Violinist Sonya Robinson got Miles Davis’ attention number of years ago, comparing her to Ray Nance and Stuff Smith. She indeed does show a love of swing on this record dedicated to the memory of her mother, who is memorialized on the Brazilian sounding title track (as she was a life long whistler). Her warm tone is evident on the warm latin pieces such as “Circle” and “Julio,” the former including some wonderful flute work by Jay Rodriguez, while Eric Person contributes his alto sax on his own “Beauty.” Lots of fun R&B grooves lay a foundation for Robinson’s strings, such as “A Minor Funk,” “Hip Hop Scotch,” and a hip reading of the pop classic “The World Is A Ghetto.” Upbeat and thoroughly modern, mixing modern jazz sounds with world musings.
Fly Records
www.sonyarobinsonmusic.com