This is Amanda’s second recording -only via import-, and a very enjoyable one; great singing in English, Portugues and French (actually she’s got majors in French and Spanish)and great musicianship throughout the album.
Amanda is Eliane Elias’ and Randy Brecker’s daughter and she’s already making a name for herself, and a very notable one by the way, composing here 4 of the 13 tracks. ...
Adriana Rios was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At the age of eight, she moved to the United States and divided her time between the two countries. She began her classical music studies at the age of eleven, playing the flute, and continued until she entered university. She graduated with honors from The College of William and Mary, (Va. USA) with a degree in Latin American Studies and left the US for Europe. There, she returned to her musical inclinations, singing, playing the flute and percussion with different Brazilian music groups in numerous jazz clubs in various cities of Greece, Italy, and France....
timesonline review:
Yes, they can be too cute for their own good sometimes, but the pianist Thomas Lauderdale and the singer China Forbes deserve credit for their single-minded pursuit of a hip form of retro lounge music. From the languorous opening notes of the Neapolitan song Ninna Nanna, you know that the mini big band is set to take you on another journey through piazzas and dark alleys. Tuca Tuca blows a kiss in the direction of Raffaella Carra, while the title tune springs a surprise with a sudden burst of Tchaikovsky. Sing finds the band drifting dangerously close to Carpenters terrain, but the overall mix is so full of quirky Latinesque surprises that the syrupy moments soon fade from the memory....
