Ithamara Koorax's albums reviewed at Swing2Bop

Ithamara Koorax's albums reviewed at www.swing2bop.com by renowned jazz historian Bruce Crowther
All albums produced by Arnaldo DeSouteiro

Ithamara Koorax Autumn In New York (EMI EKLD 0473)

Hugely popular in Brazil, Ithamara has recently began making an impression elsewhere, especially in the USA. Recently, Ithamara has placed well in polls, including fourth in the Down Beat Readers Poll as Best Female Jazz Singer and in 2003 her CD, Love Dance was fifth in the same pollsters' Best Beyond Album category. Other CDs by Ithamara range through contemporary pop and predominantly popular Brazilian music (for some of which, see below) but with Autumn In New York, she is very much in a jazz mood. Here, Ithamara swings elegantly through a long and always interesting set of mainly standards, backed by the tight-knit trio of Jurgen Friedrich, piano, Sergio Barroso, bass, and Cesar Machado, drums. Eloquent interpretation of the lyrics and inventive improvisations all add to this being a CD that is deserving of the praise it has received in other quarters.

Ithamara Koorax Sings The Luiz Bonfá Songbook (King KICP 503)

Ithamara Koorax Serenade In Blue (Milestone/Universal MBL 6002 9301)

Ithamara Koorax Love Dance: The Ballad Collection (Milestone/Som Livre 3126 2)

On these three earlier CDs, Ithamara is much closer to her Brazilian roots, yet throughout there is evidence of the jazz singer in-waiting. Her wide-ranging voice allows her to achieve with seeming effortlessness sinuous readings of songs that in less distinguished hands would become mere exercises in technique. Ithamara is far too good and experienced to fall into that trap and all of her interpretations are rewarding. Her interpretations of lyrics are admirable and she sings well not only in her native Portuguese but also occasionally in French and often in English. Of these three CDs, the Luiz Bonfá set is an eloquent exploration of one of the best known worldwide of South America's songwriters. Ithamara's love for his music is evident throughout and she is joined by many other South American musicians together with some from other lands. The guests include Eumir Deodato, Larry Coryell, Ron Carter and Sadao Watanabe. With Serenade In Blue, Ithamara moves confidently towards the jazz genre, which she fully and so successfully embraces with Autumn In New York; this is not to downplay the many attractions to be found on Love Dance whereon she is equally as elegant and eloquent in her interpretations of a largely non-jazz repertoire. She can also be heard on one of Thiago De Mello's CDs, listed below in the Braziliana section. In whatever mood, Ithamara is a singer to savour.
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A published author since 1975, Bruce Crowther's credits include 30 books, along with magazine articles, short stories, essays, hundreds of record reviews, several thousand encyclopedia entries, a few television screenplays, and - recently - a stage play ...

About half of the books are crime fiction; the rest are mostly divided between jazz and popular cinema.
Some of the jazz and movie books are biographies: Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman, Robert Mitchum, Burt Lancaster, Laurel & Hardy, Michelle Pfeiffer ...

Other books are thematic: jazz singing, big band music, myth & reality in the movies, film noir, prison movies, television comedy ...