Female forms…
Angela Verbrugge sings with clarity on this album teamed with Ray Gallon-Miles Black/p, Cameron Brown-Jodi Proznick/b, Anthony Pinciotti-Joel Fountain/dr and Dave Say/ts. In a small group format, she is relaxed and personal on a read of “I Had the Craziest Dream” and slithers as she wisps through a cleverly restrained read of “Until I Met You”. She brings in Erik Kalaidzis for a heartfelt duet on “Somewhere”, but the true highlights are when she does a pair of duos with Gallon, getting into a saloon mood with his striding fingers on “Born To Be Blue” and sitting cozy on the couch on “For You, For Me, Forevermore”. Less is more on this charmer.
There is probably no vocalist who can do more expression with as little range as Karrin Allyson. Her vast catalogue is a testament to nuance and emotion without the clutter of technical prowess. This album shows her strengths, focusing on Brazilian tunes, the types she always shows so well when in concert. She plays a bit of piano herself, as on a luminous “So Many Stars” and gorgeously personal solo excursion of “Only Trust Your Heart”. Otherwise, she’s well served by Vitor Goncalves/p-key-acc, Yotam Silberstein/g, Harvie S/b and Rafael Barata/dr. Rosa Passos joins in for some singing, as well as folksy guitar work as on the cooing “Month of March in Salvador” and wondrous “O Grande Amor”
Allyson herself is clear and trumpet like on “Antigua” and bouncing like a rock on a lake for “ Flo delis”, sauntering on “Wave” and luminous on “So Many Stars”. Allyson has that rare quality of making you think she’s singing right to you, and maybe she is!