Search - Rosa Passos :: Rosa

Gorgeous; However....

Rick Cornell | Reno, Nv USA | 06/02/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Christopher Loudon of "Jazz Times" recently raved about this c.d. And before listening to it, I opened the package and read the liner notes. There, I learned that Yo-Yo Ma believes Rosa Passos to have the most beautiful voice in the world.



So, I put the disc in the player, expecting heaven on earth. And for the first 16 bars or so on "Duas Contas", that's what I got. The c.d. sounded incredible.



Before long, I thought, "This first cut sure is incredible, but it's a little long." Then I looked at the player, and discovered I was on Track 4.



Therein lies the issue with this recording: it's too beautiful. It's like walking through a field of red and golden poppies. For 5 miles. After awhile, you realize that you'd appreciate the flowers more if there were a few petunias, daisies and marigolds along the way.



In fairness, a big reason for this is the program. This is all Rosa Passos alone, in the studio, just guitar and voice. And the recording sounds like she sat down and played and sang simultaneously, without mixing tracks.



Solo voice albums are extremely, extremely tough to pull off. The best albums I know of with voice and another instrument (usually piano) have an instrumentalist with whom the singer can interact. If you don't have that, it seems to me that to pull something like this off, you have to lay down the tracks separately and overdub like crazy. And even then, it may not be a complete success (e.g.--Petra Haden's "The Who Sell Out"). I don't believe such overdubbing happened here. On almost all of the tracks, Ms. Passos' guitar consists of a pluck of a low note and a strum of 2-to-4-note chord on the offbeat. When a human being is singing and playing at the same time, it's nearly impossible to have the concentration to do a whole lot more than that.



Don't get me wrong: I strongly recommend this album. But for maximum effect, I suggest you download 3 tracks from I-Tunes or Napster and put them into your I-Pod or your computer. It doesn't much matter which 3 (I'll suggest tracks 1,6 and 8--"Duas Contras", "Sentado A Beira Do Caminho" and "Jardim"--if you insist upon a precise recommendation). I think you'll get maximum enjoyment out of this recording if you do that. RC"

Beautiful Bossa Rosa

Anders Jonasson | Bankeryd Sweden | 05/28/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here she is again,that wonderful bossanova classisist,Rosa Passos.

This time alone with only her voice and guitar,The tempos are slow and medium and the whole atmosphere is breathing compassion,and empathy. Rosas phrasing and rythm conception makes very single tune stand out.

One tune "Olhos nos Olhos" which is for a sister that was force to exile during the dictatorship is especially heart grabbing.

Sometimes we might forget that Rosa is not only a fantastic singer but also a very good guitar player this can be heard on a tune like the easy moving "Fusion" which is a tune that I can not get out of my head. Rosa plays it with such ease and smoothness that it just kills me

Finally to quote Carlos Galilea who wrote the liner notes

"One can not listen to Rosa Passos without falling in love"



"

Heavy Bossa Nova. Stylish Bossa Nova vocals. No conceding to

Carlos from Rio | Rio de Janeiro, RJ Brazil | 05/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is new material as recently recorded (but not issued) in Brazil by the great Brazilian composer and songbird, Ms. Rosa Passos.



All sung in Portuguese, program dare to open with an 'a capella' rendition of an old romantic samba hit titled 'Duas Contas'.



This is a voice and guitar work of art, an act of great courage to be offered to American audiences although so dear to Brazilian audiences. No violins, no percussion, just Ms. Passos' acoustic guitar and voice.



What a voice! Ms. Passos artistry seems to be ever growing in sophistication, gaining some vibrato, adequately moderate.



Repertoire includes many well-known songs in Brazil and some Rosa Passos' compositions.

"