World wise voiced Sue Maskaleris plays piano and keyboards with her core team of Wesley Amorim/g, Leo Traversa/b, Samuel Martinelli/dr and brings in some rich guests such as Manhattan Transfer’s Janis Siegel for a rich mix of originals and modern Portuguese.
Her own tunes have quite clever lyrics, as she teams up and scats with Siegel on the clever “Procrastination” with support from Amorim and guest flutist Cecilia Tenconi. Likewise, her duet with Luiz Simas melds her rich voice with Tenconi’s floating tones. The Iberian “Voce Pra Mim” is a dreamy samba with Maskaleris in golden tone riding the percussion of Negah Santos and guided by alto saxist Larry Tutt while a gorgeous rubato leads into the upbeat “March of the Refugee”. Some modern musings that are reminiscent of vintage Steely Dan are detected on the pulsating “Valentine’s Day For One” hip “Fly Away”. Clever cooings.