Gretchen Parlato – Flor (2021) [FLAC 24bit/88,2kHz]

Gretchen Parlato – Flor (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 46:39 minutes | 919 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Edition Records

Gretchen Parlato continues her love story with bossa nova and Latin jazz with great precision. This Californian who has sung alongside the likes of Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Terence Blanchard, Marcus Miller, Kenny Baron and Lionel Loueke did give her album the Portuguese title Flor (flower in English) by accident. This release breaks a three-year silence on the recording front. Parlato sings like a plant opens, offers herself to those who will listen, and exudes a sensuality that one can almost smell. “My art has always reflected my life”, she says. “These days, I’m finding the balance between artistic creativity and nurturing motherhood. My purpose now has both a higher and deeper meaning, and this project is a musical representation of that journey.”

With the Brazilian guitarist Marcel Camargo (her old accomplice, whom she met while studying ethnomusicology at UCLA and who is also the musical director of Flor), the Armenian cellist Artyom Manukyan and the drummer Leo Costa, Gretchen Parlato has fashioned a fluid entity which is able to carry this blend of covers (Brazilian standards such as a song by David Bowie or a Bach cello suite) and original compositions with a very natural touch. An ideal instrumental balance without a bass section (there is traditionally none in Brazilian music) offers a marvellous and luxuriant setting for her voice. Take, for example, the classic É Preciso Perdoar which João Gilberto popularised in the early seventies, and Parlato appropriates here with a light touch. A few guests lend their talents to this exquisite outing, such as Parlato’s husband, drummer Mark Guiliana, the pianist Gerald Clayton and, on Roy Allan, a tribute to the trumpeter Roy Hargrove who passed away in 2018, the legendary Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira. A magnificent album that will put this much-underestimated singer back at the front of the vocal jazz pack. – Marc Zisman

Tracklist

1. Gretchen Parlato – É Preciso Perdoar
2. Gerald Clayton – Sweet Love
3. Gretchen Parlato – Magnus
4. Gretchen Parlato – Rosa
5. Gretchen Parlato – What Does a Lion Say?
6. Gretchen Parlato – Roy Allan
7. Gretchen Parlato – Wonderful
8. Gretchen Parlato – Cello Suite No. 1 BWV 1007 Minuet I II
9. Gretchen Parlato – No Plan

Download:

mqs.link_GretchenParlat0Fl0r202124882.rar