Ever since she made her recording debut in 1995, and especially since she founded Yellow Rose Records in 2003, pianist and singer Paula Maya has been a major force in performing and popularizing Brazilian music in the United States. This is her twelfth studio album, but it features just seven songs with a running time of only 27 minutes so is somewhat short. We have a few different line-ups here in that the quintet includes either Fernando Monteiro or Humberto Mirabelli on guitar, Sizao Machado, Nema Antunes or Erick Vieira on electric bass, drummer Teo Lima (who produced the project), and percussionist André Siqueira. Guest singer Tamila Nikazm joins Paula Maya on “Rosalie” while flautist Monica Avila performs on “Mulher.”
This is a pleasant release, but is never anything more than that, and one gets the impression the market for this is most likely those who see her play as opposed to anyone who may come across this and randomly. There is little life here, and even the Brazilian rhythms feel muted, which is surprising given that Maya is held in such high acclaim and has won multiple awards and is a professional musical teacher and coach. I have been listening to quite a lot of Brazilian music and Brazilian-inspired jazz in recent months, but this is not one to which I can really see myself returning to.
Rating: 6/10
