A&M Corner :: View topic - Spotlight: Lani Hall

Captain Bacardi · Posted: Fri 2/5/10 9:26 pm

Lani Hall
BRASIL NATIVO
Windham Hill Jazz (01934-11372-2)

Released 1998

Format: CD/Cassette

Produced by Lani Hall and Herb Alpert

Songs & Musicians:

1. Tres Curumins (Dori Caymmi/Paulo Cesar Pinheiro) - 5:04

2. Smile (Sorri) (Geoffrey Parsons/James Phillips/Charles Chaplin) - 3:58

3. Viola Fora De Moda/Zanzibar (Capinan/Edu Lobo) - 4:10

4. Velho Piano (No Place To Hide) (Dori Caymmi/Paulo Cesar Pinheiro/English Lyric by Lani Hall) - 3:31

5. Brasil Nativo (Danilo Caymmi/Paulo Cesar Pinheiro) - 6:11

6. Mas Que Nada (Jorge Ben) - 4:37

7. Historia Antiga (Dori Caymmi/Paulo Cesar Pinheiro) - 3:55

8. Saudades De Casa (Meant To Be) (Ivan Lins/Vitor Martins/English Lyric by Lani Hall) - 3:11

9. Varadero (Joao Bosco/English Lyric by Lani Hall) - 3:55

10. Amor De Indio (Beto Guedes/Ronaldo Baslos) - 3:56

11. Waters Of March (Antonio Carlos Jobim) - 5:06

Recorded & Mixed by Alan Meyerson
Production Engineer: David Pelman
Recorded at Sandbox Studios, Santa Monica, California & at Village Recorder, West Los Angeles, California
Mixed at Sandbox Studios, Santa Monica, California
Mastered by Brian Gardner at Bernie Grundman Mastering, Los Angeles, California

Yamaha Piano recorded at the studio at David L. Abell Fine Pianos by David Kreisberg

Management: Kip Cohen

Art Direction: Sonny Mediana
Photography: Andrea Marouk
Graphic Design: Candance Upman & Sandy Del Rio Mitchell Design, Palo Alto, CA

When missionaries came to Brazil to convert the Amazonian Indians they brought their holy music that influenced the country's indigenous music. Africans brought their own rhythms and sounds that merged with these classical chants. This mixture of God & earth, life & death, love & moments rooted to the primitive continues to teach me more about what moves & inspires me. It is an intimate friend, a lover, an angel in the heart of my soul.

Capt. Bacardi
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The Chicago Cubs - 102 years and counting....

Captain Bacardi · Posted: Thu 2/11/10 7:19 pm

This was a welcome return for Lani, getting back to her Brazilian roots. My favorite song on this album is the opener "Tres Curumins", where Herb Alpert takes a nifty solo towards the end. I also love "Varadero" and the medley of "Viola Fora De Moda/Zanzibar". The one downside of this album was the remake of "Mas Que Nada" done in a very slow, dirge-like style. This just didn't work for me at all. I much prefer the uptempo versions. I would've liked to have a couple more uptempo numbers on this album as well, but given this was her first album of new material in over a decade this is a fun listen.

It should also be noted that the song "Brasil Nativo" was included on the DTS 5.1 version of Herb's Passion Dance album as a bonus track.

Capt. Bacardi
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The Chicago Cubs - 102 years and counting....

Mike Blakesley · Posted: Thu 2/11/10 7:48 pm

While I like some of the songs on this album, my favorite thing about it is the cover and the packaging. Truly an A+ effort there.

My favorite song is the Viola/Zanzibar medley. My least favorite is the above-mentioned "Mas Que Nada." The other tunes are all uniformly good -- not on top of my Lani Hall favorites list, but good background listening. I would put this album on top of the middle of the pack in my list of Lani favorites.

I suppose a little mention is due for "Waters of March..." this song has been done 3x by Sergio Mendes and once by Lani, among others, and I haven't cared for any of the versions I've heard. I just find the song to be boring and I can't understand why it's so highly-liked.
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Mike B.

Harry · Posted: Thu 2/11/10 8:50 pm

Ah, BRASIL NATIVO. Can it really be twelve years old this year?

I still remember the pre-release excitement we had here at the Corner, scraping up every bit of information about it that we could. We unearthed the fact that "Tres Curumins" was being released early on that Windham Hill SUMMER SOLTICE 2 collection, and I remember playing it to death. It's still probably my favorite track on the album.

I also remember release day, July 28, 1998, rushing around like a madman to a Borders store in Bryn Mawr, PA, and trying to get the clerk there to find this new release for me, and THEN heading to work!

Some kind words for the tunes mentioned above by my Corner pals: I'm one of those who thinks the re-worked "Mas Que Nada" is a treasure. Indeed, the dramatic pacing and sparse and exotic instrumentation bring a totally new dimension to the typical bossa song.

The same goes for "Waters Of March". I like Lani's dramatic reading of the song and the slow pace suits it for a change. That's not to say I don't like it done the way everyone else does it, I do. But I like these too.

The arrangement credits go to Lani and Eddie Del Barrio, but the total twist of these lightweight songs into dramatic readings has Herb Alpert's name written all over it.

Mention should be made of "Meant To Be" as it was released as a single. I have the promo copy of the CD single with two versions. The "Radio Edit" is just a slight shortening of the piano intro to the record.

Overall, I agree with others that the album needed at least another uptempo song to pace it a little better. It does move a bit slowly at times. About the time it hits "Historia Antiga", I get a little antsy for things to move along.

Harry
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...Preserving The Sound Online...

Stephen Vakil · Posted: Fri 2/12/10 6:11 pm

And wasn't it around that time that Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas cam out on a compilation album from Windham Hill? That arrangement with just voice and harp was a real joy.

Stephen

Harry · Posted: Fri 2/12/10 9:04 pm

Yes - that fall (1998) Windham Hill put out a jazz Christmas album featuring Lani's "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas". Lani remained on the Windham Hill Jazz website for about a year, and then when Universal took over everything, her entry disappeared and the album went out of print.

Strangely though, the Christmas compilation still shows up every year.

Harry
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...Preserving The Sound Online...

Captain Bacardi · Posted: Sat 2/13/10 5:06 pm

I wonder if there was any thought of having this album released on Almo Sounds at the time? It was certainly still in existence.

Capt. Bacardi
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The Chicago Cubs - 102 years and counting....