Manu Le Prince - Bossa Jazz for Ever (2013)

Her country of adoption is Brazil, and the immense jazz singer Manu Le Prince here pays homage to composer Johnny Alf, considered by some as the father of bossa nova and a major influence on Jobim and Gilberto. Manu has already dedicated recordings to the songs of jazz monuments like Cole Porter and Wayne Shorter; for this record she chose the unavoidable (and unfairly overlooked) songwriter Johnny Alf. She recorded and produced this tribute in 2013 in Rio, accompanied notably by Idriss Boudrioua, Alf’s saxophonist and arranger for three decades, and some of Brazil’s greatest musicians. Her suave, jazzy voice puts all her energy into the repertoire of the composer from Rio to finally do justice to his fundamental music.

Augustin BONDOUX / Patrick FRÉMEAUX

Roberto MENESCAL, one of the founding fathers of Bossa Nova wrote:

We Brazilians are not very good at defending our own cultural heritage. So it makes me very happy to see artists from other countries interested by our music and recording works that are little known even to Brazilians. This is the case with this great singer Manu Le Prince that brings to light the work of Johnny Alf, one of our major composers. Manu chose songs for their quality rather than for their popularity, and thanks to her beautiful interpretations our culture can be very grateful for this tribute. Thank you Manu.