LOS ANGELES (Top40 Charts/ Mooka Records) - The voice is back. Kenia, who single-handedly defined the essence of heavenly, pop accented Brazilian jazz in the 1980s and '90s, returns with an album that surpasses all expectations. With the April 1 release of Simply Kenia (Mooka Records), the singer confidently reasserts her position as one of the reigning queens of Brazilian music.
Simply Kenia will quickly be embraced by Brazilian music aficionados as a timeless classic of the sound that has seduced the world for over half a century. It is a captivating blend of venerable choro works, samba and bossa nova-accented tracks that represent the best of the contemporary MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira) tradition, and handpicked favorites from the American ballad songbook. There's little doubt that it all adds up to the most well-rounded and stylistically authentic album of Kenia's career.
Noted for seeking perfection at every stage of a production, the singer turned to some of the most celebrated Brazilian musicians of our time to accompany her on the session's 15 tracks. Cesar Camargo Mariano, the legendary Latin Grammy-award winning keyboardist, composer and arranger renowned for his pioneering role in the Brazilian jazz fusion movement and his work with his late wife, fabled singer Elis Regina, plays a central role as a keyboard stylist and orchestrator. Guitarist Romero Lubambo, who over the past two decades has become the most widely recorded Brazilian string master in the U.S., adds his seasoned and highly intuitive rhythmic comping and soloing on acoustic guitar and the small Brazilian cavaquinho. Drummer Teo Lima and bassist Leo Traversa, two well traveled pros, round out the rhythm section. Kenia's son Lucas Ashby adds pandeiro licks on one track, and special guest Jorjao da Silva provides percussive fireworks and a Brazilian style rap on composer Gonzaguinha's "Deix a Dilson Vamos Nelson."
Always in search of ways to make her recordings even better, while on a recent trip to Rio to visit her family, Kenia invited veteran percussionist Armando Marcal to add his signature rhythmic flavors to Simply Kenia. Marcal recorded four tracks at Jaula do Leao, pianist Ricardo Leao's Rio studio, replacing previously recorded electronic percussion and making a significant contribution to the "Made-in-Brazil" sound Kenia demanded for the project.
The album is also noteworthy as Kenia's first foray as a vocalist into the world of choro, an elemental, pre-samba Brazilian style that was the rage in Rio in the early 20th Century and has recently undergone a long overdue renaissance. To make her mark on this referential genre, she chose "Lamentos," a landmark composition by the father of choro, saxophonist Pixinguinha, with lyrics by Jobim's primary collaborator, Vinicius de Moraes. "I love what is happening with the choro revival," she notes. "For the past couple of years, I've become very interested in learning more about this great music and performing it."
Simply Kenia features 15 tracks that are custom tailored for Kenia's trademark seductive style, amber-toned voice and impeccable phrasing. Reflecting her affection for Brazil's best tunesmiths, the singer includes works by such renowned composers as Pixinguinha, Joao Bosco, Gonzaguinha and Jair De Oliveira. She transforms Djavan's "Aviao" into "Being Cool," with English lyrics by Lorraine Feather. Her take on two timeless North American standards, Willie Nelson's "Crazy" and Matt Dennis' immortal "Angel Eyes," defines romantic balladry at its most sensuous. As a special bonus, "Crazy" is rendered in English, Portuguese and Spanish versions.
The artist's life began uneventfully enough when she was born Kenia Acioly into a family of Italian origins in the non-descript city of Nova Iguacu, a distant working class suburb of Rio de Janeiro. It was at the dawn of the Bossa Nova revolution, Joao Gilberto's voice and guitar were on the radio and Antonio Carlos Jobim's songs were everywhere. When she was six, Kenia's family moved to Copacabana, the storied beach-fronting neighborhood in the heart of Rio. In her teens, she also lived in Niteroi, Rio's sister city across Guanabara Bay and the hometown of Sergio Mendes, and chic Leblon, one of Rio's most upscale neighborhoods. Each stop along the way provided opportunities to explore the local cultural peculiarities that go into making Rio and its neighboring environs one of the world's most exotic locales.
Exposure to the Carioca (as natives of Rio are known) lifestyle naturally spurred an interest in music. "When I was growing up, I studied piano, but unfortunately never took it very seriously," Kenia recalls today. "It was what young ladies were supposed to do, but I was a little rebel in the making! And, as with most Cariocas growing up in the 60's during the Bossa Nova era, I played guitar by ear for many years, until I got intimidated by the great musicians I met along the way."
Singing, however, proved to be a natural talent, and Kenia was at an impressionable age just when many of Brazil's best vocalists of the time were becoming stars, providing instant and ongoing inspiration. "Elis Regina and Jair Rodrigues were amazing to watch and listen to," she recalls of two of the era's most dynamic vocal talents. "I always watched their TV show Dois na Bossa. Also, in the early 70's we used to have those fabulous music festivals, where we were introduced to such amazing new talents as Edu Lobo, Milton Nascimento and Chico Buarque. By the late 70's and early 80's I was madly in love with the music of Djavan and Ivan Lins. At the same time, through my friend, the late Durval Ferreira, a great composer, I was introduced to the beautiful voices of Sarah Vaughn and Carmen McRae. And, my sister Tania also introduced me to George Benson, whose songs still resonate.
It didn't take long after she arrived in the U.S. in 1980 that Kenia made an impact on the Brazilian jazz scene. In 1984, she was featured on Red on Red, the U.S. debut by a fellow Carioca, trumpet star Claudio Roditi. Produced by recording industry legend Creed Taylor, the album established Kenia as the new Brazilian voice and opened the door for festival bookings and guest appearances with a wide range of artists, including James Taylor, Justo Almario and Jonathan Butler. She also launched her solo recording career, producing four popular and critically acclaimed albums for the MCA and Denon labels between 1987 and 1991. The albums were noted for their winning mixture of tracks by such diverse North American composers as Stevie Wonder ("Creepin'") and Harold Arlen ("Somewhere Over The Rainbow") as well as the latest creations by Brazil's best contemporary songwriters, including Djavan ("Flor De Lis"), and Toninho Horta ("Distant Horizon"). Their catchy arrangements, tight production values and heartfelt performances made the releases a perfect match for the emerging Adult Contemporary Jazz ("Smooth Jazz") format on FM radio. Kenia not only became one of the new broadcasting genre's biggest stars; she also established herself as one of the most popular and successful U.S. based Brazilian musicians since the heyday of Sergio Mendes and Brazil '66.
Other artistic triumphs were to quickly follow. In 1992, she lent her composing skills and voice to the soundtrack of The Devil's Toothpick, a music film produced by Creed Taylor documenting the ritualistic dance and music styles associated with the Afro-Brazilian Candomble religion - the cultural centerpiece of life in Salvador, the capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia. Shot on location in this steamy tropical port city, the production also featured guitarist Lubambo, saxophonist Donald Harrison, and Brazil's current Minister of Culture, singer Gilberto Gil. In 1997, Kenia launched her own label, Mooka Records, with a particularly ambitious effort; Project Ivan Lins, a tribute to one of Brazil's most prolific and popular contemporary songwriters, featuring Lins himself as a special guest.
It's been a decade since Kenia's name graced the cover of a new CD release - far too long, her most ardent fans would quickly say. But she makes up for lost time on Simply Kenia. Her magic touch is not only still alive, it's more potent than ever. Simply is Kenia, through and through.
