Luciana Souza – Speaking in Tongues
Luciana Souza – Speaking in Tongues: At The Fair, Hymn, Straw Hat. Split, Filhos De Gandhi, A Pebble In Still Water, Free At Last, A.M., No One To Follow (Words by Leonard Cohen and music by Luciana Souza)
Personnel: Luciana Souza – voice, Lionel Loueke– guitar, voice, Gregoire Maret – harmonica, Massimo Biolcati – acoustic bass, Kendrick Scott – drums, percussion.
Luciana Souza – Speaking in Tongues was produced by Larry Klein and Executive Producer François Zalacain on the Sunnyside Records label.
With her latest release, Luciana Souza explores and branches out beyond her musical base of Jazz, Brazilian, Classical and Contemporary, and the result has a rich freshness that is both unique and intriguing. The title, Speaking in Tongues, could easily be a reference to the ensemble’s diverse cultural backgrounds, Luciana Souza: Sao Paulo, Brazil, Lionel Loueke: Benin, West Africa, Massimo Biolcati: Stockholm, Sweden, and Kendrick Scott: Houston, Texas, USA, which contributes to the collective spirit and flow of the album guided by Luciana’s gifted husband, four time Grammy-Award winning producer Larry Klein.
Luciana writes, “I think that we all felt like we could transcend the need for translation – we all knew what we needed to do – we lowered our guards and embraced melody and rhythm. It sounds so basic, but it really allowed us to arrive at something beyond our personal experience. I think that this recording captures something new for me… the intensely collaborative intuitive, and conversational nature of Jazz, and in doing so creates a music that transcends the borders and boundaries of genre, beyond the specifics that we many times are compelled to impose upon art. This was possible with these guys – the idea of music being a descriptive dialog, one that is the first step toward some type of understanding that is both honest and beautiful.”
The 9-track release is described as, “Speaking in Tongues is a suite of musical poetry with the theme of language at its core.” The release opens with the funky, samba beat, At The Fair, written by Luciana Souza, which acts as a guide post in the musical journey set forth by the band. Next in the play list is the slow and serene Gary Versace song, Hymn, followed by Straw Hat, another Luciana Souza song.
Split, features the words of Leonard Cohen and music by Luciana Souza, with a beautiful instrumental introduction that segues into Luciana’s lovely vocals that transforms Leonard Cohen’s poem into song with its lyrics, “What can I do, with this love of mine, with this hairy knob, with this poison wine, Who shall I take, to the edge of despair, with my knee on her heart, and my lips in her hair, So I’ll take all my love, and I’ll split it in two, and there’s one part for me, and there’s one part for you…”
Filhos De Gandhi (Children of Gandhi) another song written by Luciana Souza, is the longest track on the release at 7:20, and has an inspired samba/African rhythm that is a definite highlight on the release.
A Pebble In Still Water by Kendrick Scott and Mike Moreno, Free At Last a Luciana Souza song, A.M. by Lionel Loueke, and the last song on the release, No One To Follow, another Leonard Cohen and Luciana Souza collaboration, culminates the inspired musical journey.
(Other Luxury Experience Music Scene Reviews of Luciana Souza’s prior CDs include: Luciana Souza – The Book of Chet and Luciana Souza – Duos III)
Websites where you can procure Luciana Souza – Speaking in Tongues are www.SunnysideRecords.com, iTunes and Amazon.
Listen to cuts off Luciana Souza – Speaking in Tongues at www.LucianaSouza.com/Speaking.html
For information on upcoming Luciana Souza performances, please visit: www.LucianaSouza.com/Concerts.html
Follow Luciana Souza on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/pages/Luciana-Souza
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