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.”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”.

1. ÁGUAS DE MARÇO (4:11)
2. COMEÇAR DE NOVO (4:52)
3. MAS QUE NADA (ft. Doug Beavers) (4:09)
4. USELESS LANDSCAPE (INÚTIL PAISAGEM) (4:26)
5. SAMBA DE VERÃO (3:22)
6. NE ME QUITTE PAS (ft. Don Byron) (4:24)
7. CARNIVAL (MANHÃ DE CARNAVAL) (ft. Joe Locke) (3:57)
8. CORAÇÃO VAGABUNDO (ft. Michael Wolff and John Patitucci) (4:16)
9. ESTATE (4:20)
10. DOIS PRA LÁ, DOIS PRA CÁ (4:54)
11. E PENSO A TE (4:36)
12. ESTAMOS AÍ (4:23)
13. SÓ TINHA DE SER COM VOCÊ (3:46)
14. BRUMA (ft. Roberto Menescal) (4:06)
15. SAMBA DE UMA NOTA SÓ (2:53)

The songwriters here 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, perhaps none more so than on the joyous Brazilian song composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim, ÁGUAS DE MARÇO, which is backed seamlessly by the dutiful hipsway within COMEÇAR DE NOVO, the playful, iconic Jorge Ben cut MAS QUE NADA (featuring trombonist Doug Beavers), the languishing Jobim moment, USELESS LANDSCAPE (INÚTIL PAISAGEM), and then we get the shimmering SAMBA DE VERÃO, the smoothly sculpted Brel ballad NE ME QUITTE PAS (featuring clarinetist Don Byron), and the sprightly Bonfá classic CARNIVAL (MANHÃ DE CARNAVAL) (featuring vibraphonist Joe Locke).

Minnozzi is boundlessly expressive in all these settings, connecting to each lyric viscerally, regardless of language, and thus along next is the veritably glistening CORAÇÃO VAGABUNDO (featuring both keyboardist Michael Wolff and bassist John Patitucci) and the guitar-fed ESTATE, and they are backed by the laid low, atmospheric balladry of DOIS PRA LÁ, DOIS PRA CÁ, the jazzy blues of E PENSO A TE, the perky ESTAMOS AÍ, a gently fervent rendition of Jobim’s SÓ TINHA DE SER COM VOCÊ, the album rounding out on the world song premiere of the sumptuous BRUMA (featuring Bossa Nova legend Roberto Menescal), closing on the jaunty SAMBA DE UMA NOTA SÓ.

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 Locke - vibraphone on “Carnival” recorded at Franklin Academy Studio
Don Byron - clarinet 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

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