ONDINE DARCYL
Ondine Darcyl
Darcyl Records
Ondine01

I’ve been enjoying a cassette advance of this for a year, and now on CD, Ondine’s debut is an excellent collection of Brasilian and other standards. Her deceptively simple phrasing is that of a master. An example is the bossa waves in “Summertime,” here a lullaby which makes you relisten to the lyric while enjoying the physical sensuality of her voice. Having grown up in Argentina, with time in Brasil and other countries, she has both the life experience and singing savvy to make her “Garota de Ipanema” the one you’d hear perhaps more than Astrud Gilberto’s. She inhabits an offhand attitude, fitting perfectly with the lyric, which, again, makes you listen anew.

Frighteningly, I even like the subtle touch of the synthesizer sparingly used. Guitar and arrangements by Hernan Romero. I believe the piano is not a “keyboard,” but either way everything here is full of taste, and serves to highlight the song. Neither a jazz singer in the traditional sense of a horn-like improviser, nor a traditional cabaret singer entertainer who tried to impress with wittiness, Ondine is a consummate phraser, with a voice you let cover you like a warm bath. A treat to hear “La Vie en Rose” by someone who is not a diva (Piaf, Grace Jones) but a server of the song. Highest recommendation. www.jazzsingers.com/ondinedarcyl

Steve Koenig

Track Listing: 1. So Tinha De Setr Com Voce; 2. Summertime; 3. Garota de Ipanema; 4. Black Orpheus; 5. Just In Time; 6. You Go To My Head; 7. Besame Mucho; 8. Corcovado; 9. La Vie En Rose; 10. Chega de Saudade; 11. Wave; 12. Autumn Leaves

Personnel: Ondine Darcyl, vocals; Hernan Romero, guitar, keyboards