Sandy Cressman - Homenagem Brasileira (1998)

Recall the old line "I love the blues, she heard my cry"? Well, singer Sandy Cressman, she fell head over heels in love with Brazilian music and the Portuguese language. By turns gentle and insistent, her uptake on the Brazilian lilt and seductive grooves inherent in the music is wonderful. The San Francisco Bay Area-based Cressman clearly doesn't step into this music unprepared, having worked on the craft via a long-standing duet gig with keyboardist-arranger Marcos Silva, who forms the backbone of this working ensemble. In the spirit of such master Brazilian singers as Flora Purim, Joyce, Elis Regina, and Gal Costa, Cressman upholds their tradition with great care and élan in this exemplary salute to their styles and repertoire, especially the compositions of Toninho Horta, Edu Loba, Chico Buarque, Baden Powell and others. Of particular note also is the sax work of Harvey Wainapel. --Willard Jenkins

Sandy Cressman (Vocals); Marcos Silva (Arranger, keyboards, acoustic guitar, surdo, tamborim, shaker, whistle, background vocals); Harvey Wainapel (Soprano, alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet); Jeff Cressman (Trombone); Mary Fettig (Flute); Carlinhos Oliveira (Acoustic guitar); David Belove (Electric bass); Celso Alberti (Drums); Marquinhos Brasil (Pandeiro), Michael Spiro (Congas, bongo).