Japanese born Yuko Ito is an anomaly in the Brazilian field, her heart belongs to Brazil, yet she was born in Japan. Her previous albums Mania De Voce (09), O Cantador (14), and her latest Esperança (17) introduced the vocalist to the jazz and world listener as a seasoned craftsman of the Portuguese language in song. The culmination of her experiences in multiple genres is what gives Ito her recalcitrant verve, along with jazz phrasing that is a hybrid for her distinctly Brazilian releases. Ito states “having been lured by positive lyrics, unique beats and passionate movement,” is what drew her to the Latin-based genre of music. Esperança is a collection of originals and arrangements from the great American Song Book and a Japanese song with Brazilian rhythms. Ito has a unique combination of Brazilian style that is honed through jazz and Japanese folk music. That’s the short of it!
Esperança
Vera Cruz
Moon River
Só Danço Samba
Manhã de Carnaval
Owari no Nai Kisetsu
Madalena
Começar de Novo
Ponta de Areia
Stolen Water
Vivêncía: Obsession
Tubasa Wo Kudasai
What a Wonderful World
Esperança
Yuko Ito - vocals, compositions and arrangements
Helio Alves - piano (1,2,4,6,7,8,12)
Edward Perez - bass (1,2,4,5,6,8,9,10,11)
Alexandre Kautz - drum and percussion (1,2,4,5,6,8,9,10,11)
Richard E Miller - guitar (1,4,9,10)
Oriente Lopez - flute (1,4,10)
Michika Fukumori - piano and Arrangements (5,10,11)
Romero Lubambo - guitar percussion and vocal (3,13)
Luisa Lubambo - vocal (13)
Release Date: November 28, 2017
Funny Baby Face Record
58 minutes
A nice blend of Brazilian, Japanese, and Jazz standards is presented with a stellar ensemble that backs Ito with prodigious solos and rhythmically sound accompaniment. The album is adorned with a combination of original and originally arranged tunes that consociate well with each other as a set.
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