Brazilian jazz singer Ithamara Koorax has worked with an astonishing array of the world's best jazz musicians, and a number of Brazil's MPB royalty... She has recorded Brazilian songbooks, covering the work of Luiz Bonfa, Joao Gilberto, etc., but she is equally conversant in mainstream, non-Brazilian jazz. Here's a quick look at her work...
Ithamara Koorax "Ao Vivo" (JVC/Imagem, 1993)
Ithamara Koorax "Rio Vermelho" (Imagem, 1995)
Ithamara Koorax & Luiz Bonfa "Almost In Love" (Imagem, 1996)
Ithamara Koorax "Bossa Nova Meets Drum And Bass" (King Records, 1998)
Ithamara Koorax "Serenade In Blue" (Fantasy/Milestone Records, 2000)
Ithamara Koorax "Love Dance: The Ballad Album" (Fantasy/Jazz Station Records, 2003)
Songbirdish vocals with purposefully gooshy, goopy arrangements... A host of Brazilian and American heavyweight musicians play with Koorax on this one, including Luiz Bonfa, Marcos Valle, Mario Castro-Neves, John McLaughlin, Dom Um Romao and others. She sings in both English and Portuguese, tackling standards ranging from "April In Paris" to Tom Jobim's "Ligia." This album is definitely not for everyone -- I didn't really like it -- but if your tastes tilt towards jazz ballad singing, then this might be a delight.
Ithamara Koorax & Jurgen Freidrich "Autumn In New York" (EMI/JSR Records, 2004)
Ithamara Koorax "Brazilian Butterfly" (Irma Records, 2006)
Ithamara Koorax "Tributo A Stellina Egg" (CEDEM Records, 2007)
Ithamara Koorax & Chris Conway "Chocolate Bossa" (Obong Music, 2007)
Ithamara Koorax & Peter Scharli Trio "Obrigado Dom Um Romao" (TCB, 2008)
Ithamara Koorax & Juarez Moreira "Bim Bom: The Complete Joao Gilberto Songbook" (Motema, 2009)
(Produced by Arnaldo DeSouteiro)
Amazingly, no one has covered the Joao Gilberto songbook before... As far as his modest songwriting legacy goes, bossa nova legend Joao Gilberto only recorded twelve of his own compositions (mostly he was an interpreter of Antonio Carlos Jobim's work) and those twelve songs are spread out among his various albums. So, finally, we can consider him as a composer, with all of those light, wonderful tunes put together on one single album. Brazilian jazz vocalist Ithamara Koorax and guitarist Juarez Moreira collaborate on this disc; Moreira has a penchant for doing songbook albums, having previously covered Tom Jobim and Ary Barroso, and this record has a cohesive feel to it. It's a little too jazzy, and too formal, for my ears -- maybe I'm just too used to Gilberto's sublime, subtle originals, for me to be able to settle into these sleeker interpretations. It's like hearing covers of Beatles songs; the originals are magical, and it's hard to compete. Nonetheless, after hearing this album a few times, I warmed up to it -- Koorax is an appealing vocalist, and her heart is certainly in it. Jazz fans should be delighted.
Ithamara Koorax & Peter Scharli Trio "O Grande Amor" (TCB, 2010)
Ithamara Koorax & Mamoru Morishita "Hotaru/Firefly" (Singer & Songer Records, 2011)
Ithamara Koorax "Got To Be Real" (Irma Records, 2012)
Why, yes, that is a cover of Cheryl Lynn's 1978 disco-funk hit, "Got To Be Real," one of several oldies of similar vintage -- "Never Can Say Goodbye," "Up, Up And Away," "Goin' Out Of My Head," etc. -- all given a jazz-vocals spin. There's also some Brazilian stuff on here, tunes from Nonato Buzar, Joao Gilberto, Marcos Valle and others, so it's not entirely a 'Seventies kitschfest... But you definitely gotta be into that jazz stuff to get into this one. Not really my cup of tea.
Ithamara Koorax "Opus Classico" (Petrobras, 2013)
Ithamara Koorax "Ithamara Koorax Sings Getz/Gilberto" (Jazz Vision Records, 2013)
Ithamara Koorax "Ecstasy" (Jazz Vision Records, 2013)
Ithamara Koorax "All Around The World" (Jazz Vision Records, 2014)
Ithamara Koorax "Ithamara Koorax Sings The Jazz Masters" (Jazz Vision Records, 2017)
Ithamara Koorax "60 Years Of Bossa Nova" (Jazz Vision Records, 2018)
Ithamara Koorax/Various Artists "Glauber, O Filme: Labirinto do Brasil"" (Eduardo Camenietzki Records, 2021)
A film soundtrack with Ithamara Koorax, Firmino Alves, Mauricio Durao, Harold Emert, and label owner Eduardo Camenietzki...
Ithamara Koorax "Dear Mom Beija-Flor" (Tratore Records, 2022)
With David Calderoni and Joseval Paes...
Ithamara Koorax "The Best Of Ithamara Koorax" (2006)
Ithamara Koorax "The Best Of Ithamara Koorax, Volume Two" (Irma Records, 2019)
