Brandi Disterheft shows three sides of her talents as she sings, plays bass and cello and composes a bunch of the material here that ranges from bossa to bop with her core trio of drummer Portinho and pianist Klaus Mueller.
The team is a ton of fun on the bouncy pieces like Tom Jobim’s “Surfbooard” and her own “Portrait of Porto” while she digs deep on a swinging “Pendulum at Falcon’s Lair”. She also sings a bet, sensuously breathy and Blossom Dearie-ish on “Manhattan Moon” and the oozy “Where Or When.” Tenor sax legend George Coleman comes in for a handful of tunes to fill out the team, hip on the bouncy “Speak Low”, rich and bel canto on “My Foolish Heart” and fervent on the Brazilian toned “Coup de Foudre”. Lots of smiles to pass around.