Lovely ladies at the mic…
Irina Zubareva brings her girl-next-door voice into a Brazilian atmosphere, backed by Misha Tsiganov/p, Itaiguara Brandso/eg and Portinho/dr, mixing Portuguese and native Russian lyrics and melodies into a clever and flavorful soup.
A mix of tropics and Siberia take place on the festive and upbeat “Ya Budu Bsegda S Toboi” and “Moey Dushe Pokoya Net” as Dr. Zhivago meets Tom Jobim. She’s nimble with the lyrics on an upbeat “Triste” and relaxes on a lithe “Copacabana”, giving some clever scat work over Brandao’s bass on a sizzling read of Duke Ellington’s “I’m Beginning to See The Light”. A samba spirit in St. Petersburg.
You can tell that Trineice Robinson grew up singing in church, as she’s got a Sunday morning soul to her tone and delivery. She even closes out the album with a cute refrain of “This Little Light Of Mine” by Lindsay Martin Jr while giving a gospel shuffle to “Let It Shine”. With her pianist, the deacon Cyrus Chestnut, she produces a candle-lit reverent duet of “Come Sunday” with the rest of the team (Don Braden/ts-as-fl, Kenny Davis/b, Vince Ector/dr) joining in for a gorgeously testimony on “What’s Going On”. With an added horn section of Ian Kaufman/tb, John Meko/tp, Nils Mossblad/ts and percussion by Kahlil Kwame Bell, Robinson is confident and strong on a bold read of “Footprints” and an earthy “La Costa”. She shows her bop chops on a kinetic read of Thelonious Monk’s “You Know Who (I Mean You)” and a husky take of McCoy Tyner’s “You Taught Me How To Sing”. Soul music with soul.
Sunshine voiced Tanya Dennis delivers breezy tropical moods on this collection of smooth and romantic tunes. She’s tamed with harmonica master Hendrik Meurkins for a handful of tunes like the bouncy “Till You”, delicate “The World Can Do Without Us Today” and inviting “All To Myself”, with support from Jim Ferguson/b, Matt Berry/g, David Martin/ag, Dann Sherril/perc and Scott Halgren/p. Sensuous lilting acoustic guitar work by Bily Panda and Martin make for a dreamy “Slow Reckless Tango” while Dennis creates wide open spaces during “White Sails” and goes Caribbean for “Indigo”. Clear blue water of sounds.