Iconic Brazilian singer/composer
Ivan Lins has written many MPB standards revered at home and abroad. American singers including
Ella Fitzgerald,
Sarah Vaughn,
Barbra Streisand,
Shirley Horn, and
Blossom Dearie have recorded his songs. In 1980,
Quincy Jones produced
George Benson's reading of "Love Dance," and he cut "Velas" for
The Dude in 1981. Vocalist
Mark Murphy and Brazilian fusion trio
Azymuth released
Night Mood, a collection of
Lins' songs, in 1986. Composer/trumpeter
Terence Blanchard collaborated with
Lins on
The Heart Speaks in 1995. In 2000, the tribute album
A Love Affair included contributions from
Sting and
Chaka Khan.
Resonance Records, whose founder
George Klabin is a longtime fan, released
Eddie Daniels' star-studded
Night Kisses: A Tribute to Ivan Lins in 2020.
Klabin also commissioned
My Heart Speaks.
Lins chose this career-spanning program of well-known and obscure songs. He's supported by the 91-member
Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra and a jazz quartet (
Josh Nelson, piano;
Mauricio Zottarelli, drums and percussion;
Carlitos Del Puerto, bass;
Leo Amuedo, guitar). German composer/arranger
Kuno Schmid wrote charts.
Lins sings and gets alternating guest support from trumpeter
Randy Brecker and vocalists
Dianne Reeves,
Tawanda, and
Jane Monheit. The latter, an expert interpreter of
Lins' music, also contributes English lyrics to two songs.
Set opener "Renata Maria" is a lush samba buoyed by fretless jazz bass, strings, winds, lithe piano, and organic percussion.
Lins, though 78, retains elasticity and suppleness in his reedy, smooth tenor in relating the story of a siren-like goddess who drives a man mad. He also offers its mirror image in "E Isso Acontece" (a rare tune with self-penned lyrics), as love is lost and the protagonist moves on, grateful for the experience. The title track, sung by
Reeves (with words by
Monheit) contains an elegant intro by string and jazz quartets worthy of
George Gershwin.
Monheit's reading of "Rio" near the album's end bears her lyrics and indelible vocal signature in a gauzy reverie of the composer's birthplace.
Lins' "I'm Not Alone" is sung by
Tawanda with English lyrics by
Will Jennings.
Lins' interpretations can be edifying. His "Congada Blues" finds him and
Kana Shimanuki dueting in chants above a funky samba. "Corpos," co-composed with longtime collaborator
Vitor Martins, is a jazz waltz layered with syncopated percussion, slippery guitar, brass, reeds, and strings;
Lins' expansive, emotionally raw vocal poignantly addresses the plight of the "disappeared" during Brazil's two-decade military rule. He has recorded the romantically desperate closer "Nada Sem Voce" several times before, but never like this. Framed by delicate piano, strings, guitar, and brushed snare, the singer pleads for his beloved to remain, but she is already gone.
My Heart Speaks also includes liner notes by
James Gavin with extensive commentary by
Lins. This late-career release is revelatory, as
Lins gets inside his songs to impart emotional nuances hidden in both lyrics and music. The program is elegant and potent throughout, presenting
Lins in a musical setting befitting his artistry. ~ Thom Jurek
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