Leny Andrade at Birdland
Birdland, New York City – August 14, 2009 – 11:00 PM
What is it that makes a great singer? Technical mastery, emotional depth, improvisational chops, a distinctive, individual character — these are all vital. But perhaps above all there’s that rare ability to walk into a room, take a microphone and instantly own it all: the music, the audience, the moment, time itself. Call that charisma if you like, but that word is inadequate for something so ineffable and yet so undeniable. It’s magic.
Leny Andrade is a great singer. In her late set at Birdland, on the third night of a four evening engagement, Andrade sang with profound feeling and gripping immediacy, transporting her admiring listeners to a realm of bossa nova daydreams and passionate balladry. Lacing the tunes with delightfully limber, beautifully sculpted scat breaks, spiking her husky delivery with soaring punctuation, she took the music from soft breezes to electrifying jolts, retaining the liveliness of the samba that made her famous while singing true Brazilian jazz of the highest order.
Pianist Cliff Korman, a master of the idiom himself, was a perfect counterpart, playing neither too much nor too little. He levitated Andrade with an opalescent bounce, combining rays of sunshine with just the right propulsive touch. Kip Reed’s electric bass nudged and rolled the uptempo numbers, then wrapped the ballads in a warm embrace. And drummer Helio Scheavo calmly smoothed the ground to give the music an easy glide. But this gig was all about Leny.
The set contained mostly Brazilian numbers, of course, by such heavyweights as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Ivan Lins and Cesar Camargo Mariano. But her sensuous, commanding version of “Night in Tunisia” might have made one wonder if Dizzy Gillespie was perhaps born in Rio. And that highlights another point.
Andrade goes out of her way to heap praise on composers and lyricists, calling them “gods” while referring to herself as simply “an interpreter.” But even the finest composition requires a creative, spirited performer to reach its potential. Someone like Leny Andrade, “The Queen of Bossa Nova.” One of the greats.
Filed Under: Concert Reviews
