|
Edited by James Sullivan CIIRONICLE POP Music WRITER On Tuesday, San Francisco vocal1st Sandy Cressman unveils her debut solo album "Homenagem Brasileira," issued by the Dutch label A-Records. Best known for her membership in the vocal trio Pastiche, Cressman says her jazz-fueled disc paying homage to Brazilian music is the result of her long-term love affair with the tunes and culture of the country. "I can't explain why, but I found my voice
singing this music," she says. "With Pastiche, we played
an eclectic repertoire, but I found my vocals were best suited to
Brazilian songs. I'm naturally attracted to the complex harmonic and
rhythmic quality of the music, and I deeply feel the emotion. Brazilian
music lust grabbed me and wouldn't let go." The key person responsible for Cressman's commitment to Brazilian music is album producer Marcos Silva, whom she met in 1989 when he was enlisted as a substitute keyboardist for a Pastiche gig. "Marcos grew up in Brazil and knew all the music," Cressman says. "After I told him how much I loved it, he kept feeding my habit." After Cressman took time off to have children, she was eager to return to performing. ln 1995, after Silva's vocal partner left town, he asked Cressman to join him for his weekly Brazilian duo show at Cafe Bastille in San Francisco. The pair developed an extensive set list of music by such great Brazilian composers as Gilberto Gil and Ivan Lins, later forming a band composed of saxophonist Harvey Wainapel, bassist David Belove and drummer Celso Albert to play a date at Yoshi's. The show was taped and broadcast on jazz station KCSM's "Sunday Night Suites," and its success set the CD in motion. Has Cressman, who is now fluent in Portuguese, been criticized by the Brazilian community? "Not at all. In fact, the response has been wonderful. I have a friend who told me in Portuguese, 'When you sing Brazilian, you are Brazilian.' They are such warm people who love the fact that I'm on a heartfelt mission to spread their music to the world." This week Cressman returns home from her first pilgrimage to Brazil. She left with Silva shortly after Christmas for 2½ weeks of "schmoozing with musicians and absorbing the place I've always dreamed of." She promises to bring an even deeper understanding of Brazilian music to Yoshi's on February 1, when she and her band celebrate the release of her CD. "I just know I'll be doing that date with an entire new degree of energy. - Dan OueIIette |
