Andrea Brachfeld is pictured smiling on her CD cover, with her head thrown back, the ocean waves and a tempered blue sky are the backdrop and she’s holding her flute delicately in her left hand. The first track of this album of Brazilian music sounds as happy and relaxed as this picturesque CD cover. It’s a Jobim composition entitled, “Double Rainbow” and it’s new to my ears.
“My main concept was choosing songs that I love and that just felt right to me,” explains Andrea Brachfeld in her liner notes. “Basically, I listened to a lot of Jobim songs and the ones that I really liked are the ones that we recorded. I did a Brazilian-themed concert in Winnipeg, Canada with guitarist Marcus Castillo and the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra. He brought out “Double Rainbow” and it was really beautiful.”
Although Andrea Brachfeld is no newcomer to recording, this is her first project dedicated to the music of Brazil. Ms. Brachfeld has chosen six Jobim compositions to interpret on her “Brazilian Whispers” CD. She and pianist, Bill O’Connell have produced this album. O’Connell puts the “J” in jazz whenever he solos on piano and the tight rhythm section swings hard. Her flute dances above the walking bass of Harvie S. and the swinging drums of Jason Tiemann as they interpret “Waters of March.” It’s a great arrangement.
However, for the most part this is a pretty tame rendition of Brazilian music. It’s much more easy listening than the exciting and danceable Latin rhythms I expected. The “Samba Medley” is more representative of the rich African influenced, Latin culture and Portuguese music that we Americans have come to love. Her medley incorporates three tunes; “Piano Na Mangueira,” blended with “Olele Olala” and “O Nosso Amor” with the band adding splashes of percussion to the mix.
Andrea Brachfeld picks up her alto flute to interpret the beautiful ballad, “Never Let Me Go.” This is followed by two, out of three songs that She and Bill O’Connell have composed for this album. Of the three, my favorite is “Espaco Aberto” that closes this album out.
~Dee Dee McNeil, Musical Memoirs, February 2020