Search - Pamela Driggs :: Itacuruca

I never thought she looked all that Brazilian . . .

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 07/31/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

". . . having looked at this disc many times and wondering if I should acquire it. And she's not. She's from Northern Nevada (like where? Winnemucu? Battle Mountain? Elko? Spring Creek? Not a lot of big cities up there . . .), although she looks not unlike a young Astrid Gilberto. And for a girl from Nowheresville, USA, she's got a doggone pretty convincing Brazilian Portuguese accent (as if I could even tell, one way or the other. OK, let's just say it sounds good to these gringo ears).



What she is, is the North American Eliane Elias. In fact, the resemblances, sort of in reverse, are uncanny. Whereas Elias grew up in Brazil loving jazz and ended up marrying a famous American jazzman (Randy Brecker), Driggs grew up in America loving Brazilian samba and ended up marrying a famous Brazilian guitarist (Romero Lubambo). Whereas Elias is more inclined to sing in English, her adopted language, Driggs is more inclined to sing in Portuguese, HER adopted language.



The music, a mix of samba classics, Driggs/Lubambo originals, jazz standards, and a blues, is wonderfully performed, albeit in a fairly traditional samba/bossa nova way. Nothing here along the lines of Bebel Gilberto or Zuco 103. What makes this disc so engaging is the depth of feeling Pamela Driggs brings to this entirely wonderful music, and the brilliant playing of everyone involved (Duduka Da Fonseca and Teo Lima, drums; Marcelo Mariano electric bass; Nilson Matta, acoustic bass; and Paulo Calasans, piano and Fender Rhodes), but especially husband Romero Lubambo on guitar.



I'm a fan. Big time."