epiphanies, fleeting pleasures, and enduring memories. 

Iara Ferreira provides the Portuguese lyrics for four songs, including the levitating ballad “Debandada,” rendered as a delicately intertwined duet, and the surging samba “Mandingueira.” Rogerio Santos wrote the lyrics for “Lenga Lenga,” which has an infectious hook worthy of a standard, and the dreamy “Uirapuru,” a lovely sigh of a song. The melody of Faquini’s instrumental piece “Museu Nacional” echoes the exquisite melancholy of Jobim’s “O Amor em Paz,” delivered with burnished intensity by Cressman’s trombone. Faquini made a vivid first impression with his 2016 debut Metal na Madeira featuring Rio-based vocalist Paula Santoro; that album featured his originals set to an array of Northeastern rhythms. The expert songcraft on display throughout Setting Rays is more than impressive, but what stands out most is the way that trombone, guitar, and two voices conjure a fully realized realm. ~ Andrew Gilbert https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/natalie-cressman-ian-faquini-setting-rays-of-summer-cressman-music/

Personnel:  Natalie Cressman: Trombone and Vocals; Ian Faquini: Guitar and Vocals

Setting Rays of Summer

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Natalie Cressman & Secret Garden - Unfolding

Styles: Trombone Jazz
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:27
Size: 144,6 MB
Art: Front

(6:33)  1. Flip
(8:01)  2. Whistle Song
(4:10)  3. Honeysuckle Rose
(6:11)  4. Echo
(5:57)  5. Skylight
(7:51)  6. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
(8:33)  7. Waking
(5:19)  8. Reaching For Home
(9:47)  9. That Kind

Looking for antecedents for trombonist/vocalist Natalie Cressman? All About Jazz's C. Michael Bailey correctly points us to Jack Teagarden, the original singing trombonist. And, in fact, Cressman finds plenty of opportunity in the funkier passages of Unfolding, her debut album, to deploy a fluid and full Teagarden-like sound on the instrument. But Cressman twenty years old and a student at the Manhattan School of Music at the time of Unfolding's release also suggests a more contemporary reference: Esperanza Spalding, the superstar singing bassist. As with much of Spalding's vocals on her first record the fine Junjo (Ayva Musica, 2006) Cressman's wordless and vaguely Brazilian vocals on the madrigal-like "Echo" sound like sonic accents, not the stuff of a "lead singer." That said, other examples of singing on this record sound more like Spalding's subsequent albums, wherein she established herself as a bona fide singer. Cressman even pays homage here to Joni Mitchell, with a thoughtful and successfully rearranged version of Mitchell's vocal version of Charles Mingus' "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat." It's a great reach back, from the vantage point of 2012, through Mitchell's 1979 version, to Mingus' 1959 original (Mitchell's version can be found on her Mingus (Asylum, 1979); it's closely based on Mingus' from his Mingus Ah Um (Columbia, 1959), and follows both Mingus' composed melody as well as John Handy's tenor sax solo).

Cressman's vocal agility is furthermore on display in the difficult leaps and intervals of several compositions, her tone clear and true and unadorned. Pianist Fats Waller's "Honeysuckle Rose," meanwhile, is given a funk makeover not unlike the music of pianist Robert Glasper's Experiment; indeed, the comparison also reveals the attractive, Glasper-like qualities in pianist Pascal Le Boeuf's playing here (Le Boeuf, 25 years old for the session, is the oldest member of Cressman's Secret Garden band). The band is well-rehearsed and dominated, in a way, by the unsubtly forward drummer Jake Goldblas; he doesn't take much prompting to boil over, and it can be pretty exciting. Saxophonist Peter Apfelbaum like Cressman, a traveler on the Bay Area/New York jazz corridor guests for a fiery solo on "That Kind." 

Throughout, the sound is mostly acoustic, mostly mainstream with hints of Latin and rock. Unfolding shares the strengths and weaknesses of a lot of very strong debuts: highly attentive solos, carefully crafted arrangements and spirited performances on the plus side; coupled with a certain lack of focus and melodic interest in the original compositions. Cressman will only get better, as trombonist, singer, composer and leader, and that process will be accelerated with further apprenticeship with more seasoned leaders. With the release of Unfolding, her phone should be ringing off the hook. ~ Jeff Dayton Johnson https://www.allaboutjazz.com/unfolding-natalie-cressman-self-produced-review-by-jeff-dayton-johnson.php
 
Personnel: Natalie Cressman: trombone, vocals; Ivan Rosenberg: trumpet; Chad Lefkowitz-Brown: tenor saxophone (1-8); Peter Apfelbaum: tenor saxophone (9); Pascal Le Boeuf: piano, Fender Rhodes, claps; Ruben Samama: acoustic bass, claps; Jake Goldblas: drums, percussion, claps; Zach Gould: claps.

Unfolding

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Natalie Cressman - Turn the Sea

Styles: Trombone And Vocal, Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:58
Size: 103,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:26)  1. Turn the Sea
(5:07)  2. Fortune's Fool
(5:22)  3. Blindsided
(3:57)  4. New Moon
(4:49)  5. Do Not as I Do
(5:10)  6. Checkout Time
(3:43)  7. Winter Chill
(7:51)  8. Stolen Away
(4:29)  9. Turn the Sea (Jnthn Stein Remix)

Trombonist/vocalist Natalie Cressman follows-up her excellent debut recording, Unfolding (Self Produced, 2012) with her fully realized yet completely different Turn the Sea. Cressman is a busy artist recently appearing on many projects as disparate as anchoring the horn section of Trey Anastasio's band and appearing on recording dates led by Peter Apfelbaum and Josh Roseman to her conspicuous role on Laura Furci's excellent Think Con La Tua Cabeza (2013). Cressman brings these multiple exposures to bare on Turn the Sea. This is a collection of angular compositions that are as intricate as they are accessible. The title piece is given two mixes bookending the remaining seven songs. The rhythm line is infectious and insistent and very contemporary, representing a new alchemy for Cressman. 

The mix of Cressman's confident voice, tart trombone and crack songwriting establishes the artist well down the road from an already fully-established sound on Unfolding. The Jnthn Stein remix adds pop-synth to the song "Fortune's Fool" uses judicious voice overdubs by Cressman, accentuating her well-conceived melodies within her clever arrangement. "Do Not As I Do" is a brightly sung and orchestrated, again with a complex (and catchy) bass underpinning. Cressman employs a little big band in a very contemporary way. There is a melding of her pop and jazz experience that is well captured in this format. Natalie Cressman continues to arrive and is sure to continue her brilliant evolution as a musician.. ~ C.Michael Bailey   
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=46523#.UySQGYU7aQM
 
Personnel: Natalie Cressman: trombone, vocals; Ivan rosenberg: trumpet; Steven Lugerner: flute, clarinet, bass clarinet; James Casey: tenor saxophone; Samora Pinderhuges: keyboards; Gabe Schnider: guitar; Jonathan Stein: acoustic and electric bass; Michael Mitchell: drums, percussion.