For those unaware, the seeds for The Astrud Project were sewn on jazz vocalist Anne Walsh’s previous album, Brand New. On that 2016 set, Walsh penned biographical lyrics to Brazilian jazz singer Astrud Gilberto’s lyric-less scat on “Nao Bate O Coracao,” retitling the song “The Writing’s on the Wall.”

Walsh did a similar thing with Gilberto’s scatted “Beach Samba,” which led to recording an entire album that pays tribute to Gilberto’s seminal bossa nova catalogue.

“Looking over Astrud’s life and career in researching that song (“Nao Bate O Coracao”) was the beginning of a deeper dive into the songs that inspired this collection. I’ve always found a kindred spirit in the vocal approach that Astrud took. Her light, straight tone is what really makes the music she sang shine. There is little doubt that Astrud’s approach set the stylistic vibe for the bossa nova movement of the 1960s,” says Walsh, who will preview the new album at a concert performance at Herb Alpert’s Vibrato in Los Angeles on June 22nd, 2022 that will feature Zink and an orchestral ensemble.

Hence The Astrud Project is comprised of eleven tunes and encompasses a mix of songs sung in English and Gilberto’s native Portuguese, including the iconic “The Girl From Ipanema.”

Produced and orchestrated by Grammy nominated arranger Tom Zink, The Astrud Project drops July 8th, 2022 on the A to Zink Music label.

1. “On My Mind”
2. “Call Me”
3. “Crickets Sing for Anamaria”
4. “(Take Me To) Aruanda”
5. “Dindi”
6. “The Girl From Ipanema”
7. “Beach Samba”
8. “Canto de Ossanha”
9. “Fotographia”
10. “Voce É Eu”
11. “Once Upon a Summertime”

The album opens on the gently effervescent rhythms of “On My Mind” and the slow dancefloor twirl of “Call Me” and those are followed sweetly by the sweepingly perky “Crickets Sing for Anamaria,” the forthright “(Take Me To) Aruanda,” the ornate beauty of “Dindi” and then comes the Brazilian bossa nova jazz of “The Girl From Ipanema.”

Next up is one of my own personal favorites from this new collection, the swishingly ambient “Beach Samba” which is itself backed by the foot-tapping melodies of “Canto de Ossanha,” the delicate gossamer of “Fotographia,” the album rounding out on the upbeat hipsway of “Voce É Eu,” closing on the atmospherically-charged “Once Upon a Summertime.”

Walsh and Zink say that Gilberto served as “sort of a poster child for innocence and the unaffected musical beauty that summed up the early bossa nova movement.” To honor the indelible mark she made on the music for which they hold immense ardor, the spouses recorded some of Gilberto’s best-known songs as well as lesser-known selections, adding their own fresh twist to the arrangements and approach.

Gilberto’s sultry and sensual voice meshed perfectly with Brazilian jazz rhythms and the rich melodies written by Antonio Carlos Jobim (“Dindi,” “The Girl From Ipanema” and “Fotographia”) and other emerging Brazilian composers of the era such as Baden Powell and Vincius de Moraes (“Canto de Ossanha”) and Marcos Valle (“Crickets Sing For Anamaria”).

She uniquely illumined pop songs like “Call Me” and selections from the great American songbook (Legrand and Mercer’s “Once Upon a Summertime”) by applying her trademark bossa nova varnish.

Indeed, on The Astrud Project, Walsh skillfully plies her exquisite voice and passion for Brazilian jazz to the lavishly produced and orchestrated tracks meticulously crafted by Zink.

“Learning the Portuguese lyrics is so important to understanding how the music should swing. In Brazil, you can find yourself listening to a conversation and faintly hear the cadences of the various percussion instruments. That is such a huge part of getting the music under your skin as a singer; really internalizing the percussive feel of the language. I sing most of ‘The Girl From Ipanema’ in Portuguese because it’s impossible to get that same rhythmic feel from the English lyrics,” Walsh adds.

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