Mafalda Minnozzi Mafalda Minnozzi
Menu

Discography

Natural Impression

MPI 2023

Featuring:

Mafalda Minnozzi – vocals
Paul Ricci – guitars
Helio Alves – piano on all tracks except 8
Eduardo Belo – acoustic bass on all tracks except 8
Rogerio Boccato – drums on all tracks, percussion on tracks 3 and 10
Kassin – percussion on track 5

Special guests

Roberto Menescal duet w/Mafalda Minnozzi on “Bruma”
Joe Lockevibraphone on “Carnival” recorded at Franklin Academy Studio
Don Byronclarinet on “Ne Me Quitte Pas” recorded at Hidden Quarry Studio
Doug Beavers trombone on “Mas Que Nada” recorded at Circle 9 Studios
Michael Wolff keyboards on “Coração Vagabundo” recorded at Studio 43
John Patitucci acoustic bass on “Coração Vagabundo” recorded at Pastasushi Studios

Produced by

Paul Ricci

Recorded by

Peter Karl at Acoustic Recording, NY
JJ McGeehan at Joan of Arc Park, NY
Didier Fernan at La Maison Estúdio, Rio de Janeiro
Paul Ricci at Stringsong Studio, São Paulo

Mixed by

Alexandre Fontanetti – Space Blues, São Paulo – all tracks except 5,8,11
Kassin –  Studio Marini, Rio de Janeiro – tracks 5,8,11

Mastered by

André Dias – Post Modern Mastering, Rio de Janeiro

Arranged by Mafalda Minnozzi and Paul Ricci

Murilo Alvesso – photos and art direction
João Marcelo Costa – assistant photographer
Satie Inafuku – scenic project
Emily Paula – make-up
Ricardo Campos – graphic design

 

Acclaimed international singer Mafalda Minnozzi has been hailed by All About Jazz Italia as “a sensitive interpreter [with] outstanding vocal technique, [who] dominates the stage with her fascinating stage presence and her powerful and flexible voice, rich in a thousand nuances.” On her new album Natural Impression, the latest chapter in a longstanding collaboration with American guitarist, arranger and producer Paul Ricci, Minnozzi embodies every word of that well-deserved praise.

In a richly varied set of music, Minnozzi displays her deep affinity for Bossa nova, French chanson, Italian standards, American jazz and other flavors of global song.
Hers is a skillful balance between the virtuosity and eclecticism of jazz with the cosmopolitan sensibility of world music. Her style recalls ancestral links with Italian melodrama and French cabaret in a stylistic blend that uses the voice in the manner of a skilled instrumentalist — shown, for example, by her nimble unisons with Beavers’ trombone on “Mas Que Nada”, or with Ricci’s guitar on their boppish rendering of the Leny Andrade-associated showpiece “Estamos Aí” as well as the seductive dance with Don Byron on “Ne Me Quitte Pas”.

The songwriters on Natural Impression — Antonio Carlos Jobim, Ivan Lins, Luiz Bonfá, Jacques Brel, Caetano Veloso, Jorge Ben, João Bosco, Lucio Battisti, Roberto Menescal and more — offer priceless material for Minnozzi, and she commits to it body and soul. The “house” band couldn’t be more solid, supportive and freshly inventive.
Valle’s “Samba De Verão”, Battisti’s “E Penso A Te” and Veloso’s “Coração Vagabundo” were mixed for the album by Kassin who has “a unique DJ approach to music,” says Minnozzi, so these three tracks offer a different dimension to the typical jazz sonic.
Alves’ brilliant piano solos and Ricci’s electric and acoustic guitars fill the spectrum sonically and stylistically throughout, with tasty wah-wah fills giving “E Penso A Te” an R&B twist.

The guest soloists shine their brilliance in all the right spots: vibraphonist Joe Locke on the Bonfá classic “Carnival (Manhã de Carnaval)”, clarinetist Don Byron on the aching Brel ballad “Ne Me Quitte Pas,” trombonist Doug Beavers on Jorge Ben’s iconic “Mas Que Nada,” and keyboardist Michael Wolff and bassist John Patitucci together on the lilting, melancholy “Coração Vagabundo.”

World song premiere: “Bruma,” by Bossa Nova legend Roberto Menescal, debuted by Menescal and Minnozzi in a captivating duet.

Minnozzi is boundlessly expressive in all these settings, connecting to each lyric viscerally, regardless of language. The way she ends the Jobim number “Só Tinha De Ser Com Você” is emblematic of her creativity: she improvises fluidly, nails challenging arranged unison parts, and finally reaches beyond pitch altogether for a playful effect. It’s that same uninhibited energy she brings to the stage, where everything including body language and gesture heightens the emotional impact of her delivery.

Minnozzi’s approach to a song is one of a kind, and Natural Impression is among the most invigorating examples of it to date.

TRACKLIST

  1. ÁGUAS DE MARÇO (A.C. Jobim) 4’11”
  2. COMEÇAR DE NOVO (V. Martins/ Ivan Lins) 4’52”
  3. MAS QUE NADA (Jorge Ben Jor) ft. Doug Beavers 4’09”
  4. USELESS LANDSCAPE (INÚTIL PAISAGEM) (A. De Oliveira / A.C. Jobim / R. Gilbert) 4’26”
  5. SAMBA DE VERÃO (Marcos Valle / Paulo Sérgio Valle) 3’22”
  6. NE ME QUITTE PAS (Jacques Brel)  ft. Don Byron 4’24”
  7. CARNIVAL (MANHÃ DE CARNAVAL) (G.D. Weiss / H.E. Peretti / L. Creatore / Luiz Bonfá) ft. Joe Locke 3’57”
  8. CORAÇÃO VAGABUNDO (Caetano Veloso) ft. Michael Wolff and John Patitucci 4’16”
  9. ESTATE (B. Brighetti / B. Martino) 4’20”
  10. DOIS PRA LÁ, DOIS PRA CÁ (Aldir Blanc / João Bosco) 4’54”
  11. E PENSO A TE (Mogol / Lucio Battisti) 4’36”
  12. ESTAMOS AÍ (D. Ferreira / M. Einhorn / R. Werneck) 4’23“
  13. SÓ TINHA DE SER COM VOCÊ (A. De Oliveira / A.C. Jobim) 3’46”
  14. BRUMA (Bruna R. Da Fonte / Roberto Menescal) ft. Roberto Menescal 4’06“
  15. SAMBA DE UMA NOTA SÓ (N. Mendonça / A.C. Jobim) 2’53”